This weeks affirmation is I catch people doing good things.  This week I will catch client doing something right, and provide them with positive feedback.

This affirmation is a powerful framing for anyone in sales – and it’s about looking for opportunities to catch people doing good things.

Now on the surface this can seem a little trite, however, stay with me, as I’ve been able to turn this affirmation into very positive results, not just for myself, but for many of those who I have coached and/or presented my sales philosophy to over the years.

The One Minute Manager Revisited

Catching people doing good and providing them with positive feedback was wonderfully encapsulated in the classic management best seller “The One Minute Manager” by Blanchard and Spencer when they suggested to catch people doing things right.

In sales, when we look for opportunities to catch our clients doing good things….doing things right, we will discover reasons to acknowledge them that goes beyond just thanking them for their business.

Some ‘Real Play’ Examples

An example in business to business sales could be that you acknowledge something that you genuinely believe was a positive move by one of your clients (other than buying from you).  You could acknowledge a change that they’ve made to their website.  You could acknolwedge an advertising campaign that you’ve noticed they’ve introduced.  You could acknowledge a change in their strategic direction, or a milestone that was reported in the local newspaper.

I think often in business to consumer sales applying this affirmation is a little more difficult.  You could genuinely acknowledge or compliment (notice I said genuinely) the client on what they wear, or maybe it could be that you acknowledge their answer to one of your questions that you’ve asked to determine their wants and needs.

It really is however a bigger and more meaningful affirmation than giving people a compliment.  It must be genuine, and most importantly it must have substance and meaning.  For example to compliment anyone for what they wear, if it is not appropriately related to the sale you’re about to make is probably going to come across as shallow and a ‘technique’.  Whereas, if you’re in retail clothing sales, and you genuinely like the combination of what the customer is wearing, and again, that it is genuine, then most customers would feel good about that.

So what’s the real point of this affirmation?

When we adopt the intention of genuinely wanting to catch people doing things right…doing good things, and acknowledging them in some way for it, we are sending loud and clear messages that our focus is genuinely on wanting to improve each and every potential and existing clients’ situation.

The great boxer Ali was reported as saying that he believed that he was blessed with people around him who saw more in his potential than he saw in himself.

When any of us receive genuine and positive feedback on the things that we do, it reinforces our sense of self worth and this has a deepening effect on the value we place on the relationship.

Don’t Be Shallow

 Let me finish this message though by reminding you and reinforcing that shallow compliments will be quickly wiped away by potential and existing clients and damage the trust levels within the relationship.

Having said that, catching your clients doing things right and doing good things is in itself a wonderfully rewarding exercise for any of us in sales.

One of the dangers in dealing with wisdom that has been often passed on from one person to another, is that over time the real message of the original piece of wisdom can be diluted or lost altogether.

There’s a lot of solid research that I’m sure you’ve heard of that recommends salespeople stay in touch with their clients on a regular basis. It depends on what research you’ve seen or heard, but the frequency of how often we need to keep in touch with our clients generally seems to be between 3 and 7 weeks.

The real objective of Contact Initiation Strategies.

One of the struggles that salespeople (and their managers) are often faced with is when they call their clients on these regular diarised occasions to keep in touch, neither they or their clients enjoy the experience…..and it can actually be a disconnect or disengagement in the trust building process – which is the goal of staying in touch in the first place.

The key is for salespeople to be constantly looking and researching for reasons, purpose and value possibilities for which making contact with the client, whether by phone, email or face to face, becomes more than just a diarised ‘touch base’ call.

Here are some strategies for you to consider….

* Maybe it’s an article you’ve read and want to share

* It coule be an experience that you want to discuss

* What about a question you need to ask

* Or perhaps it is an update you know will be important for the client…..

Make it your personal and professional challenge and responsibility to go beyond ‘touch base’.