There is nothing more unselfish than to engage in the activity of mentoring someone in their career.  There are several reasons, and even more important, it is good for your own career.  Thanks for asking for this one LH as we lose bright young professionals from many organizations as well as the sales profession itself because no took the time to help them along.  Those of you who have experience and know the landscape, you can help!

I am revisiting this post from last year because it continues to be relevant.  I also would suggest that if you can help, you will find it rewarding to provide this valuable, needed assistance.  You will also notice a link to Black Sales Journal 1/27 – Do You Need a Mentor?  - Actually You Probably Need Two! below.  Read this one as well to get the full story on mentoring.

I will return on Thursday for a post that you will enjoy.  Until then..good selling and make a difference in some one’s life and career.

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There is nothing more rewarding than helping another sales professional reach their dream of having success in reaching their goals.

It is not easy to be a sales professional, so it is really not easy being a Black sales professional attempting to sell in a tough market.  It is actually a real “gut check” because you are dealing with a difficult economy, blurred lines of product differentiation, and in some cases competing distribution systems like the web.

If you are reaching your goals consistently and feeling success, then you need to think about the impact you could have on others.  You need to reckon with the fact that you could make a true difference in the life of a sales professional that might need some guidance.

Two Types of Mentors

The Definition of Mentor -  “A trusted counselor or guide” (Webster’s Online Dictionary).

In Black Sales Journal 1/27 – Do You Need A Mentor? – Actually You Probably Need Two! I suggested that there are two types of mentors that an aspirant sales professional might need.  Of course, someone needs to fill that void.

Below is an excerpt from Black Sales Journal 1/27 describing mentoring for those who might be seeking out a mentor.

Organizational mentor – An organizational mentor is someone who is employed in your organization. This individual walks the same halls and knows the “players” and the “game” in your company. It would be good if he or she has position power (front line manager or middle manager), yet not required.  A deep knowledge of the organization and its’ politics is important.  As with the sales mentor, it would be nice if this individual were Black, yet it is more important that this individual be willing to help regardless of color.

Sales mentor – A sales mentor is someone who has been there.  This individual has prospected, sold, and closed accounts.  He or she has developed a personal sales strategy, failed, repositioned, and succeeded.  This individual’s invaluable knowledge of the sales process and the sales environment will help the Black sales professional in the areas of realistically evaluating his/her sales effort, style, and results.  As a result of pigmentation being a game changer, it would be good if this individual were Black, yet not always possible.

Can You Play One of These Roles?

So for those of you with the skills, knowledge, presence, and willingness to help, which of these roles can you play?  Can you play both?  If you fit both descriptions, you can be both, yet the important thing is to be something more than a colleague to someone.

It is a fact that the role of mentoring does take time and effort, yet it is all well spent.  If there is a sales professional who is a colleague that is working hard to figure out sales, and the organization, and your skills are there, you should step in.  You get an opportunity to help, without any definition of the role, and in the process you hone your skills as a mentor.

With this in mind, I am suggesting that you mentor someone regardless of race or ethnicity.  You will find that when you are asked professional questions, that your answers get better each and every time.  You learn to say, “I don’t know”, and you learn to coach as opposed to provide answers.  You begin to think through things when no one is asking questions, in anticipation of a question being asked at some point.

Your understanding of how to explain the organization and the sales process within the organization becomes generally stronger, and this process gets you ready for a well-defined mentoring opportunity when the time comes that you need to be prepared.

Mentoring a Black Sales Professional

Best of all, when you have the opportunity to mentor someone who has the challenges that you had when you were a fledgling sales representative, you are prepared.  You know not to give all the answers, but to coach.  To allow them to use reason, cogent thought, and sound logistics in coming up with a course of action.  You know that being able to convey an understanding of the organization and the organization’s dynamics is as required as an intimate knowledge of the sales compensation plan.

Too many aspirant sales professionals come in and desire to work the system without understanding why the system exists.  You can do your part in giving frank and enriching conversation to someone new, and give him or her a start.

A Launching Pad for Management

As was discussed in Black Sales Journal 3/24, Are You Sales Management Material? there is no better start than mentoring.  Coaching and training in terms of sales and sales techniques, or even assisting one with their understanding of the organization is a way to be in line for a manager’s position.  There is no better endorsement for the job than to be in good standing on your role, while getting credit for helping others to get results as well.

A Reason Why

Many Black sales professionals quietly leave a job when things are not going right.  What am I saying when I say ‘quietly’?  You will look around and find out that they have left the organization, and no one even knows why.   This happens when someone new feel that all of the cards are a stacked against them.

In most situations the cards are not stacked against you as much as the organization, and the sales process are frankly difficult to understand without help.  Your help can be a career changer for someone in need.

Always remember, the process of mentoring can be done no matter what the color or sex of the individual.  The important thing is to give so that others have a chance.  If you are doing it already, you should be commended.  If not, it is never too late.

