VERNON KINGMAN And when my sales team grew, my personal satisfaction morphed into watching other people’s excitement at winning a significant job. I achieved my sales “hit” by watching the sales success of others when they reached their goals. To have someone come into my office with a huge grin, a bounce in their step and a level of satisfaction that can only be achieved by winning. We installed a brass ships bell in the A team that celebrates wins together shows cohesion and a great culture. Photo Credit: Kracken Images (Unsplash) salesroom, and anyone who won a job over $20,000 got to ring the bell and then got the chance to spin a “chocolate” wheel to win a prize. The prizes varied from a Mars bar to a fast lap around a speedway in a very fast car. It didn’t matter what the prize was; it was a chance for the entire team to rejoice in someone else’s success. If you can get the whole team to celebrate each other’s victories, you are halfway there building a successful team. The team enjoyed it more when someone won the Mars bar and then had to cut it into eight pieces to share around. It was as much about the humour, camaraderie, and goodwill as the success of winning. Without a doubt, the most satisfying job in my career was the branding of 12,500 signs at Optus Stadium including the four exterior, 42-metre long, 5-metre high façade signs. Every time I drive past the stadium I enjoy a nice grin and revel every time I see it on a sports or news broadcast. Try getting that satisfaction from making a diamond ring. Even today, I tremble at the thought that at some stage, Optus Stadium will be rebranded. And my heart will break… Seriously. At this year’s ASGA Sign Awards at Crown, Melbourne (a nice venue too, ASGA, well done), I looked at the contagious energy of every person who won an award. It was infectious. Every person fist-pumped as they walked off the stage, cradling their winners’ plaque with a huge amount of pride. So they should. And there was some wonderful work this year, as there is every year. I can almost guarantee you this, the people who were successful this year will enter the next event too. Is it just to win an award? Maybe, in VERNON KINGMAN has been in the sign industry for over 50 years, owning one of the country’s most respected companies. He now writes, coaches and mentors businesses to reach their goals. Vernon can be contacted on [email protected] 38 OCT/NOV 2022 part. But to create something that your peers acknowledge as a wonderful piece of craftsmanship is to accept you are at the peak of your game. How long you stay there is up to you. Every winner has, at some point, realised what they love to do. And that is, build great quality signs. So next time you feel “allergic to chlorine”, find your “nose-clamp”, and push forward until you get to the place that makes you bounce out of bed in the morning. After all, it’s a bloody long working life if you come to hate what you do.
