This post helps you confirm your position in the sales hierarchy.  You will continue to develop and grow, but at some point your skills, process, and attributes are in place.  Read all three in order and construct the sale persona that fits you best.  Always be the professional.

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I hope you had an opportunity to read the Ultimate Sales Professional Part Part I and II as they covered much ground. Ultimate Sales Professional Part I (6/6) systematically covered the traits that the ultimate sales professional utilizes to his or her advantage. Ultimate Sales Professional, Part II (6/10) covered the activities that this consummate sales professional employs every day.

In Part III we will draw it together as we talk about those finishing touches that make this individual coveted by customers and sales organizations alike. These items by themselves don’t close the deal, but when coupled with the traits and activities we’ve covered previously, they change the game.

The Difference Makers….

This professional is a difference maker.  These items below are a sampling of some of the most important activities and strengths that are undertaken:

Closing Two Sales at Once – The individuals strengths and character allows the concepts of closing two sales at one time.  One sale is based on the company you represent and its arsenal of products and services.  The next all important sale is that although you are different because of your pigmentation, you are the best sales professional to handle the needs of the customer’s organization now and in the future. Master this skill and you begin the process.  (Black Sales Journal 5/26/2011, The Black Sales Professional – Closing Two Sales at Once.)

Knowledge of the Sales Environment - This individual knows about the 3Ps Perceptions, Preference, and Prejudice, and knows how to handle them.  This is a stable business environment for Black sales professional. It is very slow to change.   For this seasoned professional, there are no excuses, and no time wasted trying to convince those who are stalwart against progress that they should listen.  Energy is spent in the right place, with the right customers, and money is made. With quotas and goals, time is of the essence.  (Black Sales Journal 5/19/2011, A Deep Dive on the Issue of Customer Perceptions, Preference, and Prejudice)

Mastery of Selling Styles – I am saying “styles” for a reason, as mastery of numerous styles is necessary serves to make this professional ‘ready for primetime’.  Knowing when to be a technical seller, relationship seller, consultative seller and other well know styles will make this individual versatile, and eventually successful.  Remember that all buying styles are not the same, and all selling styles follow that same simple fact.  (Black Sales Journal 5/12/2011, Selling Styles – Which One is Right for You?)

Believes He/She is the Difference – This professional recognizes that even if you are selling a commodity, the difference is “YOU!” A recognition of the ways that the professional can “Package” the product is important, and the sales professional who stands behind it can be the real difference.  Know your product, and ‘design’ your packaging.  The difference really is “YOU.”  (Black Sales Journal 2/24/2011 – Selling a Commodity? – the Difference is You!)

Knows Management Expectations – This individual knows his/her manager, and recognizes the true importance of that relationship. This professional knows that ‘managing’ the sales manager is a necessary reality and doing it is intelligent and necessary.  This is nothing devious or wrong by any means, and it is underpinned by strong and solid communications.  This is the most important relationship you will have at your job, and mastering this relationship changes your plight.  On top of all else, you always must perform. (Black Sales Journal 8/18, 6 Tips on ‘Managing’ Your Sales Manager)

Manages Relationships at Work – This individual does not get so close to anyone that it could hamper the possibility of promotion or additional responsibilities.  Relationships are managed, and reasonable, and the social activities are above  question by anyone.  This professional is about business and has knows the need to “mind his/her own business.”  It does ‘worlds’ for the professional persona.  (Black Sales Journal 5/23, Friends at Work)

Changes Racial Perceptions – This professional helps to change racial perceptions by being the consummate professional, showing superior performance in all aspects of manners, skills, and personal interactions.  Coupled with being more responsive than other professionals, you have an individual whose exemplary performance “opens doors” for other Black sales professionals, and Black professionals from all walks of life.  (Black Sales Journal 6/9, Changing Racial Perceptions)

No matter how hard any of us work, we can always be improving these skills and attributes.  Always remember that the strength of a true professional is that they engage in continuous improvement.

In Summary

I could have constructed more posts on this subject, yet I think that you get the hint.  The most accomplished sales professional of any color is working on these items.  Only a slight few would ever have all of them conquered.  What is more important is that if you realize the power in these items and the last few posts, you will know that moving toward it is a great step in itself.

I certainly did not have all of these as sales professional.  I had enough of them to be good at my profession, yet I was not the Ultimate Sales Professional. I qualified for sales conferences and received bonuses, as well as got recognition and a set of  promotions.  Frankly it felt good.  I could not see the whole picture.  Some of that lack of vision was my business immaturity, and the other was seeing the whole picture from so many other positions and angles.

It was not until having the vantage point of being a field sales manager, regional sales manager and other roles all the way up to an executive vice president that I could see the most successful sales professionals and their undeniable strengths.  Couple that with the knowledge and scars which come the difficulties of selling as a Black sales professional leads me to the assertions in the last three posts in this journal.

You don’t need to wait to formulate that vision.  It is being shared with you.  Add to this your own special traits and it truly can be done, and “You” are the one that can do it.  I hope you will use these points to help get you there.

