On a personal note:

I would like to take a moment to wish Jennifer Brieske a fond farewell.  After 8 years with G Street Fabrics she is headed on to enjoy more time with her family.  Enjoy, your retirement is well deserved.

Thought of the day...

I just completed an order from a client who had me over twice 9 months ago.  Sometimes it takes a bit of time.  I was looking through my old records to see what I did with her stuff.  True to form I was certain she would eventually sign and didn't move it to the old stuff.  It was sitting in my bring with me every day stuff.  Now if only I hadn't spent an hour looking for it.  The moral of this story...it cost nothing extra to hold onto paperwork you've already done.

Google+

The longer I work in the industry to more people I meet and e-mail.  Wouldn't it be nice if you could keep in touch with all those people?  Luckily Gmail and Google+ seem to have taken care of that for me.  Ten minutes later and I have nearly 200 people who I have done business with or for all able to see the photos from my other two blogs.  If even one of them decides that they need my help for a single project then my time was more than justified.

Never bring only one option...

Even if you KNOW what they are going to pick, even if they told you to bring a specific fabric as it is chosen, always make sure to bring alternate option.

1.  The fabric may become discontinued, back ordered, or otherwise unavailable.

2.  It never hurts to have another piece that will show off how nice the one they selected is.

3.  What happens if they didn't realize how much that piece costs and it is more than they want to spend?

People want to feel as if they have selected the best choice.  Even if you leave the other options in your vehicle until such a time as they are needed a professional always has another option (or two).

Happy 4th...

I hope you don't have to work, but if you do take solace in the knowledge that most everyone who you deal with on the 4th will be very serious.  I don't enjoy working every holiday, but people are off and they are generally in a good mood.  Sometimes those two things are all that is required for a successful sale.

What's really important?

Another short one today (it's late and I've spent over 6 hours in the car today).  There is little to be gained by fighting over assignation of blame.  The important question to ask is not "who is at fault?" it is "How do we fix this?"  In a well managed organization who is to blame is a self-correcting issue, and the answer is rarely the person who is working towards the solution.

Don't lie.

Seriously, I shouldn't even have to type a post about this.  Lying is both wrong and counter productive.  Especially in an organization where you are not the only employee.  What are you going to do tell everyone that you lied to a client and that they need to make sure not to contradict you?

Lying starts when you don't view the customer and yourself on the same team. the contentious nature of sales sometimes leads people into an us vs them mentality.  It is so much better to work with people towards a common and mutually satisfying goal than to fight with them to make and then keep a sale.

I am by no means one of these perky optimist types.  But I do think that there is a downward spiral associated with negative thoughts about clients.  When you dislike someone you justify giving them less and less acceptable treatment.  Soon enough it leads to the attitude that they are only one customer and there will be others if you don't treat this one in a way that retains them.

I cannot express how much better it is to work with clients who you like.  While it's not always possible, treat the ones you don't care for professionally.  Don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal.  And if you do, don't ask to work with me or my clients.