The Jewel Or The Vile?
The word Jade is a heteronym (a word with the same spelling, yet different meanings) that is used in one form or another in the arena of sales. When used as a noun, Jade is a beautiful, expensive gemstone. As a verb, Jade is worn out broken down worthless and dull. If the word Jade was used to describe your qualities as a sales professional, would you be described as the noun or the verb? Obviously, the meanings are significantly different.
Remember why you were first hired as a sales professional? You were hired because you convinced the sales manager that you were a gem. You dressed in your best clothing, ornamented in your best jewelry and truly looked the part. Although your sales manager may have viewed you as a little rough on the edges, he or she bought off what you were selling thinking that you could be polished and crafted in order to bring out the best qualities you have to offer. With high self-esteem and grandiose expectations, you hit the lot with aspirations to be a game-changer, the best salesperson that dealership has ever seen. In your mind, you know there is no other salesperson compared to you; a jewel surrounded in a case full of ordinary stones.
No one can fully prepare you for the rejection you must face in order to be successful in sales. In a short amount of time, what was once an expensive gem begins to lose its luster. Because of the insurmountable amounts of rejection, we become tired, worn-out, dull, weary; simply we become the verb, Jaded. We begin to look at customers as a liability and no longer an asset. As it is written, “Seek and ye shall find.” At one time you looked at each customer as a treasure chest, now they are looked upon as a toxic dump; the waste, the by-product from another dealer’s lot. We begin to ask questions such as, “What’s your beacon score/ what kinda payment do you want?” or “What do you owe on your car?” in an effort to circumcise our efforts out on the lot. We ask these detrimental kinds of questions and decide if we should date this customer or treat them like a one night stand. We’ve resigned the position of being an image consultant, no longer motorvating our customers to upgrade their transportation image and instead accepted a professorship position giving our customers the Rules of the Lot and lecture them on how they need to buy a car.
Jade is noted by its tremendous strength and beauty. It comes in many different colors and in many ways is as strong as steel. Jade is mined and sold in large chunks; the buyer is gambling because he has no idea the quality of Jade inside of the rock. You were hired because your manager took the gamble and viewed you as a gem among rocks. You possess a unique combination of magnificence as well as strength, but it must be worked, tried, and chiseled in order to showcase its brilliance. The sales profession is a kind of metamorphic activity that only time and hard work can distinguish the best from the rest. It takes many years for a rock to become a gem, but only seconds of the wrong perspective and wrong thought for a gem to be reduced to a mere rock. Never lose your radiance.
Comment
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Comment by Marsh Buice on February 23, 2012 at 4:06pm
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'Preciate you Tony!!
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Comment by Tony Provost on February 23, 2012 at 3:28pm
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mb- Fabulous!!! keep them green, so the can grow!!
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Lee, I couldnt agree more with you. Selling will always be relational-sure there will be the 1 percenters who have a different way they would like to buy but it's important that we as a body stay relational...Great thoughts and I appreciate your comments and insight.
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Comment by Lee Pelkie on February 22, 2012 at 11:38am
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Very well said, This apply s more today than ever before, We have come to use the internet and social media as a "crutch" to sell more without putting forth the "face to face " effort with our customer when they arrive at our showroom. Never has it been more important than now, for dealers to focus on sales fundamentals and exploit technology to assist them in their overall sales and marketing plan, but focus on your process for handling the customer when they are in your store.
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Thanks for reading and commenting Ryan ;)
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Comment by Ryan Gerardi on February 21, 2012 at 10:58pm
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Refreshing Marsh.
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Andrew great addition my friend..."The ones that attack the numbers and not the customers will always be successful!" Right on, brother :) Thanks for the share
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BC glad it hit home brother. Staying positive and optimistic and not becoming cynical is very hard in our business. I am grateful for the opportunity my managers gave me-they certainly rolled the dice on me :) I am like you, I want to pay it forward and give others a chance in an effort to help them become the gemstone they are blessed to be.
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Comment by Andrew Myers on February 21, 2012 at 5:19pm -
Great article Marsh! Right on the money!...Pounding in to your staff a keen understanding of the numbers game, will keep your Jaded staff Jewels.
I started off years ago going business to business with a bag full of toys and other random items. Our comfort was ONLY in the fact that if you got at least 380 no's in that day, you would always make your goal. In three years of doing it, I never didn't hit my goal for the day as long as at LEAST 380 people had told me "no" along the way after hearing my presentation. After awhile this number became more important then the customer in front of me was. This outlook forced everyone into a numbers game and it was the only place to find comfort for many of us because it was hard to imagine the person that would really want this Purple bear clock, or coloring book, or knive set, or whatever we had in the bag.
Too many salespeople in our Industry now are groomed to only appriciate the commisionable sales they produce. The ones that take pride in showing numbers to someone that would have "blown out" on another salesmen, will never have the same problems with losing their shine. The ones that attack the numbers and not the customers will always be successful!
Take comfort in the numbers, not in hearing "yes".
Great Article!
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