Obviously, nothing can top the sales class hosted outside on a gorgeous Monday afternoon – however, the 2nd best was the lesson Professor Sweet on serving in sales. Initially, I thought this would be a lecture (more or less) on the Biblical implications of sales and business. Surprisingly, the topic stayed distant from Scriptual teachings and focused mostly on just doing what the client needed. You do not need to have a relationship with Jesus to understand giving the client what they want and when they want it.
Pink even dedicates a chunk of his book to serving the buyer out of the goodness of your heart. A cool analogy Pink used to illustrate how much we should serve our prospect by thinking of the person as a grandmother. No one can be mean to their grandma, especially when grandma needs something you have that can fix her problem. The most interesting part of Pink’s perspective on serving is that he comes at it 100% secularly. He uses studies done by scientists and social analysts to prove thinking of others results in more productivity than thinking of oneself. On top of that, Pink pulls on the heart strings when he discusses serving others is a part of being human. The robotic, reading off scripts, showing a lack of empathy is going out of style and will not work in a sales call.
Going off of that, Professor Sweet elaborated that serving others is a form of showing the prospect that we care – which is never a bad thing. In fact, letting your soft side show may make you stand out amongst the crowd of other salespeople your buyer will see for the day. This concept also plays into narratives, being nice to your grandma, and so on.
Overall, I believe serving others to be the most important part of sales. We are to serve others as God has served us and it is a no-brainer we should be doing so in every part of our life. Being available and having the best interest of the client in mind will (eventually) teach us what it means to live loving others as God intended us to.
testacr22
This is such an interesting and deeply thoughtful post. I really enjoyed reading it and hearing your thoughts. The analogy from Pink about treating everyone like your grandma is so different but makes a ton of sense! How can you treat your grandma any other way but with love and kindness! That is definitely a good thing to keep in my mind when dealing with customers. Thanks for sharing!
God is evident in all that we do, and I love how you pointed out how Sales also proves this to be true!
It is very interesting that you pointed out, “you do not need to have a relationship with Jesus to understand giving the client what they want and when they want it.” Very true, it just makes it easier and more purposeful when you do know Jesus. 🙂 It is so important to remember that we are called to serve, and that prospects are people too – the grandma analogy (and picture you attached) are my favorite parts of this thoughtful post!