When Coach DiDonatto spoke in class last week, one of his main points was that the most important quality in any selling relationship (and in any relationship at all, I might add) is trust. Trust, he said, is comprised of two parts: ability and intent.
In order to be a successful salesperson, the people we’re selling to must know that we’re not just seeking gain for ourselves, but that we care about their experience and goals. We should be so focused on the customer and what they are seeking to accomplish that we might even turn a customer away because we think someone else has a better solution to their problem.
Coach DiDo talked about this in regards to recruiting students for GCC. Sometimes when he’s talking to students, it’s clear to him that another school will be a better fit for a particular student. In those cases, he doesn’t try to push GCC by covering up the details that won’t be appealing to this student – instead e’s honest about this opinion, even if it means losing this customer.
The same thing happened to one of my friends from high school who wanted to come to Grove City. She met with someone from the admissions office and explained what she was looking for in a school, and what opportunities she wished her school could open up for her after she graduated. The admissions counselor was upfront and told her that Grove City probably wouldn’t be a good fit for her, and on top of that, he gave her some ideas of where else she could look to apply. As much as I wished that friend went to school here, I’m glad the admissions counselor was more focused on my friend’s goals than on adding another number to his recruits. She is much happier because of it, and showed that Grove City can be trusted when it comes to sales.
If we were just thinking in the short-term, turning away a possible customer wouldn’t make sense. But if we think about it in the long-term, turning away a possible customer for the right reasons puts us (our company, school, business, etc.) in a better light. People will know we have the right intent in sales, and will trust us as a result.
BoweryJE22
I love that Coach Dido’s talk triggered a personal experience for you. It is crazy to see how honest and down to earth people at GCC are, and even when student enrollment is down, they still choose to tell the truth and turn kids away because they know they would not be happy. Short and Long term effects are also awesome to think about and they were great details to add to the end of your post since some people don’t think about them.
Building trust and credibility in sales is a very important part of forming relationships. Coach D did a great job of portraying that through his story and experience. When selling you should not be focused on your agenda. You should be going by the flow of the potential customer. See if they need what your can provide and if it is a good fit. Being straight up and honest about what your can provide and if it is the right fit can be a great relationship start and can lead to referrals in the future.
Too many people in a sales position neglect to view their “customer” as a person, but more of someone who can bring them money or a reward. Instead of being trustful and truthful they do anything they can to still get that person to buy. So, it was very interesting to hear Coach DiDonato even admit to telling someone they would do better somewhere else or in medical sales their product is not for them. It does spark hope in the sales world because so far sales is looked very down upon. As Sweet spoke in class, salesmen need to listen, ask question and look for the pain, not the other way around. This post ties into both selling tips and selling trustfulness.
Good job to whoever was honest to your friend about Grove City College not being a good fit for her. It might not have been something she was expecting to hear, but I’m sure she will appreciate it looking back on her life. It’s crazy to think that everyone, including the people in the admissions offices, are “salespeople” in a way, and it’s even crazier to think that the individual at the admissions office did not close the deal, but was honest and provided your friend with other options. Great writing!