“Every quote requested is an opportunity, and I try to maximize every opportunity to get them into my system….the Coffman system.”
Name: Mark McCombs
Title/Firm: Vice President of Business Development, The Covington Group
Age: 38
Industry: Printing/Publishing
Education: Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia
Coffman Certified: Mastery Level
Career goal: To increase income and marketability by embracing a more effective “system” of selling
After two years participating in the Coffman Group, Mark McCombs is bullish.
“In 2008, I’ll earn double what I made in 2006,” he says confidently about his straight-commission salary. “That’s the measuring stick in my life. You get new accounts and bigger jobs, and that’s all well and good, but the bottom line is what am I putting in my pocket?”
What made the difference in Mark’s income? He says it’s the system of selling he has embraced while participating in the Coffman Fundamentals, Skill and Master programs.
“The Coffman approach has improved my effectiveness and efficiency. I used to get bogged down in the intimate details of my work,” Mark explained. Now I see the big picture a lot more clearly, so I’m looking for new ways to do business and to get business. As a result, I actually put in less time on a weekly basis than before.”
He says the Coffman program begins with a series of personality tests which identify strengths and weakness; that helps participants identify—and correct—pitfalls in their selling approaches. A weakness might be a need for approval, or in his case a tendency to price-shop when he is in the buyer’s shoes; that could translate into underselling his own services if left unchecked.
He also describes the Coffman peer-to-peer role-playing as extremely helpful, providing different perspectives from a variety of industries. “It helps you see things in new ways,” he said. What’s more, Mark says the Coffman system, when fully utilized, lowers the pressure that clients feel during the sales process.
“It’s question-based selling….finding out what prospects are unhappy with,” Mark states. “It also focuses on avoiding a ‘needy’ attitude when approaching prospects. We all wanted the boy or girl in high school that we couldn’t get…a person that doesn’t seem needy. People respond much better to that.”
Mark says he loves “the hunt” and gets as much thrill from closing a sale as he does from the money it brings in. And, the Coffman system helps him make the most every interaction. “Every quote requested is an opportunity, and I try to maximize every opportunity to get them into my system….the Coffman system.”
