I work with many salespeople that are too tentative in their approach at every step of the sales process. This tentativeness is contagious. It infects the customer with a feeling of doubt, which causes them to hesitate and not buy. We, as salespeople, must accept our part in the process.
When a fondness for carpentry and a knack for sales intersect, you either get (A) A lot of doors slammed in your face, (B) Too many contacts in your “log” book, or (C) A career in lumber trading that allows you to leverage two of your interests. Of course, the correct answer—at least in my case—is “C.”
I've always been a forester at heart. My lifelong love of the outdoors blossomed as a child and only grew as I did.So when I gravitated toward majoring in forestry at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, I can’t say anyone was surprised.
We build relationships with our customers one call at a time. Our goal is to daisy-chain these calls together to make the process faster. Many salespeople call their customers in a willy-nilly fashion. This creates willy-nilly results.
To be a great salesperson means to have a wide range of skills that can be applied across a broad range of people in markets that change every day.
As an undergraduate, the term “lumber trader” wasn’t even in my vocabulary. Years later, I still had never heard of this occupation…nor would I have ever guessed that it would eventually follow my name on a business card.
I grew up on a golf course in Georgia; and my dream was to become an investment banker on Wall Street! My dreams and I went off to Georgia Southern to study finance; but experience after experience—step after step—kept pointing me toward my destiny.
Quick! Name three new buzzwords you’ve learned in the last several months. We can start with “social distancing,” “new normal,” and “flatten the curve.” And if someone had told you back in January that you’d be conducting regular business via something called Zoom, you probably would have rolled your eyes and laughed.
Retailers and the warehouses and distributors that support them know that empty shelves lead to lost sales.
Buyers want to feel that they have done their job. Their job is to shop for the best deal. Most sellers only promote one item at a time.
