85% of All Stastics Are Just Made Up

He said with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. But really statistics are a two edge sword. You may have a 99.5% chance of living throughout the day. You have a 100% chance of dying ultimately.

This is a departure from our "action plan" but I suffer from "shiny object syndrome", and something sparked this line of thought. Now is a time in history when many displaced workers will relocate into a sales position. It is just fact that many other jobs have evaporated and some will decide to give sales a try. Thru hard work and luck or some help by others they may even reach some level of success. But does that make them a sales person.

I read a study that said that eight of ten people making their living from direct sales were mismatched to their job. They derived little or no satisfaction from the career and would never excel because they were struggling to just survive. It also said that of the two "true" sales people; one was selling the wrong product (tangible vs intangible; big ticket vs retail; etc). My own experience tells me this is close to accurate. I don't know the exact percentages but I have sat across from many a person who was as frustrated as I was. I could not understand why they could not seem to value their own efforts and they could not get anything to work.

So, if you find yourself as one of the 8, that's OK. But admit it, and when things change find a career that you value. Life is too short to be mediocre. Be great or be terrible but never mediocre. If you are the one who is selling the wrong product....change when you can. A step backwards at some point will be more than made up for with a lifetime of production and satisfaction.

If you are the one left....next post we will get back to the "action plan".

Who is Who

Lets see...so far in our little action series we have....
Know who you customer is...
Know what your customer values...

You are going to think I am out of my mind on the next one...
Know who your customer's customer is..

Some of the pressures coming at you from your customer could possibly be from his/her customer. Now if you can identify this situation; you can truly become a partner with them to satisfy the end user. We need to understand that one's customer can be from inside or outside of their own company. In the case of a reseller, the customer is the end user. But if the customer is an end user then his customer might be his boss...CEO...CFO or even department head.

Most of us have customers that are not apparent and satisfying them is important to our job, our career...our life. Identify your customer's customer, it might earn you an inside track.

Good selling,

Short Surveys Then Action

Last post I stated that you should always have a survey running. I don't mind filling out a survey that is two questions ....three at the most and answered by clicking a yes/no radio button. If you have an optional text area for me, I might use it but probably not. I'm busy. I answered your questions, now let me go. If I click and there is a page two. Goodbye.

If you have a three page 40 question study you had better have some good incentive for anyone to take that time. You are not going to get it for free. At some of the restaurants like Chili's they offer a discount on your next meal if you will call an 800 number. Have you done one yet? Not worth the $2 discount.

But really, if you had the answer to two questions about your business from your existing customer base; could you not make some changes that would be of benefit to you both. Too many times we run our business as if the customer was us.

• We use our terms...our slang, even if it is only used by people in our industry.
• We impose our idea of value on the customer.
• We assume the customer knows little and our competitors even less.
• We think we know how the customer wants to do business.

There was a time when I could not understand my customers using products that were, by my standards "cheap". The answer is "they worked for the customers application". So rather than guess....ask your customers. "What can I do for you." Then do it.

I am reading a book titled "Free - The Future of a Radical New Price". If you find there is something that you can do for your customer for free.... do it and publicize it. It will set you apart.