Dance like no one's watching

There was a farewell dinner cum KTV session organised by the Triumph agents just now. They also bought me a pair of Oakley sunglasses as a farewell gift. The agents who did not manage to make it for tonight’s farewell dinner are organising another farewell dinner for me. Wow. Although we’ve always had a happy working environment together at Triumph, the extent of their gestures of appreciation has taken me by surprise.

Naturally, i’m happy to know that i’ll be missed. At least it means that whatever i was doing at Triumph was right. It is a pat on the back, a reassurance to my ego that i wasn’t delusional when i thought previously that i had achieved a close-to-ideal working dynamics at Triumph. I take a certain amount of personal credit that our latest score against our competitors is 8-0!

During the past 2 meetings i had with the developer, the developer questioned our competitors why they weren’t able to close any deals. The sales manager said, “whether it’s by luck, by chance, or by skill, how come the Peaceable Bunnies can close but not the Bears of the Evil Fruit Trees?”

When i heard that, i thought to myself… of ‘cos… u have to see the team that’s behind the successful sales! To me, having a successful sales team is not about skills alone. It is also about keeping the team’s morale up, making sure that the team members help one another, and ensuring that all the members are clear about the goal the team needs to achieve. You need to be able to inject a lot of positive thoughts into the team members so that they’re always raring to go for the kill when they’re negotiating a deal.

That said, to maintain the ideal dynamics of any group is a fine balancing act. As much as i like to be missed i’m also worried that the agents may not be able to adapt to the change in leadership. From short conversations i’ve had with some of the agents during the past week, i realised that some are adapting to the change better than others – some agents are not comfortable with the new system in place now, and some are thinking of quitting because their sales have been below par.

I really hope that my departure will not be a great destabilising factor for the Peaceable Bunnies. I’m also grateful to the sales manager of the developer for standing up for me when the Bears of the Evil Fruit Trees leveled several complaints against me the past week. It is good to know that i’ll definitely be welcomed should i visit them at the showflat hereafter… and most importantly, i hope that the team that has slogged alongside me the past year will still be intact.