The two most important sales lessons I learned from my mom growing up.

Go make some friends

My mom always told me to go outside, go to school, go to practice and ‘make friends.’  And as my sales career progresses, I realize that she taught me one of the most valuable sales lessons.  She taught me how important it was to build relationships.  When I asked my mom ‘how do I make friends’ she always replied ‘be a friend.’  She said it’s all about doing right by people and being trustworthy.

If you ask me that’s EXACTLY what I think the best salespeople do.  They go out and make friends.  They do the right thing and do right by people, and they are trustworthy.

Do your homework

My mom liked to remind me to ‘do my homework.’  She would remind me that I needed to do my research and look up information.

So few salespeople ‘do their homework.’  They show up and have no idea what the company is about, what the mission and goals of the company, and how they can help.  Salespeople go into situations and say ‘do you know what you should do?’ instead of providing true solutions.  They state everything about the company before they take the time to truly understand the needs of the client.

The great salespeople do their homework.  They take the time to understand the client.  And they do this for the sole purpose of truly understanding the best way to help.  And if they can’t help, they tell the client (and provide solutions even if it means they refer them to their competitor).

So, according to Gail (aka ‘Mom’), “Go make friends and do your homework!”