The more AI platforms like ChatGPT continue to learn and expand the limitations of its use, the more we realize what they can and never will replace humans in. This often includes the expression of original thought and emotion, as well as physical labour and other jobs that require a human body (or even just a human face via Zoom). As Phil Gerbyshak notes, nothing replaces personalized messages and communication. After all, sales isn’t just about a one-time sale to a client—even if the sale pitch has their name attached to it. It’s about understanding a client comprehensively and responding regularly to their on-going needs and wants. And realistically speaking, this will always require one-on-one human attention and responses. After all, being successful in sales is not just about the process of selling.
Success in sales requires on-going support and attention that turns a one-time sale into a loyal customer for life.
To better understand what it takes to create lasting relationships between an organization and its customers, we sat down with Gary Zermuehlen, a trainer, coach, and consultant with Sandler Peak Performance Management, Inc. Here’s what he had to offer.
What Being Successful in Sales Means
As Zermuehlen recognizes, sales is “one of the best paying occupations on the planet if you’re good at it. But it’s also one of the worst if you’re bad at it.” And he should know. He’s been working in sales for over 25 years.
But for many years, he felt like he was only taking orders from higher-ups rather than taking initiative himself. In this, he says, he thought he wasn’t a “true sales professional” before he came to Sandler.
But at Sandler, however, he learned the behaviors and attitudes people need for long-term success in sales. These include discipline, self-motivation, drive, a need for competition, and a willingness to commit to customer relationships and their needs long-term.
After all, a successful salesperson is not just a salesperson per se.
As Neil Patel shares, 50% of Millennial customers say that customer service is really what makes them loyal to a brand. This means treating them with the same—if not, more—care than they receive pre-sale. And what this customer service mostly entails is follow-through to make sure the customer is getting exactly what the salesperson promises.
This post-sale treatment will make sure the customer returns time and again, will never have buyer’s remorse, and will of course recommend the organization to friends and family.
What Does Being Successful in Sales Take?
Along with his long and industrious career, Zermuehlen has also been mentored for the last three years by one of the best salespeople in the country. And under that mentor, he has learned three very crucial traits for being successful in sales.
1. Taking responsibility
“Most of the challenges,” Zermuehlen says of sales, “are between two ears.” He points to his own head while saying this to indicate the self implied in this phrase. That is, “We have a tendency to blame recessions and COVID and inflation […] and the best thing they could do is take responsibility for themselves and for their future being successful. The blame-game gets us nowhere.”
So, instead of placing all of the blame of losing sales—or not landing them in the first place—on external forces, successful salespeople take at least part responsibility to recognize the mistakes made. After all, growth only comes from recognizing and learning from previous errors.
2. Having an outlook of possibility
On a similar note, Zermuehlen says that because sales relies so heavily on self-motivation, it also requires an outlook of possibility. This means instead of looking at how your sales are limited or what restrictions prevent sales, you’re instead looking at what possibilities there are.
This often requires a reframing of circumstances. Look at what might be possible between you and your customers, rather than looking at is not and therefore restricts you.
3. Having the right personality
Both Zermuehlen and we at Workwolf recognize that there are certain personalities that are best suited for long-term careers in sales. To determine the kind of personality one has to measure how suitable they are for sales, Zermuehlen uses the DISC formula. Here, DISC stands for four behavioral types in professional settings:
- drive (or dominance), which refers to a fast-paced, task-oriented worker with drive and determination
- influence, which refers to the ability to influence people and persuade others
- steadiness, or patience for work settings, which refers to workers who favor stability and structure to their work
- conscientiousness, which refers to workers who are logical, analytical, and nonnegotiable in their work
But, of course, this is not the only formula for personality types. We at Workwolf measure candidates for their personality traits via a psychometric assessment called Packfinder. And this assessment measures for more than the four aforementioned behaviors. Both, however, recognize that there is no right or wrong personality.
There are just personalities that are more or less suitable for working in sales, especially in highly competitive, commission-based, and long-term positions. The rest, as Zermuehlen notes, can be taught or better honed with practice and mentorship.
How to Improve Your Sales Post-sell
In addition to all of the above, being successful in sales requires a thorough investment in the customer’s needs and wants post-sale. This refers to the period after their sale has been finalized—in fact, it begins, as Zermuehlen says, “the minute they sign your agreement.”
And going above and beyond, he recognizes, is necessary for making a one-time sale a long-term one. Because, after all, how trustworthy or reliable is a salesperson who ghosts you the minute the transaction is completed?
In order to do so, start by getting together (even virtually) to make sure you are upholding your promises made in the sale. Ask your client(s) if they’re receiving all the treatment and service they signed up for. And if they aren’t, ask how you might do so.
And this, in fact, may require more sales, hence the ‘sell’ in ‘post-sell.’
Once this has been done, you can further demonstrate your care and dedication to the client by asking them to rate you on how well you’re holding up your end of the deal. That way, you know how well you’re doing your job and you know how satisfied your customers are to know how likely they would be to recommend you to a friend. Lastly, this rating may further solidify their feelings about your hard work and dedication and help the customer realize in their own words how reliable and trustworthy you have proven yourself to be.
Then, when you have a solid relationship built with your client, feel free to ask them for a referral and/or a testimonial for your website or professional social media page(s). This will both support the claims you make online to future clients, as well as establish a reputation online for being a caring, supportive, and dedicated salesperson beyond singular sales.
Summary:
Photo courtesy of Gary Zermuehlen
After meeting with Trainer, Coach, and Consultant Gary Zermuehlen, we conclude that a truly successful salesperson is one who doesn’t just ghost their customers/clients after a sale is completed. They continue their relationship with their customers/clients well afterwards for long-term retention and loyalty. The post-sale step is the final and crucial step in a sales process that makes salespeople truly successful.
Special thanks to Gary Zermuehlen for the expert advice in this article. For more information on predictable and consistent sales, visit peakperformance.sandler.com.
