Again, this step might seem obvious, but it’s one of those things that many people in selling do not do well.  Often, the tendency is to look only at this activity from a short-term perspective—to get the order.  Successful salespeople, on the other hand, take a much longer-term view of this activity.  They not only want the order, they want the business!

As we all know, Nordstrom is a very successful department store chain.  Nordstrom knows exactly what it wants from its customers.  Yes, Nordstrom wants them to buy, but what Nordstrom really wants from its customers goes far beyond just making a sale.  Nordstrom also wants them to come back again and again.  Nordstrom looks beyond the initial sale to its customers; it is also looking ahead to secure any repeat business that might come from these same customers.

Locking in the initial sale and any repeat business, however, is still not enough for Nordstrom.  They want even more from their customers.  They want their customers to sell!  Nordstrom wants its customers to feel so good about having dealt with Nordstrom that these customers feel compelled to tell others to do business with Nordstrom. 

Like Nordstrom, all highly successful salespeople take this longer term view of what they want from their customers.  That is, they not only want their customers to buy, they want them to keep buying over the long haul, and they want their customers to enthusiastically sell on their behalf.  It’s the ability to generate referral business that separates the highly successful salespeople from everyone else.  If you can secure the referral aspect of the business, you can pretty much assume that the initial order and the repeat business are yours also.

In reality, 25 percent of your success as a salesperson rests with your ability to secure the initial order.  The second 25 percent of your success is directly related to your ability to generate repeat business from these same customers.  Most important, however, a full 50 percent of your success is tied to your ability to get your customers to refer other customers to you!  So, in trying to decide what you want from your customers, make referral business your number one priority.