It is true that many professionals are losing their job. Hopefully it will not happen to you.   If it does happen, your ultimate goal is to be prepared and be the professional.  Losing one’s job does happen.  Have your bases covered.  If you do lose your job… lose it “Like a BOSS!”

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At some point in your life, you may have to endure the act of “getting fired.” Obviously, there is no positive light when this is happening, yet it does happen in the world of sales.

One of the most common reasons has to do with performance.  Performance issues happen to sales professionals of all colors and backgrounds.  They can be particularly vexing for the Black professionals because the stigma that getting fired carries coupled with racial preference and racial prejudice issues can severely limit future hiring opportunities.

You may find a few articles and publications that talk about what happens when you get fired. Rest assured that for a sales professional, this does not have to be a “death sentence.”  Most people, sales professionals included, associate their livelihood with their identity, and can be devastated if they are terminated.  Additionally, changes in your relationships with co-workers, many of which you may classify as friends, can be just as shocking.  This is especially true with the suddenness of a sales termination.  This is less important than the impact on your psyche and your family, but significant.

There is no way to ‘get fired’ gracefully as you have are not in control.  Your reactions to the activity can be calculated and professional if you follow some of the suggestions below.

Always be Prepared for the Unexpected

Termination does not have to be a “death sentence”, yet it is a separation by any terminology.  You should always be prepared no matter how well you are doing in the job.  Since losing your position can happen for of a number of reasons, including the company ceasing to do business, you should have this plan in effect even if you are doing well.

It is normally, for all professions, a “sudden” act that may catch you “off guard”.   For this reason, I prescribe to a steady state of readiness.  Let me explain that this is more of an attitude than anything else.  Recognize that you have no ability to know for sure, but may be able to predict when it will happen.

What is more important is that you treat your situation with planning and preparation.  I also believe that you should take care to recognize that you may well be under contract.  If you are not under contract/agreement you need to recognize general ethics that I strongly believe that you should consider.

Here are the items you should focus on:

• Your Sales Contacts – Always have your prospect contact list duplicated on some type of accessible media.  Many sales professionals use a company issued phone, PDA, and computer.  Your contact’s information is on those devices, and your ability to recreate that information is limited once you are separated from it.  You have worked years to put it together, take this precaution.  As a sales professional this is ultra-important.
• Key Contact Data - Have [your] Customer Profiles of your key clients up to date, and stored where you can access it—as discussed in(Black Sales Journal 1/20 Deepening Your Customer Relationships Part II). There are many that believe that client data such as this is company property.  I believe that when I have achieved the relationship that gives me personal access to client particulars about their family and social data, that it is my personal property based on my ability to be in the position to get the information in the first place.  A customer who has allowed you to be a “business friend” has not given you clearance to share his wife’s name and their personal particulars with the new sales professional left there to service the account.   It is yours, and it would be wrong to let that information go to someone without them achieving that status.
• Have Your Contracts in Hand - Have access to your sales contracts.  It is important to have your signed copies in your possession, not in your files at your place of employment.  This would include your employment agreement (if you have one), your non-compete agreement, and any non-disclosures that you have signed.  This will tell you what you have agreed to do, especially including employment after termination. There is a possibility that some provisions change if you are separated by termination.
• Know Your Rights re Final Payments - Have a copy of your sales compensation plan handy as well.  This will advise you of what is done regarding your final commissions/bonus payments if you have some coming.  If you have these papers, you don’t leave this most important area up to your former employer.

Some Things Can’t Be Taken Away From You

Remember to document your accomplishments - Keep up-to-date copies of your sales numbers.  Your ability to get a job will be based on your ability to show past sales accomplishments.  Nothing shows this like the real numbers on the actual reports.

I still have information from when I was a sales rep (1979), as well as a sales manager (1985), and all jobs after that as well.  You might wonder why?  The answers are quite simple:

# 1 – You can lie about the numbers, but the numbers don’t lie!

#2 – It’s not what you know; it’s what you can prove!

I kept the information that came in paper form.  You may have to print it, and should do so at the end of every year.  This is far from too much to ask.  In discussions about these numbers I was always in a position of strength.

No one can take away your pride – If you are a solid citizen, parent, partner, or friend, no one can take away the fact that you have great worth.  Don’t ever let the removal from a position rob you of your self-esteem.  Keep everything in perspective.

Above all, realize that “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”  If you are giving your best, there is an employer out there who needs you. Your comments are welcome.  Contact me at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.