Let me tell you why I never bought from your company. I was being sold to, period. I resented the fact that I had real issues and some hot shot sales person was coming into my business who had absolutely no experience in running a business and even sometimes, no experience in my industry, and was telling me they had the product that would increase my sales. Really? How do you know?

They would then embark on all the benefits and reasons why this is the product for me and truth be told, they were highly educated in their presentation. But the product was never my problem, or the fact that my staff loved getting new toys and got real excited about the new “stuff”. The problem was, they never sold it. Sales didn’t increase, just my inventory.

Now, on the odd time that I actually gave the sales person the time of day and discussed my challenge, they had nothing to offer other than the product will sell itself. Right, if they looked around they could see I had a shelf full of product that wasn’t moving.

Although I had voiced my challenge and although I was given an answer, my experience with this sales person was of no value to me. Clients buy from people when they see value in what they offer. Had I been coached on how to successfully market this product, educated on how to get my team to sell it or most importantly offered some support, I would have seen the value.

Your sales people are your company’s first impression and the message should be that doing business with your company, regardless of the products you carry or who will be representing next month will be of value. Products and sales people come and go but the reputation you build on being a valuable resource in your industry is single handedly the most powerful sales tool you have.

This is your business brand. It is the service you provide and the way it is facilitated. Your “Standard Of Service” is the process sales teams use to create the client experience from the minute they have connected to you. This includes your website, brochures, telephone service and your sales people. The more specific the brand the more organic your marketing is to your ideal client.

So next time your sales person is out there presenting your image, rather than focusing on them making sales, ask yourself this; are my clients having the experience that will bring them back to my company?