Black Sales Journal

What makes the difference between those who flourish in a sales career, and those who struggle?  It is probably going to be one of the points you will find below.  Read this and let me know what you think.

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We all know great looking sales people or sales position candidates like Johnny, who have the appearance of premier sales professionals.  You can line them up and it would look like a privileged and capable sales force ready to distribute any ready product in any sales territory.

The truth is that Johnny and many of these candidates will fail.  Failure should not be a bad word in sales; it should be known as the occupational filter that it is.

A great education, a solid appearance, a good product, and skills training are all things that should help, but there are some important things that play heavily on someone’s ability to sell effectively.

Not For the Faint of Heart

Sales can be lucrative as a profession, but when you are without a couple of these skills or attributes, you are going to be at a disadvantage.

Johnny will continue to struggle or even fail if he:

• Does not want to be in sales, and is unwilling to adapt
• Doesn’t communicate effectively
• Cannot form meaningful relationships
• Avoids success by avoiding the most uncomfortable aspects of the sales job
• Repeats the same unproductive activities over and over again
• Frankly does not want to put in the work
• Cannot deal with measurement and competition
• Does not have a winning attitude

Does not want to be in sales - If you do not what to be in sales, and are unwilling to adapt to it, you are in the wrong place, and won’t be there for long. If you just need a job, find something else to do.   As a sales manager, one of my interview questions was, “If we choose another candidate for this position is there a job in this organization that you would elect to do if that position is available?”  If the answer was yes, that individual wanted a job, not a sales position.  They lose in the job search!

Doesn’t communicate effectively – This one is not just the spoken word, but the presentation particulars as well.  Communications skills, including listening are ultra important.  For those of you who do it well, you probably take it for granted, but for many other sales professionals communication skills are not top notched. Johnny cannot show well against those who perform on a high level.

Cannot form meaningful relationships – You have heard me say it before, “Relationships are everything” when it comes to most professional sales.  You might refer to Black Sales Journal 1/13/2011- Deepening Your Customer Relationships for more information on this important topic.  Relationships give you preference, and preference in a business relationship is where you want to be.  You don’t ‘work’ the relationship angle, you live it.  If you develop enduring relationships you will benefit for years.  Relationship skills make all of the difference in the world, and are a major reason why some reps cannot sell.  In a sales environment that requires implicit trust such as a large ticket sale situation, you must be able to develop relationships that give preference.  This kind of preference is important, as it ‘trumps’ racial preference as the buyer knows and trusts you.  But there are people that have a tough time with relationships, and have not mastered the process of developing relationship basics.

Avoids success by avoiding the most uncomfortable tasks – You will not be successful if you avoid the tough stuff.  Prospecting is a good example.  Avoid prospecting on Tuesday, and something might come up on Wednesday, then you have a sales meeting on Thursday.  You have successfully avoiding sourcing prospects for 3/5ths of the week.  This activity is something that you would want to do almost every day.  Avoidance happens, but not for long, as you will begin new job hunt activities if you continue to avoid important tasks.

Repeats the same unproductive activities over and over again- Whether it is the habitual coffee break, long lunch, or even Friday afternoons off, unproductive activities have a way of repeating themselves.  The consummate professional has an ability to stop this madness and focus on productive activities.  Many sales professionals review the weekend with colleagues on Monday morning.  What can be more unproductive than a review of everyone’s child’s soccer games when money and a job hang in the balance?

Frankly does not want to put in the work – There are those reps, which appear lazy, but in truth it normally is something less vexing such as the point above.  This individual  ”avoids” success by avoiding the most uncomfortable tasks.  Laziness does find its way into many sales reps lives, and usually they get away with it for a while because of the requirement that they work without close supervision.  If you don’t want to put in the work, get out of the way and let someone else have a chance.

Cannot deal with measurement and competition – There are many individuals that quickly find that they are in the most measurable job that exist.  Being constantly measured and in competition with their peers gets to them and distracts them from cold calling and building relationships.  It does not seem as impactful as some of the others above, but it makes a difference.  You can be a ‘social worker’ in many different occupations, including management, but you cannot afford to feed the hungry and take in the needy in sales, as you are going to be measured objectively for the most part.  Lack of mental toughness in the face of the competition is the reason many falter.

Does not have a winning attitude – I saved this one for last as it speaks to why many sales professionals don’t make it.  You have to have perseverance and a belief that you will prevail.  A positive outlook is the most important ‘attitude’ that you can carry with you on a call, and in the office.  I know that this sounds light, but armed with a positive and winning attitude you can do so much.  I know a Black sales professional who I mentor (I will call her JP) who keeps a positive outlook through difficult situations.  The employer sees it, the customer recognizes it, and her family feels it.  The sales professional wins in the end.

Is There A Magic Pill for Johnny?

If you have some of the problems above you can still find success.  If you have all of them, you might want to consider another occupation. If Johnny should not be in sales, it is understandable.  Many of us cannot be successful engineers.  Review this post, BSJ 2/23/2012– The Smartest Person in the Room, to understand why.

