What I Finally Understand: A Daughter’s Rave

By Erin Hubbard, Chief Experience Daughter

As is the case with most children, teenagers or, let’s face it, young adults…for the better part of my life I honestly believed my father was clueless. When advice was offered, an opinion given or a solution rendered, I would consistently proceed to take a turn in the opposite direction. If he suggested going right, I would go left. Sound familiar?

It wasn’t until, oh, about three years ago that I actually began to hear what he was saying. You see, as much as I used to hate the blatant similarities between my dad and me, we have always been essentially the same person. This truth smacked me in the face when I began my career as a hotel sales manager.

After finally accepting this frightening reality, I began to execute his advice, trust his judgment and accept his offered solutions (even though some of them seemed pretty out there). I am better for it. So, in the spirit of the new year and perhaps to help some young or veteran banker take a more disciplined turn related to trust-based conversations in 2008, I have taken over this “rant” section to share with you a small snippet of the life and sales lessons I have learned from Jack Hubbard. These ideas may seem basic, but, at times, we all get caught up in paperwork, daily monotony and the “book it and cook it” mentality and we all forget (whether in banking or hotel sales) that our true goal as sales professionals is to improve the performance of our clients. To be truly successful we need to constantly go back to the basics. Enjoy!

1. Average sales people work 8:30-5:30. Extraordinary results come before and after.

My Dad began drilling this into my head from the day I graduated from college and started looking for my first position in hotel catering. As I would complain about staying past 6 PM to have dinner with a client or moan about attending a late-night networthing (if it’s work, it isn’t worth it) event, he would stress the benefit of being available to my clients. This has helped me form long-lasting relationships with individuals (note: individuals, not buyers, pre-clients, clients, etc.). By accommodating them and making myself visible as a resource, the individuals I have met have become loyal buyers and a constant source of referrals.

2. Stop thinking about how the client or new pre-client is going to help YOU. How are YOU or your product adding value to this person’s life or business?

Too many of my colleagues and competitors are simply looking to make a quick sale, book the business and rake in their commissions. Clients can smell these “processors” a mile away. If you are truly interested in how your product can improve someone’s job or impact a life, he/she will trust you, give you the business and continue to do so over and over again. My dad taught me that as I was driving to the office (he has said he hasn’t had a job in 21 years) every day, I should think about how I can help, how I can add value and how I can optimize the experience my clients have with my hotel. He said, and he is correct, that if you do the right things right, the money will take care of itself.

3. Invest one hour each day in prospecting.

I don’t know about you but I’m pretty busy with lots of clients. There are times when I think that having more prospects in the top of my sales funnel is a punishment, not a reward. My dad taught me that there are good times in sales and bad times in sales but that I should be prospecting all the time. That doesn’t mean cold-calling. What a horrible idea. When I started at my hotel, they actually had us doing “sales blitzes.” That was even worse. How can you articulate trust when you “just happened to be in the area and thought I would stop by to sell you something?” Prospecting means sourcing new opportunities by driving around, by looking at the newspaper. It means sending some letters or picking up the phone and reconnecting with referral sources. I like to do this at the same time every day. I block time out for it. It has helped keep my funnel overflowing.

4. Sometimes, it simply isn’t a good fit.

This is a valuable one and it is applicable in more than one arena: in a current or prospective new job, in a personal relationship, in a client partnership. There is nothing wrong with walking away from business if it is just not working for you or the individual on the other end. Something better is waiting in the wings and you just may miss your chance at the “better” if your time is invested in fighting for something that isn’t right for either of you. In your world I’ve heard it’s never a bad loan until you book it (I was a teller for a little while and I heard the lenders talk like this a couple of times). In the sales world the relationship never goes south until you sign the contract and when we try to put square relationships into round holes, there will always be problems.

5. What have you read lately? What associations or groups do you belong to? What are you doing to actively educate yourself?

My dad asks me this every time I see him. A lengthy explanation is not needed here–the more you know, the more educated you become, the better you can serve your clients, the more sales you will make. I subscribe to several online newsletters, I have 50 or more new “Google Alerts” in my inbox each morning, I research my clients’ companies and industry trends, I use First Research all the time and it really does help. What are you reading? I’m really getting into Go Put Your Strengths to Work, by Marcus Buckingham. It was a Christmas gift from my dad. Surprised?

6. Leave voicemails and send e-mails late at night from home.

If you have been in of my dad’s banking school classes or speeches, you have heard about his “Passion for Pinging.” This is a simple process wherein he suggests that each evening the salesperson make five voicemail calls that are of value and that last no more than 20 seconds. Be sure to put your name, the bank’s name and your return phone number at the end of the message. You’ll get more return phone calls that way. That is followed by five (or more) e-mails with an article, White Paper or something else of value to clients, pre-clients and Centers of Influence. I made the mistake early in my career to follow up and make a big deal about the fact that I sent them something. I learned real fast that you NEVER follow up because that diminishes the thought behind the voicemail or article and it makes you a “salesperson” not a performance consultant.

7. Make sure your shoes are polished, your nails neat and your hair coiffed.

Okay, I’ll be honest with you. This little bit of wisdom was not passed on from Dad; it comes courtesy of my mom, Mrs. Hubbard. (We call her Mrs. Hubbard because we are afraid of her). We are all lazy at times. We may run to the store in ratty jeans or sweatpants, an oversized t-shirt and gym shoes that are so old it has been years since they have actually seen a gym. And what happens? You run into an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, an old crush, or a friend you haven’t seen in ten years. Point being: always look your best, each and every day you step foot into the office. You never know, a client may pop in to be cross-solved, a pre-client may want to have a conversation and what if that was the day you chose the heels that are worn in the toe and have not been replaced since you actually started in the industry? Would you buy from you? If you can’t take care of yourself, your clients will think you can’t take care of them either.

The above are just a small fragment of all the lessons my father has taught me thus far. He continues to coach me (we do Check-ins often), mold me and teach me every time I answer his call, open his e-mail or meet him for lunch. I hope you will take as much value from his words as I do. Thank you for allowing me to take a moment to let me rave about my dad.

Ranter’s Note:

What gifts I have received. Thirty-five years ago I met my partner for life: Mrs. Hubbard. Twenty-nine years ago I was blessed with a son, Adam (he does the graphics for us), four years ago America’s best daughter-in-law, Amber, joined us. You just met my amazing daughter, who came into our lives in 1981. Erin is right in saying that we are really clones of each other and that has caused us some grief in our lives–still does sometimes. She has become an amazing sales pro–someone you would all hire today, now–and a great person. Each of Erin’s above ideas can be great sales meeting topics. Thanks for the rave, Erin!