Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM JULY 2023 52 W e often hear of young athletes who are considering "going pro." Golfers aspire to make the PGA Tour. College football, basketball, and baseball players hope to be drafted. But what's the definition of a professional athlete? It might be defined as being paid to outperform your competitors. An athlete's performance is generally measured in statistics. Golfers are measured against the statistic of par and the scores of other players. Football players are measured by stats like yards gained, pass completions, sacks, and tackles. Basketball and baseball have their own long lists of performance metrics. If your stats are good compared the competition, you'll remain a professional and likely make a good living. If not, you'll be cut and have to get a real job. Pro athletes treat their jobs as just that, a profession. They put in the time, effort, practice, skill development, and all the rest to make sure they'll stay at the top of their game. They measure their performance and continually challenge themselves to improve. People who play sports non-professionally are called amateurs. Amateurs participate in sports for recreation, fun, and exercise. Amateurs participate in their free time, play rather than practice, and take whatever results come. There's no expectation of making a living; it's just something to do, and performance isn't particularly important. Now let's apply all of this to extended service plan (ESP) sales performance. Are you a professional or an amateur? What's the difference? 1. Professional salespeople outperform amateurs through the sale of ESPs by ensuring that the customer has an ideal experience if the product fails; by contributing to the profitability of the store; and by earning a better living. In contrast, amateurs hope the products won't fail and don't think about the repercussions when they do. 2. Professional salespeople have better statistics than amateurs (attachment rate and percentage of sales). Amateurs don't know their statistics and live in fear of being cut. 3. Professional salespeople work to improve their skills by reading books, attending training seminars and learning from others more successful than they are. Amateurs step-play the game and are satisfied with a participation ribbon. I encourage you to be an ESP sales professional instead of settling for being an amateur. Work for the good of the team (your customer, your company, and yourself). Know your statistics (attachment rate or percentage of sales). Strive to be at the top of the leaderboard, and use every resource you can (articles, books, seminars, your peers) to improve your skills continually. GO PRO OR GO HOME It's time to step up to the plate for service contract sales By J.R..Zirkelbach Warranty Trends J.R. Zirkelbach is a business development executive at New Leaf Service Contracts and an AVB BrandSource columnist and lecturer with 30 years' experience in retail. Contact J.R. at jzirkelbach@newleafsc.net. RO

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