I appreciate your comments.

Make your commitment to be the best!  Read this post, as well as last weeks (see below), and make sure to read Monday of next week (Thursday the 13th)!

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We continue to revisit this important topic on an in-depth basis.  This is where the differences are made!

In Part I we took an in-depth look at the traits of the Ultimate Sales Professional. If you missed it, you can access it by clicking here: Black Sales Journal 6/6, The Ultimate Sales Professional – Is this You?.

Part I looked at the traits that made this individual so highly desirable for sales managers and customers alike. Part II will look at the activities, which set this individual, apart. I am not saying that by doing these items you will be the ultimate sales professional, but it will be well on the way.

These activities exceed the norm for many sales professionals. Being Black and in sales means you have to always be on top of your game.   This group of actions is not over the top. These items represent what one must do to be the ‘best of breed’.  This is a chance to see how these items, applied well, can make an individual the crème de la crème of sales professionals.

Activities of Sourcing Prospects

Finding that next customer is something every sales professional has to think about on a daily basis.  This activity is the most important activity a sales professional will ever have. If you have this activity solved, you are well on the way to professional success.  This is the way the ultimate sales professionallooks at sourcing prospects:

• Know Your Prospecting Formula and Ratios. This individual, the ultimate sales professional, knows how many prospects he or she really needs to be successful (Black Sales Journal 2/28, How Many Prospects Do You Really Need). This sales professional grades his or her prospects and recognizes how much time to spend on those with the highest grades while at the same time knows the ratios and law of large numbers.
• Be accomplished at getting past the gatekeeper. This professional knows how to get past the gatekeeper and when that does not work as desired, knows how to get around the gatekeeper (Black Sales Journal 2/17, Getting Past the Gatekeeper).  Using these techniques on the phone and in person swells the prospect numbers creating a cache of potential proposals that his/her colleagues covet.
• Be resourceful in the prospecting process- This individual knows how to get prospects in ways other than cold calling.  An example of it is that the ultimate sales professional finds prospects by conducting informational seminars not only for the benefit a customer/prospect, and also for his/her own benefit in finding ready-to-buy customers (See Black Sales Journal 3/24, Finding Prospects Through a Seminar).
• Be an adept networker – This individual is solid in the art of networking. He or she knows that being at the right function with the right people can net leads beyond the normal cold-call.  This was explained in depth in Black Sales Journal 2/21, Networking for the Black Sales Professional.   The effective networking undertaken efficiently will pay dividends when the time is right.

Now that we know the rudiments of how this resourceful individual will find that necessary and continuing stream of prospects that turn to customers, lets take a look at how this individual works with customers.

The Customer Interface – Master It!

Once you have a valued customer, you must recognize that even though the customer can represent a lasting stream of income, almost an annuity, they also require “care and feeding”.  I know that this sounds somewhat abstract, yet think of it this way, and you will also be able to relate it to some things that you need to do on a continual basis.

The Ultimate Sales Professional does this extremely well.  Let’s look at a few of his tactics:

• Write ‘personal’ notes and cards to your customers. Show your appreciation. These notes do things that emails and phone calls cannot possibly do.  They show class and they make you memorable.  (Black Sales Journal 2/3, Make Yourself Memorable – An Important Task for The Black Sales Professional)
• Listen intently to your customers. Know and understand the importance and give full attention.  You will hear things that others don’t hear, and your solutions will begin to show your insight.  Your customers know when you are listening.  (Black Sales Journal 4/14, Are You Listening to Your Customers?)
• Ask your customers for feedback. This professional knows that consistent communication will solves problems and promotes good will.  Asking “How am I doing?”, is a good way to find out if you are giving value. (Black Sales Journal 4/28, Should You Ask Your Customer for Feedback?)
• Covet your most important customers. Never surrender them through neglect or take them for granted.  There are eight (8) activities in B2b and B2P that will make a difference.  Know them and work them well.  If you are coveting your best customers, there are other sales professionals doing the same thing.  (Black Sales Journal 4/11, “Wall Off” Your Most Important Customers)
• Deliver solutions, and then sell. Formulate solutions for your customers.   If you are selling a product, and not solutions, you may win, yet not as often as the professional, who gives the necessary forethought to solving the problem, then delivers a cogent solution to a needy customer.  (Black Sales Journal 6/20, Deliver Solutions, Then Sell!)

Don’t forget the customer relationship issues discussed in the last post, as these points beckon stronger, more durable, relationships that are founded on value.  (Black Sales Journal 7/15, The Ultimate Sales Professional Part I)

More To Come

Knowing the activities and customer interface techniques that the best would need to be accomplished, you can now rest assured that it does not stop here.  Black sales professionals should embody these traits as your quest for ‘preference’ in the eyes of a buyer is riddled with inequities, including the fact that you will need to be better than your peers.   In the next post Part III (which will post on Thursday 6/13, we will examine the other elements that pull it all together.  Join us as we discuss “where the differences are made!”

Let me know how you receive these and whether the picture is getting clear.

Your comments are welcome.