Success can sometime be vexing if you are a sales professional. As success and increased income for many sales professionals increases so do the rivals and detractors in the workplace.  Yes, the very things that we all wish for can turn into a terrible wedge and fuel attitudes from slight jealousy to flat out envy.  When this happens, the competition becomes less than productive, and relationships strained.

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You are making appointments, keeping them and closing deals.  You string together a series of ‘wins’ that is admirable.  It is all going right.  You receive notoriety for your new accounts and your success is getting you management attention as well as a ‘swelling’ income.

Because it is time, and the money is there, you buy a new foreign luxury sedan, and then the barbs begin.  Your income starts to show your success as you buy some new clothes and join an exclusive club.  “Making it rain” is getting you notoriety along with the accompanying benefits of being the number one sales professional in the unit.

Your fellow sales professionals, and others become critical of you for a variety of reasons.  It is even rumored that your manager, who is of the opposite sex, is interested in you.  You are accused of ‘stealing’ prospects, and you become an island.

It Happens In Different Degrees

It does happen, to different degrees.  I am not suggesting that you suspect it, as much as I am saying that sensitivities abound.

Sales units are not teams, whether they are called by that term or not.  The other individuals in your unit can range from becoming slightly perturbed to something bordering on resentment and hate when you generate success and they are not having the success that they want. Having these types of ‘enemies’ happens as sales professionals, and others sense a disparity in the resources that are doled out, or remaining.  Resources could be something as simple as face-time with the boss down to territories, prospect leads, and a variety of other benefits.

The ‘top dog’ becomes a target for jealousy, innuendo, and sniping.  This is a fact of life.  I will make a few suggestions that will help deal with this.

The Golden Rule

What I am going to say may not be golden, but if you treat it as such, your results will certainly be worth more.  Work on a simple set of principals at all times, not when you find the elusive success.  You will find that they should be practices as opposed to something that you do when you do find it:

• Practice being discreet – no one needs to know your income, or even how much you made on the last sale.
• Be humble – at work, recognize that being humble is a sign that you recognize you did not do it alone.
• Give credit and recognition to others – be honest and open about the impact of others in your success.  If you did it all alone, you don’t have to broadcast it, they will already know.
• Help others – Remember the objective of mentoring, and if you cannot be a mentor, offer assistance where needed.
• Continue the routine – If you are doing all of the above and finding success, continue the routine, and ignore the criticism.  If you are true to the above and doing your best, you don’t need to give anyone the power to deter you.

No one needs to see you dance on top of your desk because you made the sale when they are not having any results.  You can be happy and respectful of others in difficult times without sacrificing your success and gain.

We all have worked with sales professionals who whooped and hollered, and bragged and boasted when they scored a sale.  They even handed out cigars as if they had a new offspring after a new sale.  What they really did was to mock the fact that success can be fleeting.  Those around these misguided individuals are left to draw an interpretation that they are boorish, or that they had never had success before.  To coin a football quote “…act like you have been in the end-zone before.”

There is no reason to not celebrate, just do it discreetly.  You can celebrate with your manager, or with your family or both, as all are beneficiaries.

One Last Word

You may not care about these ‘enemies’, yet you should.  One could end up your manager, or your manager’s manager one day.  This could be important stuff.

A Chinese military strategist, Sun-Tzu (Circa 400BC) said “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”(You probably thought it was Michael C0rlene from the Godfather 2 fame who came up with it).  I say this only to indicate that you should engage everyone, even those that feel you have aggrieved him or her.  There are lessons to be learned here.  You can learn from everyone, and you can help everyone as well.  Offering assistance at your specialty (sales) even though it is not common is disarming.

Master the relationship!

Your comments are appreciated. Contact me at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.

The job search conundrum can definitely be a routine.  The problem is that it can also be one of the biggest wastes of time imaginable.  Why are you working so hard to find a suitable position when you’re the real power is in recruiters seeking you out?

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I had an opportunity to review a compelling report called the Jobvite 20015 Recruiter Nation Survey. Jobvite (http://jobvite.com) is a forward-looking San Francisco company that specializes in recruiting software and applicant tracking software.  This organization is on the cutting edge in recruiting platforms.

I am going to share some of the Jobvite finding that may really help you in your job search.

Jobvite 2015 Recruiter Nation Survey –  A Few Important Points

Over 92% of recruiters will use social media to find you! – Of the major platforms out there, 87% use LinkedIn, 55% use Facebook, and 47% use Twitter.  There are looking you where you spend time.  This is a big deal!

Referrals are your most effective source of quality hires! - This is huge, and there is no easy way to say it, you need to have all of your professional contacts “looking” out for you when you are looking.  Recruiters regularly utilize social networks, internships, and outside recruiters, but having a network of people watching out for you is an extremely effective way to put yourself in contention for a position.

Recruiters face obstacles trying to find the right candidate! – 56% of recruiters are hurting for skilled or qualified candidates.  This is a big deal as well.  Be mobile if possible, and search your regions with knowledge that if you can have flexibility, you may land a job, the job, more quickly.  Help the recruiter help you, be up front about your flexibility and terms.

There are many other points in the survey.  I want to make sure that aspiring candidates understand the importance of social media, referrals, and flexibility.  Jobvite’s survey was well done in its scope, and I am even more convinced that building and focusing on a professional network, as opposed to “lobbing” out resumes is your key to success in finding a suitable position.

What is Most Important to a Recruiter?

Recruiters have to focus on something when attempting to fill a position.  As would be the case,  some things that seem important may be more important than others.

Some items that you have previously thought of as important aren’t! – 63% of recruiters ranked cover letters as a 1 or 2 on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest ranking.  Additionally, 57% of recruiters rank GPA as a 1 or 2 on the scale in terms of its importance.

Remember to showcase the most important items – 87% of recruiters think your previous job experience is more important as it ranks either 4 or 5 on the 5-point scale.  Ranking even higher, 88% think the culture fit is definitely important.  An area that many take for granted, references shows up as well, with 51% of the recruiters believing that they are important.

Social Media Pitfalls Still Abound

The Jobvite 2015 Recruiter Nation Survey also ratifies what so many of us know about social media and your job search.

There are goods and bad about having a social media presence.

Put yourself in the best “Light” – 76% say you should share details regarding volunteer, professional, or social engagement work.  52% suggest that you engage with current events tastefully, and importantly, 72% suggest that you double-check your spelling and grammar!

Avoid the Negatives – 54% suggest that the picture of you and that little red cup is a negative, and 75% suggest that you with marijuana is a negative.  I would suggest to you that that number might even be higher.  Interestingly enough, 33% think that a limited social media presence might be negative.

More to Come

I will touch on some more salient points of the Jobvite 2015 Recruiter Nation Survey, and will also be touching on the important points of the Diversity Jobs Index and Report as put together by the fine people at Professional Diversity Network.

Many thanks to Jobvite for sharing this enlightening report.  Please feel free to share any comments with me.  I can be reached at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.