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Only a few months after starting a new sales job I unexpectedly received a message from our CEO’s assistant letting me know that the CEO needed to chat with me. I knew why he wanted to talk. I had a customer that thought I had charged them too much on some materials I sold them. They told me they were going to complain to the CEO - and apparently they did.

My sales were great at my new job. In fact, I was a top-ten producer after only a few months. This turn of events threw cold water on all of that.

Was I ever in for a big surprise.

“Is this a good sales management strategy that I’ve used about a thousand times…?”

The Call
I was out in the field calling on customers when I got the message. I nervously dialed my cell phone. I was secretly praying that the CEO wouldn’t be in his office. Of course his assistant picked up my call on the first ring and immediately transferred me. Time stood still.

“Scott, I hear that XYZ Company wasn’t too impressed with your sales skills, specifically your pricing. They called me today and didn’t have a lot of nice things to say about you.”

There was, what seemed to me, about a 30-minute pregnant pause at this point since I didn’t really know what to say. I started to mumble something about some sales tips that I had gotten on how to price an order like this.

He interrupted me. “Scott, here’s what I want you to do. Are you listening?”

“Yes sir.” I wasn’t feeling too good at this point.

“I’ll take care of this situation and you keep on doing what you’ve been doing. You’ve demonstrated outstanding sales skills and I’m impressed with your results in the short time you’ve been with us. When you’re aggressively cross-selling to existing customers, finding new business and generally stirring things up you’re going to upset a few people along the way. It’s actually a good sign. I never get calls like this from the folks that are sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. Now go back to selling and quit wasting time talking to me. Goodbye and good job.”

The Aftermath
Was his sales tip on target about high levels of sales activity generating some upset customers? Absolutely.

Did he motivate me to work even harder? Is there any doubt?

Did I feel supported by the organization, specifically the CEO? No question.

Is this a good sales management strategy that I’ve used about a thousand times in my career? Definitely.

Further reading: Sales Tips Fiction: The Customer is in Charge

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Tags: customers

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