NO smile equals NO enthusiasm!

When managing a team of sales people it is important evaluate challenges by breaking down each problem and work on resolving them one by one. That was the case with a particular sales rep in my office. Every month this sales rep, we’ll call him Tom, just missed his quota. I sat and reviewed all his numbers. When I looked close I noticed that although his conversions from appointments to clients were good he lacked in getting appointments. With out giving himself enough opportunities he was not able to close enough deals to make goal. Phone skills was the problem I was faced with. So one day I sat outside Tom’s office and just listened to him call his leads. He didn’t take no for an answer, he tried to build a relationship with the clients; he worked hard at converting appointments but with no success. Then it dawned on me. It was the way he was talking. There was no enthusiasm in his voice. I stepped into his office and saw him slouch at his desk spinning a pen while talking. NO smile equals NO enthusiasm! I understood the problem right away. I had to teach Tom to smile talk!

After realizing the challenge I move into action. I left the office on my lunch break, went to the store and bought everyone in the office a mirror that they could place on the wall next to their desks. When I returned we had a meeting discussing their phone conduct. I encouraged the whole staff to view themselves when they talked on the phones, and to make sure they smiled as they talked.

The plan worked. Everyone was finding they had much better conversion rates when they focused on their phone skills. The Branches revenue increased by thirty percent. As for Tom he was promoted to manager.

I share this story because it is important for us all too trouble shoot the problems in our offices and implement creative ways to resolve those situations.