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This is the first of a new series designed to help sales associates achieve lasting success.

Tallahassee, FL—Many years ago our forefathers laid a foundation to achieve lasting success. This foundation was built on conducting business with the core principles of trust, honesty and integrity. The processes of a sale in those days were simple and the customer trusted the merchant—sort of like a retail version of Mayberry on the Andy Griffith Show.

As business demands created new stresses and issues, high-pressure sales tactics evolved that were focused on making money first and serving customers second. There’s nothing wrong with making money—but it can’t become the sole focal point of our businesses.

Take a moment and think about the ways that we train sales associates. Most (not all) sales training is based on ways to turn a “no” into a “yes.” However gently it’s done, in a way it is still manipulative.

But our success as an industry was originally based on serving our customers, meeting their needs and looking out for their best interests. Yes, we need to sell merchandise to stay in business, but the methods that we often use now to train our sales associates seem more rooted in profit than in impacting our customers’ lives in a meaningful way.

This approach will sever the bond of trust built between sales associate and customer. Deceptive advertising and high-pressure sales practices in both our industry and many others have made consumers wary; rarely is “salesperson” ranked high on the list of people they trust most.

As a result, the customer who enters your store for the first time simply does not trust you, which has made the sales floor a much tougher environment to find success. Many sales associates find themselves stressed and unfulfilled.

If this sounds like you, take a moment and ask yourself if you’re really happy with your career. Appearing successful on the outside doesn’t necessarily mean you are satisfied within. Over the next six articles I am going to give you a new road map to find true and lasting success. It will allow you to reconnect with your customers in a unique way by re-establishing the bond of trust. I look at my career as a yearly million dollar sales professional--it was not until I implemented these techniques that my career became satisfying as well as successful. I want to help each and every sales associate find this lasting success.

We will start by focusing on the sales tactics you use on the floor. There are good sales tactics and bad sales tactics. Which are you using? Do you leave feeling satisfied and energized? Are you truly looking out for your customer’s best interest, or are you focused on commission dollars? These are the questions determine what type of sales tactics you are currently using.

Good sales tactics can be easily recognized based on two main principles. First, does it benefit your customer? If it benefits your customer then it is a good tactic. Second, do you feel good about yourself after using it? When you use a sales tactic to benefit your customer there is satisfaction afterwards, but when you are focusing on your personal bottom line first, there is never a lasting satisfaction.

Today, I challenge you to examine your sales tactics. Look within yourself and ask the tough questions. Then I encourage you to implement good sales tactics in your interactions with customers. When you do, you will find a more rich and rewarding life as a sales professional.

In our next installment, we will address how fear operates and how to overcome your fears.