As salespeople, we are always at the alert to keep the greatest attitude. We are careful in all aspects of our lives to grow the positives, to accept the challenges for improvement and to reflect upon the potential enhancements for excellence. Because of our basic personal qualities, we are strongly motivated to perfect the delivery of our humor to the greatest benefit; we are sincere in our desire to be consistently pleasant people; we are sensitive to the needs of our customers; we are ethical in our interactions with the people around us. We are highly motivated to develop all of our strengths and to utilize them creatively and constructively.

The personal qualities that we possess, the forward-looking behaviors we demonstrate, the strong desire to grow in our private lives and our professional lives, all combine to express the great people that we are deep down. Couple that desire with the skills and expertise around the products we present to our customers, and the obvious result is a quality, professional salesperson capable of a great deal of success in our career of choice!

If we are truly honest with the self within, strengths and weaknesses tend to become increasingly obvious indicators of the "next steps" that we may need to take in the task of growing and improving. From those indicators, one can begin to formulate the goals and mini-steps which are the priorities that can be the yardstick for our development.

Additionally, it may be helpful and either reinforcing or guiding to seek feedback from the people around us. Certainly, our friends and family are pretty vocal about what they perceive we are doing, both bad and good. Bosses are motivated to let us know how we are doing with regard to work performance. What about the people who are most directly affected by our work performance--our customers?

Customer feedback (via Customer Service cards, online surveys, comments overheard) is a valuable tool in keeping us at the top of our game and projecting the greatest of our skills and strengths! Much customer feedback is affirming of who we are working to be in the world. Some may elicit suggestions and perceptions which really will improve the levels of sales, customer service and products that we provide.

Being open and willing to benefit from feedback from our customers is a part of being a quality salesperson. Customer feedback can also be a tool to enhance the directions of the entire company! Does it get any better than THAT?

FINAO - Brad Huisken