Treat ‘em all like millionaires, and you’ll get there faster, too!

One customer will come in for an appetizer while waiting for his wife; another will bring in her entire family from out of town for a welcome meal. One understands the issues that can come up; another is belligerent and does nothing but yell. One wants a mansion, the other, a one-bedroom condo. One sits in first class, the other is in coach.

Because of who we are and how we are conditioned to think, most of us will have impressions of what each of those people represent. And in most of those, it is based on how much money that person can make for us.

Right around this point is where we lay the first brick in the wall that will limit us.

Yes, the woman holding the family reunion, the understanding customer, the mansion-seeker and the first class passenger all offer immediate rewards and they deserve to be treated in a manner that thanks them for their support.

But viewing the people who fall on the opposite side of the spectrum with the opposite type of treatment, focusing all energy elsewhere, puts you on a path with fewer rewards today, and certainly so in the long term.

Why?

Because 2% of the population today holds 80% of the wealth which means that 98% of your customers are everyday Joes and Janets. So how many times a day will you have a chance to help a Joe or a Janet versus a Richie Rich?

By focusing your energy equally on every customer that comes-a-calling, you will have more opportunities to create successes every day, more opportunities to help people, and more chances to feel good about what you do from one minute to the next.

Take this path and you can:

- Create a flood of small successes where no one has done so before, opening the eyes to those above you.

- Create a base of LOYAL customers who will go forth and spread the word on just how good you are.

- Create a reputation of the person to go to with the customer/account/task that no one seems to be able to get to reach the expected objectives.

- Create an image in your superior’s eyes of someone who can be counted on.

- Create an open door to whatever future you can conjure.

There is a saying that describes this perfectly: “Whoever got to where they are had to start from where they were.” This means that with very few exceptions, you will rarely start at the top. You have to prove yourself, you have to create a reputation, establish a track record. You have to treat every person as if they were worth a million bucks. Doing that is the only way to ever make a million of your own.

So, let’s get right to it – this week’s “Cold Call”. First and foremost, commit to look at everyone customer as the one who will determine your fate. Imagine they are the ones that are charting your career path. They are.

Next, look at how you are treating your VIP customers, and start applying their special treatment across the board. This will actually lead to several things. Most of them we have already discussed, they are in the paragraphs above. Another is that it will actually help to make it easier for you to do what you do best. When you treat everyone equally across the board, you are no longer slipping in and out from one version of yourself (the salesperson who does the minimum so they can move on) to the other (the one who does all she can to help her customers). Creating consistency in who you are is key to being successful because people will know that they can count on you to be the one who can get it done, both inside and outside your company’s walls.

Working from these points from this moment forward will help to open all the doors that will appear with your customers, with your colleagues and your superiors. And once those doors are opened, there is no key required to open the vault, people will just invite you in.

And you’ll have a lot more fun getting there, too!

Have a great sales week!