Who's On Your Success Team?

When Bill was early on  in his sales career he was assigned a territory where previous results had been marginal at best.  One reason was the complaints about the companies poor service.  One day Bill was introduced to a potential customer who welcomed him to the territory but he swore he would never do business with him.  This potential customer had done business with them before and had nothing but bad experiences.  Bill took this as a personal challenge and spoke with his district manger about it.  He told him that no matter how long it would take, he was going to get business from them again.  When that time comes he asked the manager if he would make a personal effort to make sure it was handled properly. Later that year the opportunity arrived.  The unhappy former customer had to chance giving him an order because his regular supplier was unable to meet his demand.  With a little special attention from his manager the order went through smoothly and the company became a regular customer.  From this experience Bill developed a good relationship with his district manager who enjoyed their team victory.  He came to Bill's assistance a number of times in years to come.  It's an important lesson that salespeople aren't successful strictly on their own merits.  It also helps to have the whole team dedicated to everyone's success.