Ken Bryant stands in Integrity Chevrolet.What makes a great sales professional?
Integrity? Drive? Enthusiasm?
Master motivator Zig Ziggler once offered this piece of advice to salespeople: "For every sale you miss because you're too enthusiastic, you will miss a hundred because you're not enthusiastic enough."
To uncover what sales philosophies work in the Chattanooga market, we asked two sales pros who have long track records for sales excellence to share some of their trade secrets.
Kenneth E. Bryant, a salesman at Integrity Chevrolet who has been the top salesman in his workplace for seven of the last 10 years, says "prayer" and "reading positive material" about his industry are two of his motivational habits.
Meanwhile, Jack Webb, Jr., the top sales agent for Crye-Leike in metro Chattanooga and North Georgia for the past two years, says his guiding light is to treat customers "equally, and with respect."
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Name: Kenneth E. Bryant
Experience: 24 years in sales, the last 10 in automotive.
Home: Chattanooga
Family: Wife, Shirley Bryant; daughter, Kendre'a Bryant
Successes: Leading salesman seven out of 10 years at his dealership.
Guiding philosophy: Always tell the customer the truth about the product you are selling. You don't have to lie about anything. Remember, YOU are the key to success, today!
Customer service commitment: Customers are the reason we have a job, and I consider it an honor to serve and help them to the next stage in their journey.
How has e-commerce changed your job? E-commerce has changed my life in a very positive way. People look at the Internet and build the exact car or truck they are looking for. It makes my job much easier.
How do you keep yourself energized? To keep myself motivated I pray and read positive material about how the industry is doing overall.
What sacrifices have you made to stay on top? Certainly, there are many things that command your attention, but you must manage them well. Managing your family life and taking time off are two of the most important things you can do in the car industry.
How do you thrive through ups and downs in the economy? I tend to believe that you can control only what you can.
Do you consider yourself a good closer? I think I've had great success in sales.
What part does personal integrity play in your job? I live by this standard: If I have to lie to sell a car, then it's not worth it, at all.
Do you worry that not enough young people are preparing for sales jobs? I see a lot of young people entering in the car industry with no sales experience. They think they know what you know, and that is a very big problem right now.
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Name: Jack L Webb, Jr.
Age: 59
Position: Vice-President and broker, Crye-Leike Realtors
Family: Wife, Sue Guinn Webb. Two adult children and two grand-children
Home: Lookout Mountain, Tennessee
Experience: 30 years in real estate business.
Career achievements: Top sales agent for Crye-Leike in metro Chattanooga and North Georgia for the past two years; recipient of the Circle of Excellence Award from Crye-Leike last year.
Best advice from a mentor: Hugh Huffaker always treated everyone that he met with tremendous respect, which is something that I try to do.
What is your guiding philosophy? To treat everyone equally and with respect. It does not matter what their race, color, ethnic background, religion, etc. is. Everyone deserves to be treated with care and respect.
What part does customer service play in your success? I probably spend more time with each client or customer than a lot of other agents. With the growing popularity of sales teams, some agents delegate a great deal of the work to other assistants. I may do some of that, but to a lesser degree than some agents do.
How is e-commerce changing your job? The number of emails, texts, documents, etc. that we are required to review and respond to daily is amazing. Each listing that our company gets is added to 26 different websites regionally, nationally, and internationally. Over 92 percent of buyers now begin the process of buying real estate online.
What sacrifices have you made to stay on top of your profession? When our children were much younger, I would often tell my customers that I had an "appointment" when I wanted to be with our children, i.e. attend a tennis match, basketball game, a play, etc. It is a delicate balance to juggle your time between family, work, church and civic duties.
How do you weather ups and downs in the economy? The real estate industry experienced one of the worst downturns from 2007 – 2011 since the Great Depression. The best way for me to explain my approach to the economy would be to say that I depend a lot on faith. In other words, I realize and accept that it is really out of my control.
What part does integrity play in a successful sales career? I have always felt that trust and honesty were two of the most important components of successful sales people. If you can't trust someone with one of the largest investments that you'll probably ever make in your life, why would you want to do business with them?
Do you worry that not enough young people are preparing for sales careers? On the one hand, I know a lot of young people that are very sharp and very entrepreneurial. On the other hand, it seems that the younger generation is a bit more impatient and sometimes not willing to stick with something long enough to give it a fair shot.