Finding purpose fuels drive: Successful Selling

By Sam Allman

I still vividly remember a day many years ago that affected the rest of my life. I was working with my father, which was not something I always liked to do. We were preparing to install new carpet in a house, so I was told to remove the old carpet and cushion from one of the rooms. I remember the smell, the dirt and the filth, and I remember thinking, “What an awful place to live.” Rolling up the old cushion and carpet and preparing the subfloor was a chore. I washed my hands and arms numerous times, thinking to myself, “I could never live here.”

However, at the end of the day when our job was completed, I looked around the room. I had an epiphany. My efforts and, of course, the new carpet dramatically changed everything. The room and the house had become a place in which I could live. My work made a difference. I experienced the power of purpose.

Purpose is one of the most powerful human motivators, if not the most powerful of all. Purpose is an essential tool for winning armies, successful companies and happy individuals. It is not a nice-to-have bonus, but a strategic requisite. Soldiers who care about their cause fight harder, and their passion invites support. That’s why small groups of people with purpose have changed the world.

To develop purpose is to find meaning in your actions, just as I found that my actions made a difference in someone’s home. Author Norman Mailer once remarked, “The purpose of life is to make a dent.” I had made a dent, and to me, it meant that I mattered.

You might say, “Why does this matter to me? What does that have to do with selling or managing a flooring store?” Well, it matters because resilience, persistence and patience are a critical part of selling success, and each is fueled by personal motivation.

SALES AND EGO-DRIVE
In my book, Heart and Mind Selling, I write about the number two characteristic of selling: ego-drive. In order to sell, a salesperson must be motivated or driven to influence customers. Without that drive, salespeople hesitate to ask or close the sale. They become order takers or customer service agents. Consider that 76% of all sales presentations end without the customer being asked for the order. Without ego-drive, most salespeople quit when the customer objects or voices a concern.

In one Yale University study, most successful sales closings came on the fifth attempt. In order to make five closing attempts, a salesperson must be patient, driven and persistent. That drive separates the peak performer from the average performer. Purpose and meaning fuel ego-drive. Digging down to the meaning of what we do taps our resilience to weather hard times and taps our passion in good times.

And as a sales manager, not only do you need to be driven, but you want your sales staff to be driven as well. I might add that people with natural ego-drive do not migrate toward retail sales. I have studied over 50,000 retail flooring salespeople, and most are not that ego-driven. It’s sad to say that many people (50% in one study) put just enough effort into their work to keep their jobs, and 84% said that they could work harder if they wanted to. As a sales manager, you can buy their hands, but you can’t buy their hearts or passions. That’s why you have to be careful who you hire.

Since there are fewer job opportunities today, many people settle for professions they do not love. Steve Jobs said, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.” Perhaps that is why 80% of people surveyed are dissatisfied in their jobs. Perhaps they feel that their work is not meaningful.

FINDING MEANING
Some people, however, are seeking jobs that are both interesting and valuable to society. Research has revealed that 37% of students expect to make an impact through their work within five years, and 58% of students would take a pay cut to work for an organization that shares their values. Interestingly, across all generations of workers, women lead the way in pursuing careers that contribute to society. Sixty percent of women surveyed believe it is very important to work for a socially or environmentally responsible company.

We all work for the same thing—and it’s not just money. It’s meaning. Through our work, we seek a sense of purpose, contribution, connection and value. On an individual level, when we understand our job’s wider purpose, we are happier, more engaged, more creative and more productive. Why shouldn’t we all want that? We spend at least one third of our day at work.

The big question is: what if we are miserable in what we are doing, but quitting is not an option? That’s when we must dig deeper into the effects of what we do. We can change how we feel by simply changing how we view our circumstances. I changed my view of my work when I had that epiphany many years ago.

If we are miserable and nonproductive, it’s the “why” we must rediscover of what we do. I believe that’s what Carl French, owner of Speer’s Road Broadloom in Ontario, Canada does every day when he says to his customers, “You need me to make sure you don’t make a mistake.” That’s a powerful purpose that portrays substantial meaning.

A clear purpose inspires you to give more than just your hands to your work. When you involve your heart to your efforts, you are more engaged, more productive and more satisfied. Here are some suggestions to help you keep your heart in your work.

• Savor those special moments you have with a grateful customer. Notice when what you do matters to others. When no one is saying thank you, reminisce about those moments, like when a customer thanked and hugged you for making her home beautiful, a place of which she is proud. Create a portfolio of thank-you notes. Savoring and reminiscing are strategies of happy, engaged, purpose-driven people.

• Constantly strive for excellence and continue to learn. Always have a sales or management book on your bed stand. The best salespeople are students of the game, and learning keeps the mind and senses sharp. World-renowned cellist Pablo Casals practiced eight hours a day. When asked why, he said, “I think I’m getting better.” Never stop trying to improve. Learning makes you happier and fuels personal purpose.

• View your job as a calling. Your calling is to minister to the needs of your customer. Remember Gandhi’s words: “The moment there is suspicion about a person’s motives, everything he does becomes tainted.” If your drive is centered on the customers (your purpose), they will never question your motives. They will see the purity of your intent. The more important it is for you to meet your numbers or goals, the more important it is to stop concentrating on your needs and start concentrating on the customer’s needs and goals.

SALES MANAGER TIPS
• Talk to your sales staff about the importance of their work and how it matters to customers.

• Create a company mission that inspires your employees to make a difference not only to your customers, but also to the community. Julie Kerkochian of United Carpet One serves on the board of the Infant of Prague adoption service in Fresno, Calififornia During a recent Toast to the Children event, she and many of her employees, during work hours, set up and took down chairs and tables for the affair at the Fresno Museum. They went to bed that night knowing that what they did mattered.

• Provide positive feedback on how each of your employees is making a difference in the lives of your customers, other members of your organization and to the community. Be a people builder. In the words of management expert Ken Blanchard, “Catch your people doing things right.” Recognize everyday heroes.

• Create a company culture built around ceremonies and story-telling. Create ceremonies recognizing employees that make a difference and how that difference mattered. Tell stories of how well they ministered to the needs of your customers, your company and the community.

At a certain point, we become what we do. We want our jobs and lives to fit us as well as custom-tailored clothing. It seems more and more that the secret to great success and happiness is finding purpose and working with meaning. If the purpose of life is to make a dent, let’s make a big one!