As a kid, I often used to frequent a gift shop near my school. The shop was true to its name ‘Oasis’ with neatly arranged rows of gift items of all kinds and a highly polite and helpful pair of brothers who owned the shop.
What made me go to this shop again and again to buy birthday gifts was that the owner used to ask me my budget and even if it was a paltry sum, he’d get out something beautiful to show to me. I still remember my first purchase; a palm-sized Plaster of Paris clown worth 50 rupees that was carefully put in a box and packed beautifully by the owner himself. The shop almost never failed me. The attitude of the shop owners made the whole process of picking out a gift an enchanting experience…so much so that in my teens I even daydreamed of having a gift shop of my own!
I’ve been to numerous other gift shops since then but very few have matched the service that Oasis provided. Sometimes when I see shopkeepers sitting idle in their shops with no customers, or sales professionals making a sales pitch at unfriendly, uninterested and unrelenting potential customers, I wonder how tough it must be to approach customers for a deal. Especially more so, if the sales professional has been asked by the management to achieve monthly targets no matter what.
It’s certainly not easy to be in a sales career where you have to focus on what you’re ‘getting’ from a person. The Schuitema framework explains that focusing on the ‘take’ side of a transaction consistently will make you resentful, get you in a conflict situation and make you feel like a victim with a sense of entitlement which in turn can drive you to deal with situations in a conniving manner.
However, the Schuitema framework applies beautifully to a Sales career as well.
Schuitema stresses that one must work with a sense of purpose and if that sense of purpose is about making a positive contribution in the life of a customer, about serving the customer in the best possible way so as to truly benefit them, then the salesperson could be a highly motivated individual; one who is focused on the contribution he’s making for others and thereby feels fulfilled, is in harmony with those around him and who thinks about his duties rather than rights.
Supply actually exists to serve demand and not the other way round. So if a salesperson approaches a potential customer with the intent to serve and not to secure for himself, the sales pitch becomes a fulfilling act for both the sales professional and the customer.
For such a sales professional, a customer is not a number; a target that must be achieved. The customer is rather an individual who can be benefitted with a genuine need served.
Comments
2 responses to “Serving Through Sales”
The article reminded me of Pakistan Medical & Dental Council’s motto ‘Dignity in Service’.
Thank you, Afia. I conducted a training programme this week and was struck by the resentment/disappointment evident in the words and body of a sales representative when he said that “I am only as good as my last sale. At the start of every month I am back to zero”. For this sales rep it is almost a bridge too far to consider that focusing purely on the result does not maximally enable him in his sales-effort as that is how the organisation is set up and that is what his manager drives. I have no doubt that by shifting the focus incrementally from sales results to sales process will contribute immensely to the sales experience and resultant outcome for this and many other sales reps in a similar position. Failing this, the boss will continue to be seen as a “(slave) driver”, the client/customer will continue to be seen as a means to an end and the possibility for collaborative relationships between the sales reps will remain untapped.
I say this with great respect for sales reps as I know their job is not an easy one.