I recognize that the best sales jobs are still hard to come by.  There are still sales professionals that are changing jobs, and make no doubt about it, they are having to negotiate their salary.  I think these tips will help you whether you new or a veteran.  Good proven techniques for you to benefit from!

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The interview skills that you honed have been superb, and your ability to stay focused during the group interview was exemplary. The list of accomplishments on your resume gave you credibility, and your vision showed well.

Now, you have the pleasure of being selected for the job you coveted. Job one now is to make sure that you get a “deal” that you can live with. Too many sales professionals have avoided the discomfort of negotiating, which should be what you do best, and have settled for something that they later regret.

Salary- Know the Landscape

There is nothing more compelling for a sales professional than getting paid what they are worth. In order for this to happen for you, you need a brief education and awareness of the salary landscape. Getting what you deserve requires this understanding, as it is the basis for your ability to effectively negotiate. This requires some background, some homework, and a little bit of intuition.

The good part is that if you’re currently an employee of the desired company, you most likely have knowledge of their compensation. Also, the databank of information that you have accumulated during your business and sales career, no matter how long it has been, is useful.

One useful yet controversial “tool” that will help to define the landscape is called Glass Door. Many professionals from numerous occupations use this tool, and it is abused by just as many. One of the most common uses is to determine a baseline and as I explain further you will have better understanding of Glass Doors’ worth and veracity. I will provide a link to Glass Door’s site below, but first let me give you some caveats.

Glass Door depends on user/member reporting to build its database of information. Each participant must give up some information on himself or herself before having full access to the information provided by others in this database. It is extremely popular at this time, yet is probably to some degree a good place for “liars poker” as well. With that in mind, I suggest you take it with a “grain of salt.” It does not mean that you can’t use this in your quest for information, but you do need to do it with an understanding of the limitations of the tool.  You can get to Glass Door by using this link, or putting http://www.glassdoor.com in your browser.

Glass Door gives you salary information on a number of different positions, including those involving sales and service. Interestingly enough, that may include sales positions at your current employer, as well as sales positions at your prospective employer. It also factors in your geographic area as well.

This gives you a jumping off point, as you look to understand what sales professionals of like experience and position will make. Keep in mind the Glass Door is not limited to sales.

This tool gives you more information than salary, but…keep in perspective.

Before we leave this brief discussion on salary expectations and requests we should also recognize that the salary probably should not be your driving issue. You’re driving issue probably should be total compensation, and that should will be driven by the strength or weakness of the sales compensation plan that you are on. You will need a solid review of the plan to get an idea of your earning potential.  You should ask questions liberally, and I would suggest that you see the mechanics of the plan using some real sales situations.

You should get this in spoken to in the offer letter.

Lock in your “Conditions”

I will simplify this to avoid confusion. Your “conditions” would be anything that is not salary and not employee benefit driven. This will include the following items:

• Territory
• Goal Expectations
• Expense allowance–per diem
• Company Vehicle
• Inherited business
• Inherited prospects
• Issues regarding assistance and support
• Expectations on any legal costs and issues regarding any non-competes or contracts

These items are important as well, and need to be negotiated just like the salary. I call them conditions because they are a condition of the agreement that should be observed by either party.  These are part of the employment agreement and should be discussed and recorded.

Above all, get it in writing.

Lock-in your benefits

This is ultra important, not because it makes the job any less difficult, but because it makes the working conditions palatable.

I would include in that discussion the following items:

Vacation
Personal days
Employee Benefit Issues

You may not be negotiating employee benefit issues as they should be going “by the book”, yet you should get definite clarification on these issues and have a meeting of the minds as you will feel abused if you lose a dispute about these in the future.

Above all, get it in writing as no one wants to hear what you understood to be the deal; they want to see the agreement.  Remember, as you have heard before, it is not what you know; it is what you can prove!

The Power of Commitment

I think that you know my sentiments reducing all agreements to writing.  It is best for both sides.  You should also be prepared to live with it.  You negotiate for a living, and this is the most important negotiation that you are going to be involved with for years to come.

Do your homework, and be knowledgeable.  Close the deal and get to the business of selling.  No one likes surprises!

Next Post will cover the actual salary negotiation.  Knowing the landscape definitely puts you in position.

Good luck and good selling.

We welcome your comments.

Selling is a fluid art, with some components that would make it seem as if it has its basis in science, yet we all know that is not true.  Selling is a process.  It has stages, and for many products and services it will always be necessary to have a human in the process as it depends on recognition of the customer, customer reaction, and intimacy.

