The Santa Selling System
Posted by
Chris Lang on Thu, Dec 23, 2023 @ 08:00 AM
Santa must do awesome in his yearly reviews. Aside from his food addiction issues and a penchant for the dramatic entrance via fireplace, his boss really has nothing to complain about. It would appear Santa is doing pretty well for himself too. Sales people often judge their peers based on possessions. Nice suits, accessories and of course a sweet ride are all signs of a rain maker. No offense to my colleagues driving BMW’s and Mercedes, but the man drives a mahogany sled with mythical flying reindeer as the engine. That must cost a fortune! When it comes to the suit, well I don’t think I really have to go into it, but I assume a weatherproof size XXXL velvet suit goes for big bucks. So how does he do it? I think we could all take a page out of Kringle’s book to become better sales people in 2011.
First and foremost, no one works closer with the marketing team (elves) than Santa. The result: he has a hell of a list! Marketing even tracks prospect behavior over the course of the year and tells Santa what each prospect wants. I am quite certain, that if we took some extra time to coordinate with marketing, you would find that they can make it a lot easier for you to hit your number. It’s kind of a “help them, help you” type of situation. For a sales rep, your marketing results all depend on what you put into them. I think we are often times way to busy to work with marketing, but we never seem to be too busy to shoot a round of golf. If you give marketing no information and no effort then they won’t be able to help you. A good resolution to have is to work closer with the people that supply us with our lists and do a ton of preliminary work to help us get to the right people. It will pay off in the end.
Santa’s work ethic is something to be emulated. Other than the “He-man mix-up of 1984”, Claus pretty much always hits his mark. (Seriously another Skeletor? Battle armor He-Man Santa. Bad call on that one.) I think the key to his success is that he puts in the work on the other 364 days to make the results of December 25th a virtual guarantee. Sales executives often work in fits and starts taking days to relax when their forecast seems ok and then panicking to come up with a back-up plan if something falls through. If you work hard every day, successful results become easier to expect. If you decide to take days off, you are putting yourself at risk to have to hit a homerun in the bottom of the ninth to get to your number.
The last big reason Santa is so successful is because people like him. He always tries to do the best for his clientele. Imagine if Santa gave you what he thought you should have rather than what you actually wanted! “Well Bobby, I know it says that you want a bike, but quite frankly your math aptitude is sub-par so you’re getting a calculator.” Conversely, he doesn’t give you something that you can’t handle. Imagine if my sister actually got the pony. You can’t safely have an equine animal in a city condo. The smell would be awful and I don’t think horses can climb stairs. Some of the sales people I talk to put what they want (their own financial gains) ahead of what is best for the prospect. It is transparent and you will lose out on deals because you’re not convincing if you know you aren’t selling the best thing for the prospect. Be honest with your prospects and focus on what is best for them. If you do that, the financial rewards will follow.
So there you have it. 3 tips based on the Santa Selling System. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a very successful 2011. Happy Hunting!