This list is not exhaustive, but contains the major reasons. Black sales professionals can conquer so many business and societal ills on the basis that they are strong and adaptable.

Put these points to use and make the difference.

By now you know my sentiments regarding the strength of being an expert.  It was not only the post done on Black Sales Journal 12/20 -Your Customer Needs an Expert , but my many references to it in previous posts.  Being an expert gives you a type ofpreference that we all covet.  Black sales professionals should want to be bestowed with this tag any time that they can have it.

This type of preference is earned by doing those things in preparation that lays the groundwork for the ‘expert’ status.  We need to include doing things to get the notoriety and acclaim for having accomplished this groundwork.

What Makes You an Expert?

Being an expert means that you have a deep knowledge of a particular topic.  I have advocated that expert status gives youpreference, yet you still have to earn it by doing what is right in the customer’s eyes.  In other words, you still have to perform.

There are many things that may give the perception that you are an expert.  We will cover the items that generally customers perceive as helping to earn expert status.  Remember, perception is reality to the customer.

A positive perception can give you a preference that can be so powerful, possibly only being “triumphed” at times by the preference on the part of the customer of the “business friend” (Black Sales Journal 1/13 Deepening Customer Relationships) relationship level and some other relationship-based levels.

Here are some items that can help you be perceived as an expert:

• Vast experience
• Accreditations & Designations
• Education, Certifications, and degrees
• Renown Speaker
• Letters of Recommendations and Reference
• Association Membership
• Publishing

There may be other items, yet these can be meaningful in attaining an expert status.

Vast Experience – This is solid.  If you are able to boast that you have a wealth of customers and have delivered solutions to them (Black Sales Journal 6/20 Deliver Solutions, Then Sell!!), you probably can boast to be expert on a class of business, geographic area, or product.  Grouping your customers to determine your expertise would be important.  You will need to “develop” a product or “package” offering, yet this is quite doable.

Accreditations  & Designations – These are important, and very durable.  Going through some type of training or educational program, and normally testing for proficiency in the end can result in attainment.  In some cases, they are very formal, and in other cases, they are less formal, yet they yield a “diploma” in most cases.  For example, my degree from a four-year university did not mean much in the world of commercial lines insurance, so I engaged in additional educational coursework and designations (CPCU – Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, ARM – Associate in Risk Management, and AIAF – Associate of Insurance Accounting and Finance).  I showed these designations proudly on my business card to show my expertise as well as my devotion to the industry that I was in.   It was helpful in convincing many that I was committed and qualified.

Education, Certifications, and Degrees – This one is very much like the one above.  Note that education can include the extent of your education; including bachelors and masters level education.  Certifications can include completion of certificate programs that do not render a degree, yet do show the fact that completion of the program shows some mastery of the subject matter.  A sales professional selling institutional food products and cooking implements that has a certification in food safety would be someone who a restaurant owner might listen to.

Acceptance as a Renowned Speaker – I recognize that every sales professional does not desire to be a prominent speaker.  Some know a subject matter to such a degree that they can attain a “speaker” status.  If they know the subject matter well enough to help others by speaking on it.  If you are in that group, you can allow this to work for you by making sure that you have a platform to pass the information along.  This includes press clippings, mentions in blogs, or entries in your own blog or written information.

Referrals and Recommendations – This one is simple from the standpoint of making sure that those who have benefited from your delivery of solutions “reduce it to writing.”  It allows you to distribute the document to show your expertise.  The objective is to have a proof source to support your strengths.  It is more esoteric than some of the other solutions, yet it can be effective.

Association Membership – This one certainly does not denote true expertise, yet could support your commitment and professionalism.  It can be used in conjunction with the others to show the commitment that might tip the scale.  For example, if you are a sales professional who works heavily with the general contractors, you can join a chapter of a contractor organization.  Joining the New York General Contractors Association would be evidence of support for the group as well as a commitment to working with contractors.  It can result in you having the association logo on your card, and getting great information to use in your solicitation effort such as a members list, legislative information, and current issues and events.

Publishing – This would include having your information put to print, or could be something easier to do such as blogging.  This is more work than many of the items above, yet can be fruitful.  If you do it with other items like speaking, it could be quite easy as the subject matter would be something that you had an engagement on.  One way or another, it would keep you in the public eye, and addressing the issues.

You Still Must Perform

None of this makes a difference if you don’t perform when you act in the capacity of the expert.  Researching, answering questions, and acting as counselor (BSJ, The Consultative Selling Style  6/6/2011) only works, if you know what you are talking about, and give real value.

What is normally the case is that several of the items above are combined to assure a customer of the sales professionals expert status.  The sales professional who not only has the education, but also the certifications and designations, coupled with the requisite vast experience might get consideration as an expert by a customer.

When the Black Sales professional has one of these combinations, preference is within reach as few customers will avoid dependence on a proven expert unless the water is teaming with them.

Prepare yourself, and claim your status.

Your comments are welcome.