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A discussion about selling styles always makes for interesting banter.  Just as soon as you figure out what your style should be, you reflect back on a sales call or situation and determine that you haven’t always acted within that character.

A Look at Some Styles

There are a number of selling styles that should be recognized.  I would note that depending on what text you read you are sure to find countless interpretations and nuances of sales styles.  I will stick to some conventional logic here in describing the styles I am referring to:

• Technical Sellers
• Relationship Seller
• Collaborative & Consultative Sellers
• Account Servicing Sellers
• Closers/Assertive Sellers

Which of these styles is for you?  Which of these styles do you need to exhibit?

There is a good answer to this question…all of them!

Selling is situational.  This is where the art becomes true to form.  Sales professionals who sell in one style will limit their effectiveness to particular situations with particular types of buyers.

A Closer Look

The sales process generates some notable styles.  This is not an endorsement of any of these styles as much as it is a cataloging of them so that the differences between them are known.

Technical Sellers – These individuals are considered experts, usually with a product that is complicated or technical.  They know the product or service like no other, and know its applications from the company view and from the customer view.

Relationship Sellers – These sales professionals sell on the strength of a close, personal relationship with customers and prospective customers.  Not everyone can do this, as it requires the right personality and attractions.

Collaborative and Consultative Sellers – This sales professional consults and collaborates with the buyer, outwardly looking for input and providing suggestions as to what could make his/her product fit the needs of the customers.  They listen well and look for those things that they can agree on changing.

Account Servicing Sellers – These professionals spend their efforts proving their worth providing exceptional customer service and getting sales based on the confidence they have build with the customer.

Closers/Assertive Sellers – This group counts on the technical act of the sales process, particularly the close and aggressive sales manner to get accounts.

There are other types, yet these stand out.

You Need Them All!

I know that this statement intrigues you but we must recognize that although you may have a dominant style, each of the styles plays a rather important role in the sales process.  Often, the buyer, and the buyer’s style determine the style that you use for the sale.

Example 1. Closer/Assertive Seller

A buyer is slow to make a decision in a complex sale.  You can react by buying into that slowness or even ambivalence, or you can move to close at different impasses, forcing the buyer to disclose his/her objections.  You move to being a closer/assertive seller.  In this case, you changed your style to accommodate a buyer, and to accelerate the sales process.  You move past the objections and consummate the sale.

Example 2. Technical Selling

Your product is technical in nature.  Tolerances are tight, and even sophisticated users struggle with the specifications and requirements.  You utilize your expertise to pull together all aspects of the features and benefits, and how they relate to the customer’s situation.  Your competition is bringing in someone from another region to “explain” the product to the prospective buyer.  Your advantage is that you are right here, and will be here when the competition’s expert goes home. Your emergence as the technical expert is what the customer needs to gain assurance and commit to the sale.  You get the order.

Example 3.  Relationship Seller

Inertia may be a physics law, yet it is sometimes difficult in the sales process unless you are the incumbent sales professional.  You spend time with the prospective customer explaining the process, product, and pricing.  You spend so much time that you get to know the customer’s needs better than the competition, and the incumbent.  Your relationship is solid. You know the organization, its financial condition, and its projections for the future.  Your customer data file is complete and you utilize the information to its fullest.  When the incumbent makes a mistake or misstep, what sales professional is the logical choice?  You close the deal.

Example 4.  Collaborative and Consultative Seller

This sales professional acts as the business consultant to the buyer, while collaborating to come up with the best selling situation possible.  You are involved in a sales situation with a buyer who has never purchased at this level.  The size of this ticket, and the complexity of this sale, coupled with the gravity of this sale require you to be close to the buyer.  It requires listening and “making the buyer look good.”  You do so by asking questions, listening, and involving the buyer’s important personnel to determine the product specifications.  You then use your ability to provide expert consultation to consummate the sale. You emerge the most sensible option.

Example 5.  Account Servicing Seller

You are the Account Executive who has been servicing this account.  You have teamed up with the sales professional on the account.  Your responsiveness and your reputation are rock-solid with the buyer, and you can use that to get an order.  You get involved in the specification and the quotation process, as no one knows the customer like you do.  Your reputation of delivering is a primary factor in the customer believing in your organization.   The customer continues the old order and awards your organization with more business.

In Summary

There is no doubt that these situations happen.  Actually, the same individual can be involved in example 1 through 4.  You need to find comfort in situational selling.  Utilize the correct selling style for the situation.  In the coming weeks we will touch on some of these.

Keep selling and stay flexible.

Your comments are welcome.