The late Zig Ziglar, sales expert, author and Hall of Fame Speaker said, “You can have anything you want if…you first help enough other people get what they want.” I was privileged to hear Zig speak in person several times and got to meet him at a National Speakers Association Convention. I learned a lot from Zig. He believed in helping, not selling. Zig knew everyone listens to WIII-FM (What Is In It For Me) People are concerned about their needs, not ours.
In my corporate days, I did a lot of work in field sales and as a sales manager. My biggest challenge in sales was working for managers who didn’t understand their pay check and bonus came from our customers. We had some vigorous arguments. I heard, “Greg, your customers need to understand our issues and our profitability.” My response was. “Shouldn’t we try to understand their issues?” One manager actually said, “Greg, you act like your customers pay your salary.” I responded, “Where do you think the money comes from that goes into our pay checks?” He didn’t like that. Ultimately, I changed companies. It was fun to work for a customer focused company. My former employer had no idea why they were losing market share.
Recently, I had the opportunity to listen to a regional manager in a multi-level marketing organization trying to motivate their sales team. The corporate fiscal year was ending June 30th. The manager told everyone, “You need to sell, sell, sell, so we can qualify for a trip to Europe.” Their people weren’t impressed. My friend said, “What’s this we stuff? We don’t get to go.” They missed the goal. The manager figured out something different needed to be done and incentivized each sales person with a small bonus. It was enough for the manager to get their trip. People always want to know WIIIFM. We need to focus on other’s needs first, not our own.
WIIIFM is important to understand in personal relationships, especially in a marriage. It is good to know up front what each partner expects from the relationship. This takes communication and is best done during the courtship. If someone expects their spouse to make them happy without reciprocating, that is a dangerous place to start. I have found, Happy wife, happy life, to be true. Like Zig said, “To get what you want, you have to first make sure others get what they want.” If you ignore your partner all day, don’t be surprised things don’t turn out as planned at night.
Many people think sales only happens in business. Sales is part of daily life. When our kids were young, they tried to sell us on letting them stay up later. Sometimes it worked. It was easier to let them fall asleep in from of the TV and carry them to bed. At work or in any group we are part of we have to sell our ideas. Going on vacation, to a restaurant or buying a home with our partner, if we expect to get what we want without conflict or argument we need to understand the other person and their needs. What Is In It For Them. If we focus first on their needs and wants we will probably find ours fulfilled.
Sometimes circumstances, maybe money, are such the other person can’t get what they want and we need to settle for something else. We still need to acknowledge we understand their need. It just isn’t possible to fulfill it at this time. Lynnda and I had to deal with this years ago when car shopping. I knew what she wanted and acknowledged it. We couldn’t afford it at that time. I did get her the heated seats she likes. Eventually we got the car she wanted.
At Shale Crescent USA our mission is to create high wage jobs in this region. Our prospects in Europe and Asia don’t care about our mission or jobs here. They care about having economical dependable energy. They care about having customers who will buy their products. They care about where they will get raw materials and at what cost. They care about safety and security. They care about regulatory certainty. They care about their carbon footprint. Ultimately, they want to make a profit, serve their customers, stay in business and make money for themselves.
We are working with a company in Europe who wants to come to the USA. I asked, “Why?” He said, “We have (had) operations in Russia and Ukraine.” Most of their natural gas came from Russia at a cost of 7 to 10 times greater then prices in our region. They have operational cost and profitability uncertainty they want to eliminate. To help we needed to know WIIIF them in business and personally.
All Shale Crescent USA presentations and handouts are prospect based. We talk about their profitability. We focus on the advantage to them of building on top of their energy & feedstock and in the middle of their customers.We show them the energy cost advantage the Shale Crescent USA has over Europe and Asia and what it means to them and their company. We show them how locating here reduces their carbon footprint by eliminating over 20,000 miles of transportation and reducing their costs. By locating in the Shale Crescent USA, they can lower their carbon footprint and reduce their cost. A rare opportunity.
It is human nature for us to focus on our needs. If we want to be successful and happy in life we need to focus first on the happiness and needs of others. Zig Ziglar said, “You can have anything you want if…you first help enough other people get what they want.” In business and in our personal relationships understanding others and helping them is our best road to success and happiness. Thoughts to ponder.
Greg Kozera, [email protected] is Director of Marketing and Sales for Shale Crescent USA. www.shalecrescentusa.com (You can follow SCUSA on Facebook) He is a professional engineer with a Masters in Environmental Engineering and over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry. Greg
is a leadership expert, high school soccer coach, professional speaker, author of four books and numerous published articles.
