29. Be An Expert.

 
Our customers expect us to not only offer quality products, services, and solutions, but also to be technical experts. Take the time to learn everything you can. Ask questions and do research to make yourself an expert. Be a lifelong learner and take ownership for your personal development.

John's Message:

 

I have been in this business for 38 years and I have gathered a lot of knowledge through the experiences I have had. The one thing I will tell you is that I have never stopped learning. We can enhance our knowledge every day, not only in our business, but in our lives as well.

Our customers need the technical expertise we provide. It’s part of the value we provide, and a big reason they buy from Famous. As the world becomes more streamlined, big-box stores, Amazon, etc. will compete for our business using price. We can combat that by adding more value, such as expert knowledge.

When I was an Outside Sales Associate for our company, a Counter Associate (Tim Frutschy) brought a customer to me that needed some technical assistance on a product. I took over the customer’s inquiry and noticed Tim still standing by my desk with the customer. I looked at Tim and told him he could go back to the counter, and I would handle it from here. Tim was probably a Counter Associate for two years at the time and responded with, “John, if I don’t stay here and listen, how will I ever learn?” I hope Tim did learn from my communication with the customer that day, because I sure learned something from Tim. It’s so great to see how the tables have now turned and Tim is mentoring others.

Knowledge is power and all of us must be open for learning and mentoring and apply what we know every day of our lives. We all have an opportunity to help each other, and if we seek out those opportunities, it makes all of us and our customers better.

We all have people that have helped us grow into what we are today. For me, I will never forget those people that have helped me develop my career and my life skills.

Hopefully people will have fond memories from what we all share with one another. Whether we learn from books, text, or from each other, to focus on our careers is to focus on the knowledge you need to be an expert.

Thanks