MINNEAPOLIS - I don't know about you, but I really appreciate this refreshing societal groundswell of support for doing the right thing lately.
Maybe it's the Web making the world a much smaller place, maybe it's the rise in social media that's fostered this newfound sense of social justice, or maybe we're all tired of the nice guy finishing last.
I don't suppose it matters, but I'm always encouraged when I see such a chronically fractured society such as ours come together. The oil geyser raining misery all over the gulf is just the latest - and largest - example. (And it's made environmentalism hip again, for now.)
And I'm sure you've all heard the heart-breaking story about the Detroit pitcher robbed of his perfect game (on what should have been the very last out) on a bad call at first base. But the universal outrage did little to sway the powers that be; Commissioner Bud Selig called a press conference just to say he wasn't going to do anything. Tradition, his message seemed to say, trumped any sense of fairness.
I'm sorry, but that fires me up more than the original sin. At least that umpire owned his mistake, stood tall and apologized to the pitcher. Doing the right thing is one thing, but admitting to screwing up, then fixing it? That's something else altogether. I imagine sales is no different. I spent an entire weekend in the Twin Cities with a gaggle of salespeople. And after a few drinks, some bland banquet lasagna, the awards started flying. The long-winded speeches soon followed.
Now, that's all well and good, but two hours later, it struck me that among all the clich?d sales stories and speechifying, not one of those award-winning salespeople talked about what they do after the sale. Sure scouring for prospects is one thing, nailing the sale is another and I understand that there are few things as rewarding as hitting your goal. (I hear that around the office back in Denver all the time.)
But what about after? Especially now, when clients (like everyone else) expect you to do the right thing. I imagine that also means establishing the right relationship. Because now, when pricing and product offerings have become nearly egalitarian, you need any edge you can get when it comes to hanging on to your clients.
And, really, if you want to be the kind of broker known for making things right, it probably means actually talking to your client more than once a year.
