Good, Better, Best...

2009-06-27T13:13:00.001-05:00

"Good, better, best. Never let it rest.

'Til your good is better and your better is best."

-St. Jerome, father of the Latin church - 340? - 420 a.d

OK, I already know you’re wondering what St. Jerome and Scrabble have to do with sales. Really…I do! However, if you’ll let me know when you come up with a better illustration of what I’m going to talk about, I’ll happily publish it and then bow before you as …better...maybe even the best!

If you’re in sales, you know that there’s a lot of pressure to be the best. Whether it’s from your sales manager, your customers, or yourself, it’s always there. Entire industries are built around selling you things to help you “be the best”. After all, who wouldn’t want to be the best?

Here’s a question: What does “best” mean?

There’s a widely used advertising technique, also commonly used in sales. It’s pretty simple – show the customer a range of products – good, better, best – and compare the features and benefits of each. Show them what they get with each price point. Sales 101, right? You’ve seen it, you’ve used it. But – have you applied it to your career? To your own personal development?

Here’s another question: Is “good, better, best” intentional or accidental?

Most of us don’t just pop out at birth as “the best” at anything, in spite of what our doting parents proudly proclaim to the rest of the world. We start with what we have and are nurtured, trained and disciplined by others until we achieve sufficient maturity to take on the task of intentionally managing our own growth.

Now…here’s where I’m going to align St. Jerome, Scrabble and Sales – Get Ready!

When I was a little girl, maybe 4 or 5 years old, not yet in school nor able to read more than a few simple words, my grandmother (called her Mom – don’t know why) would sit me down at the table and play Scrabble with me. If I couldn’t read, I certainly couldn’t spell, but Mom never let that stop us! She’d place the dictionary beside me, and help me look up words to match the letters resting in the little wooden scrabble tray so I could build my words on her words. I thought I was pretty good, but I always wanted to be better. I quickly developed the habit of looking for words in any book I could get my hands on. Guess what – I got better – lots better. By the time I was in 5th grade, I was not just better – I actually became the best speller in my class, with a trophy and $5 to prove it! Even now, nearly 50 years later, I still find myself looking up words, pictures, and ideas because I want to be a better speller, a better writer and a better communicator. I could tell a similar story about learning to play the piano, and how that became a life-long learning process. You probably have examples of your own quest to improve and grow.

The point is, almost nothing begins at “Best”.

As St. Jerome noted 1600 years ago, good is a great place to start, but it’s not where you want to stay. Think of “good” as a promise that you can become “better”. You get better intentionally. You study, you practice, you improve. “Better” then becomes your bridge to “Best”. Where are you in your selling career today? Pretty good? What do you need to intentionally do to make "good" better? Don’t fret over best – just focus on better first. Do you need more product knowledge? Do you need to develop your phone skills, or your presentation techniques, or maybe your career wardrobe? Do you need to find a mentor or a coach? Most of us can find someone we admire to seek advice from, or compete with, or just emulate. But it will not happen if you don’t intentionally make the effort. Even if you just start with one thing, work at it, get better, and keep pushing it, “never resting”, until you’re better, and better, and finally…best!

:) mb, who can still spell “antidisestablishmentarianism”

Sales Chicks Rock!

2009-06-07T15:32:00.000-05:00

Here’s why sales chicks rock: They take whatever they have and stretch it as far as it will go, and then some! I frequently wonder how many women actually planned on a career in sales. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who just kind of fell into it after realizing that my natural gifts plus the skills gathered over the course of a lifetime commanded more money when applied to sales instead of whatever else it was we did before becoming “sales chicks”!

Let’s face it – most of us work for the money. Fulfillment is great, and all that, but if I’m getting out of my cozy yoga pants and t-shirt to put on the big-girl suit and shoes, and walk out the door every morning, it’s because I’m planning on getting paid! And…sales pays better than most other jobs!

So…what ARE some of the skills we take for granted that transfer so well to sales? Well, here are a few, in no particular order:

Instinct: Some people call this women’s intuition: “I know my kid’s up to something…” becomes “There's something this customer isn’t telling me…”, which leads to lots of smart questions, which uncovers the truth, which reveals the pain, which is what we sell to! Selling=$$$

Time Management: You set the table at night for breakfast the next morning, juggle the baby on your hip while starting the microwave and emptying the dishwasher, find you husband’s socks while quizzing your 4th grader on her spelling words. You know...time management…multi-tasking. The 6 lb. calendar, the notes on the fridge, the sticky notes on the dashboard of your car. Time management allows you to juggle more customers than anyone else. More customers=$$$

Psychology: Do I even have to explain this one? Do you have kids? Siblings? Parents? Roommates? Or a guy? Or friends who love you and hate each other? Women master diplomacy because it’s the smartest, most efficient way to keep everyone in line. Diplomacy yields great relationships with customers. Great relationships bring more opportunity. Opportunity=$$$ More? How about patience, persuasiveness, teaching, nurturing, organizing, trouble-shooting…and a hundred other skills that women hone, yet never use to help themselves increase their earning power. More earning power=$$$ Sales is a great career for women. Nothing else gives you as much control over your income, your time, and your lifestyle as a career in sales. Being a sales chick rocks. Think about how YOU became a sales chick, and drop me a note at my discussion on LinkedIn: “Sales Chicks”. If you don’t have a profile, just go to

http://www.linkedin.com and create one – it’s fast and it’s free, and it’s where the REST of the great sales chicks are talking! See you online, you sales chick, you!

Mary Beth Smith's "Sales Chicks!"

Good, Better, Best...

Sales Chicks Rock!