Black Sales Journal

“Who has confidence in himself will gain the confidence of others.”
- Lieb Lazarow

In corporate lobbies and shiny business buildings everywhere there are people trying to rob you of your self-confidence. There are those people who will attempt to find any crack or weakness to attack, and some with good reason.  Testing your meddle is what they are doing, and it is legal, and you should expect it.

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One day I went on a call to meet a prospect that I had worked on for over 6 months just to get an appointment.  He indicated that we should meet at 9:00A sharp and that I had 45 minutes total appointment time.  That is not enough time to get the information that I needed, but it was a start.  When I arrived at his business at 8:55A, there were two trucks backed-up waiting to get into the loading docks.  I sat patiently waiting for the trucks to move, which would allow entry to the parking lot.  Feeling as if it would be too long, I parked down the street and walked two blocks.

I walked into reception at 9:06A and immediately was escorted in by the receptionist.  My buyer was sitting at a long table in the conference room staring at his watch.  He said, “I thought I specified that you should we would start at 9:00a?” I apologized without explaining the situation.  He then said, “We are at 9:10 and you are eating away at your own time!”  He then said, “What in God’s name makes you the person I want to buy from?  You seem so young.” I responded, “I know your industry well, and have some creative solutions that you will find attractive.” I was on my heels at this point, and that was all that I knew to say.  His expression showed his lack of acceptance.

We rushed through the appointment.  My questions were hurried and his answers were brief, even incomplete.  I continued to probe, although cognizant of my time restraints. I was getting answers, but needed more.  At 9:45A he abruptly stood up, extended his hand and stated, “My next appointment is waiting.  I hope you have enough information.” As he was leaving the room he parted by saying, “My assistant will make an appointment for the presentation.” I did not have enough for a quotation presentation, and if I did not get more, it would have been a wasted opportunity.

Never Show You are Shaken

I was late, although only by a few minutes, but was on the defensive and I was young most likely compared to my competition.  Even on top of that, I was Black.  Being Black might not have been the biggest deal in the world, but I was a in a profession that required that you instill confidence in the customer as the product was an intangible.

I am not going to tell you that race was a factor, because I don’t know, but I will speculate below.

This individual was attempting to rob me of my self-confidence and I was not ready to let it go.   You have been in similar situations.  He questioned my professionalism (being late) as well as my age and I did everything that I could do not to appear defensive.

Build a Portfolio of Proof Sources

As you may have seen in BSJ 4/16/12 – Credibility, You Can’t Buy It, You Have Got To Earn It, one of the most effective tools to help establish credibility is proof sources such as letters of recommendation, accreditations, certifications, and other indications of your professional nature and ability to help customers.  Credibility will help give you confidence.  Armed with these, you can answer the questions about experience, age, and knowledge.

If you are new in the sales occupation, you will eventually have these questions so take the opportunity to prepare your portfolio to house these important items:

• Letter from prominent customers singing your praises
• Certifications and designations indicating technical ability and knowledge
• Your reasons why you should be the customers sales professional

These will help, but the most important display is your own demeanor.

Be ‘Cool’ in the Game

If you are new, you may not have all of these items, but whether a novice or a vet, you still need to be look confident and composed no matter what the situation.

Never appear smug but do recognize that you want to portray that the ‘solution’ just walked into the room.  You don’t want to be ‘worshipped’, only believed.  Make solid eye-to-eye contact and put down your electronics, retreating to a reliance on your personal skills.  Remember you listening skills and your ability to show empathy (BSJ – 10/13/2011, Empathy, Put Yourself In Your Customers Shoes) and always deliver solutions…. then sell (BSJ 6/20/2011 -Deliver Solutions…Then Sell).

Something to Think About

He did not involve my race in any of his comments.  He may have been tough, but he was a professional.  Maybe it was not a factor to him.  No matter what, this buyer was a tough one.

Regardless, all a Black sales professional can do is to exude confidence, be ultra prepared, and armed with as much ‘ammo’ in the form of proof sources to deal with perceptions that you might have basic faults.

I always think about being on time and not starting out a meeting with an apology.  Way back then, or even before it, I realized that you start from a weaker position if you ‘begging’ someone’s pardon as the meeting is starting.

In the end, I did not sell this account at this time, although I did sell him in the future.  My presentation was solid according to my manager who was on the call.   This buyer worked with me two years later.  My manager would later say that I ‘developed’ the prospect during that proposal.

Be confident in your abilities, even though buyers, and situations work to strip you of your ‘high’.  If you have prepared well, and know your trade, you should walk in with your shoulders high and ask for the business.

