While waiting on my food at Buffalo Wild Wings (yes, I cheated), I saw a glass case full of autographs from all kinds of professional athletes. The case was stocked with mini helmets, baseballs, collectible cards, 8 x 10 photos — all with signatures from those who were at the top of their game. You can see children get lost in thought, imagining that maybe one day an item with their signature will be in this case while romanticizing they were just inches away — probably the closest they’ll ever get — to one of their heroes. These children stand amazed at an aquarium of signatures. Adults, mostly guys, stand there, too, wishing they had the million-to-one talent — or maybe they’re standing there regretting a decision that negated what they could’ve been.
Some signatures carry a sense of pride or ego, but all of them make an impact in some way on someone, and I’m not talking about the signatures from just the famous people. I’m talking about your signature, too.
In sales, what kind of signature do you leave on your customers? Every interaction — the way that you know and show your product, the way you work through options, the way you artfully put a deal together and how you follow through on service — is a signature. Your signature is a unique mark that no one can trace; they might try to forge it, but no one — no one — can duplicate it.
At least, that’s how it should be.
You should leave an indelible mark on the souls of your customers. You should leave a mark so profound that while, yes, others can sign their name, no one can leave their signature like you.
Managers, what signature are you leaving on your people? What are you leaving on the people who show up every day? The ones who you’ve promoted and who keep you in the position that you hold today? The ones who make your job look easy and your store profitable? How do you sign into their lives? How is your signature uniquely different from all the other scribbles, cross outs and strikethroughs etched into their lives?
Are you signing in, showing them that they’re significant — a valuable part of the team? Have you initiated the bar, not just because your store has high standards, but more so because you see another level to them?
Does your signature reveal that you care not only about the effort they give at work, but the results they have in life?
What does your signature reveal?
Is it a tightly bound loop of small letters, one that can be barely seen, or is your signature so prominent — widely reaching high above and dipping well below — penned in such a manner that there’s no question it belongs to you?
Be the one to sign into the lives of others showing them they’re worthy of living. Be the one to sign in to be the salesperson worth keeping. Leave a signature worth emulating — the signature others can copy until they’ve mastered their own and, once mastered, they will be able to leave in others.
I’ll see you next time on the blacktop.
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