Our sales have been stagnant since the pandemic. How do I raise them and become a more productive team member?

Dear Dave,

I’ve been in sales for 15 years. I love my job, and I love my company. Our business wasn’t affected as much as some during the pandemic, but my numbers have become stagnant. They’re still good, but I feel I can do better. Do you have any advice for someone who wants to raise their sales and become a more productive team member?

Sara

Dear Sara,

Boy, I wish more people had the same attitude about their jobs. Folks with that kind of drive and sense of responsibility are almost always successful in their professional and personal lives.

I want you to think about one simple word — serving. It isn’t just a word or an idea, it’s an attitude. Serving means you provide what you have to offer in a way that makes customers happy to trade their money and time for it.

But don’t make the mistake of confusing serving with subservient. What I’m talking about is being proactive with customers individually and in the marketplace. It means being excited about what you have to offer, and believing you’ve got a great product at a great price. It means you’re determined to give your customers a great experience 100% of the time and that going the extra mile — whether you have to or not — is just business as usual. And, it means if something goes wrong, you’ll step up and make things right in a way that will make them forget a glitch ever happened.

If you help enough people and make that the first order of your business and those relationships, you’ll never have to worry about success!

—Dave