Always be prepared!

Your comments are welcome.

In light of racial perceptions and racial preference, it is not uncommon to have to  pass muster like this.  Although it is wrong that an individual would have to clear a hurdle on the basis of the color of their skin, gender, religious affiliation, age, or sexual orientation, it does happen.

However, you can win in this situation, and the facts below illustrate that.  Those Black sales professionals who have faced this know that they experience a  personal victory when they are successful and recognize the covenant we all share to be the best.

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If you are a Black sales professional it is no secret that closing a sale is a calculated action; part of a process that we call the professional sales call.  There is no doubt that if you are in this group you will need to have a strong sense of when to close and the technique to close both sales.

Closing on Two Fronts

The close has to come on two separate fronts.

• My company/product is the best for you and is an acceptable price to create the value and utility that your organization needs
• Although potentially different because of my pigmentation, I am the best choice of sales professional to handle the needs of your organization now and in the future.

There will be those that may disagree that this happens.  Don’t be naïve, as it is common.  Note the examples below:

• A young sales person has to make the sale that they are a viable option by showing that they can provide the knowledge and have access to the wisdom and experience which when coupled with the energy of youth can be the best option.  This is right and natural.
• Several years ago women wrongly were forced to close the credibility sale by showing that they were able to prove personal credibility and dependability.  This was fundamentally wrong, and still is.

When I was a young sales professional, I found out that I had at least two items against me.  At a time when there were a much smaller number of sales professionals who were black, I was Black, and was a mere 22 years old.

I was selling in a commercial market (B2B) where there were few Blacks were experienced, and knowledge and experience were to be touted as an advantage.  I quickly learned that you had to find compensators for these “disadvantages” while at the same time I needed to keep doing the fundamental activities that give you a chance.

Learning how to close the sale and the personal/professional sales was one of those activities.

Closing the Product/Service Sale

Knowing how to close the product sale can be scientific, yet still is an art.  Recognition that the close is not always designed to get an order but can systematically be used to determine what objections are out there is important.

There are numerous books out there on closing and having read some, they all have something to add on closing techniques and styles as well as when to close.  I am not going to cover them here, yet will in a future post suggest some books and blogs on closing that you might want to consider.

The main purpose of this post is to discuss the sale that you must make even if your product/service is the best one out there.

Closing the Personal/Professional Sale

This sale is less defined.  Much of this sale is actually done as a prequalification. This is a set of activities that you undertake from the beginning of the relationship.  This set of activities is different for each customer/prospect, as each one comes with a different set of perceptions and preferences.

It is during this calculated process that you get a customer/prospect comfortable, confident, and willing to do business with you.  Is this different than with any other sales professional?  They answer is probably yes.  It is different because in many cases you are altering perceptions, and attempting to change preferences.  A big order, yet something that can be accomplished.

Female Black sales professionals who sell know this more than any other segment.  It is better than it used to be, yet still difficult.  They are challenged to hurdles.

Here are some of the items that you are trying to sell in the Personal Sale:

• Professionalism
• Responsiveness
• Credibility
• Expertise/Specialty
• Personal Accomplishment
• Effectiveness
• Vision

Your customer/prospect will recognize that if you have these traits and one more, the customer’s organizations interest in mind, you have everything you need to have value for his/her organization.

Many of the items above are linked to the Black Sales Journal Article that defines them in depth.  Please take a look at them to get a fairly in depth look what these attributes entail.

Make It Work!

Now back to the issue of prequalification. This is the process of gaining the necessary credibility to make the personal sale.  It is giving the necessary information to the client in “bite sized” portions so that it can be digested and absorbed.

You will prequalify by activities such as sending your customer/prospect your newsletter regarding his businesses industry, referring him to your customers who are next door (who he knows) to get an idea of your expertise, and share with him your ideas about how companies with your profile can get benefit in the future from you product/service.

In Summary

You can correctly position a sale of a product and prepare a close, yet if you are wise, you will realize that perceptions and preferences can be overcome, yet not in a one hour meeting. Prequalifying can have success by getting agreement and clarifcation on many of the issues that would be in question at the final sales call.

These items include providing references to give confidence (professionalism, responsiveness, expertise, etc.), making suggestions for changes and visions of the future (vision, expertise, effectiveness, etc.), and developing the deep relationship that lets all of this gel together.

Don’t miss the opportunity to feed it slowly to your customer early on.  If you give references, suggestions, and expertise information all at the end, when you present your proposal, you have missed an opportunity.  It is too late.

Close both sales and get the order.  Good selling.

Your comments are welcome.