Have you ever met one of these salespeople? People who are extremely successful? Salespeople with high closing rates? Salespeople with the most unconventional, oddball style you’ve ever witnessed?
What these people do can’t be taught. You wish you could clone them! You also can’t stand to be near them when they sell because the way they talk will make you cringe.
The funny part is we can learn something from them and ultimately improve our sales skills. But before I explain how, allow me to share a few true stories.
We had this one salesperson who was a loud redhead without a filter. Customers would call the store and she would answer, “Hey, Mark! How you ’doin?” Not “Carpets of Arizona, how can I help you?” Not only did our customers love her but they bought from her. On top of that, everyone started to lighten up a little and have more of an outgoing attitude. It was both cringeworthy and fun at the same time.
I have a buddy who owns a pool company. His top salesperson, we’ll call him “Jack,” would help himself to customers’ refrigerators and grab a beer. He swore like a drunken sailor. Now no salesperson in his right mind would behave this way, and the last thing you would do is teach anyone to behave that way. But for Jack, month after month he has the highest closing rate.
Then there was Gary, who worked for a popular flooring dealer many of you know and love. Gary would stop by Mc- Donalds and grab breakfast for his client—coffee, Egg McMuffin breakfast and a hashbrown. One for him and one for his customer. Who does that? Gary doesn’t know these people. What on Earth would make him feel so comfortable as to grab a morning breakfast for someone who is just getting an estimate?
I have a client who had the good fortune to recently hire a rockstar salesperson. This lady had no experience selling flooring. We created an easy system for selling so anyone could give the customer a quote in the home quickly. Now as much as I would urge everyone to quote in the home and give your customer an “opportunity to buy now,” this odd duck does things her own way, so to speak. I’ve watched her operate firsthand. Her mindset is these people came to her to get flooring; they did not come for a price or an estimate. Her closing rate is damn near 100%. The only time that happens is when you aren’t tracking your sales. In other words, it never really happens. We are talking 45%-plus margins, too!
Lessons learned
What’s the lesson in all this? The one thing great salespeople have in common is their attitude. They view the prospect as a customer. Moreover, they don’t give the customer a price so she can decide if she wants to finalize the order. In their warped, crazy, beautiful minds they don’t even consider the fact the customer may not want to do business with them.
I offer sales training to improve RSAs closing rates while offering a five-star experience
at a higher price. I wish I could teach you to be like the crazy, loveable misfits, but I hope you learned something from this article that might help you when you are providing flooring for your customer.
Jerry Levinson, a former retailer, owns Profit Now 4 Flooring Dealers. He provides sales training, processes and systems for flooring dealers to help them grow their business and profits while working fewer hours. He also runs the Flooring Dealers & More group on Facebook.