Go out there and make a difference

I worked for years to get a coveted prospect to buy from our company, and was not successful.  After being promoted to manager I reassigned all of my prospects to an experienced sales rep from my unit, who quoted and sold the prospect that I thought should have been my account for years.

She advised that we had ‘won’ the business and that we were going to do a meeting to introduce our team and ‘install’ the business.  Three weeks later, she lamented, “This is the most difficult account that I have ever worked with!  Nothing is good enough.  They demanded new and special payment terms, they still have not paid their deposit, and they want to tell us what suppliers we need to work with.  I am not sure that we can last with them!”

Well, this situation is not unusual.  It is difficult to know how much trouble a new customer is going to be until they are in the fold.

What is A Good Customer?

It sounds simple enough to suggest that as a sales professional you would want as many of your customers as possible to be “good” customers.  They won’t all be good customers, but the reasons why you want the good ones is because they are predictable and can be an advantage for your.  In sales you need every advantage you can get so you want to align yourself with the kind of customers that everyone else covets.

We will simply define the traits of a good customer:

• Prompt and responsible in payment
• Communicates well
• Provides unsolicited feedback on you and your organization
• Suggests customers/clients for you
• Acts as a reference for you and your company

This list is not all-inclusive as I am focusing on the main customer traits that benefit the sales professional.

Prompt Payment – You know this drill!  Some sales professionals don’t get paid until the monies are collected.  Any client that is delinquent, or elects not to pay costs you and your company ridiculous amounts of money.

Communicates Well – This customer is respectful of your time and efforts and lets you know by communicating meaningfully and with intent.

Provides Feedback – Gives relevant feedback to you on your efforts and your company’s products and services.  Gives feedback the right way, personally and constructively.

Loyal – Loyal customers give you an opportunity to rectify any problems or deficiencies, including pricing issues, before making relationship-ending decisions.  They stick by you and do not make a change for nominal differences in price.

Refers Customers to You – This customer will refer their relationships and ‘business friends’ to you recognizing that they will be taken care of and will receive the great service that you give to them.  This is extremely important to Black sales professional as it gives you an opportunity to have the credibility that the referral gives you to help make the sale.

Acts as a Reference for You – You can count on this customer when you have a new relationship and need someone to sing your praises.  Again, this is important to the Black sales professional for the reasons above (Refers Customers to You).

The Intangibles – They Cost Money!

Spend some time doing a good evaluation on your customers.  Be careful though, as it is the intangible items that really cost money.  A relationship with a customer who pays late, ask for more, and will leave for a dime is not going to end up good for you.

Be cognizant of the intangibles as the costs are hard to recognize.  Do you have to provide additional services and visits because they won’t do what all of the other clients do?  Are they unduly critical of your team and your service personnel?

Know whether the complaints are justified, and if not, you must, I repeat must; stand up for your team.

Customers…We Can’t Do Without Them

I comment often that “we can’t do without them”, and that is the truth.  They are the reason that we exist in our respective roles.  It is our job as sales professionals to make sure that we get the right ones.

In our effort to survive and prosper in our jobs, we sometimes take on customers who do not deserve us.  I am sure you know some now.  If they get in your way of prospering and selling to other clients, they are costing you money.    Think about it hard!  Consider at what point you take action if it is problematic.

What is the Lifetime Value of Your Customer?

Give some consideration to figuring out the lifetime value of your customer.  We are talking about an economic value.  This is your lifetime value, not the lifetime value that your company receives.  This figure is based on the length of relationships, the revenue received from the relationship in terms of bonus or commissions and the amount of compensation that you receive from their referrals, references, and other contributions to your existence.

The lifetime value could be estimated by knowing the following:

• Average annual revenue (commission/bonus) from your customer.
• Average period of time a customer stays.
• Total revenue earned from this customer’s referrals.

Oversimplified, here is the quick and easy formula to show relative lifetime value.  Relative means that you can compare it against your other clients effectively:

Lifetime Value = [Annual Commission Revenue  * Average Period of Relationship] +Total Revenue From Referrals

Or…..

LV = [ACR *APR] + TRR

Here is an example:

Customer A:

Annual Commission Revenue – $20,000
Average Period of Relationship – 4.5 years (company average)
Total Revenue from Referrals – $0

LV = [20,000 * 4.5] + $0 Referrals
LV = $90,000

Customer B:

Annual Commission Revenue – $12,000
Average Period of Relationship – 4.5 years (company average)
Total Revenue from Referrals – $ 30,000

LV = [12,000 * 4.5] + 30,000 Referrals
LV = 54,000 + 30,000
LV = $84,000

In both examples you can see the effect of referrals.  Customer A pays the bills, yet they are not helping your revenue as much as Customer B, who is a good customer overall as they referred you to new relationships and new revenue.  The moral of this story is…”Customers are not created equal”.

The total referral revenue is understated as it should show revenue from the referral relationship in total, and that could be much more substantial.  I hope you see the logic.

Always do a good evaluation and realize that a good customer is more than the commissions or bonus from that customer.  Know the facts.

Your comments are welcome.