Black Sales Journal

Your outside  sales position comes with some assets that are not always thought of as benefits.

Items such as:

Company Vehicle & Company Fuel Card
Company Credit Card
Company Issued Smart Phone or PDA
Company supplied laptop Computer

There are other items as well and the premise is the same with all of these devices.  They are designed to help you be the best that you can be in the sales position, reducing the need for inside assistance, reducing administrative costs, and increasing convenience for the user.

These items present some significant opportunities for unintended neglect as well as abuse and should be managed carefully.

Most long term sales professionals know how these items play into performance evaluations, company policies, and continued employment, yet a recap could never hurt as there are always new professionals entering the workplace.

Electronic Devices – Your Responsibilities and Changing Times

The world is changing, and you have no choice but to be a part of it.  Your access to company and customer data is an important convenience, and it creates some rather interesting changes as compared with a few years ago.

Your laptop computer or even  a pocket-sized device can easily come up missing and could potentially contain the following information that you currently may take for granted:

• Privileged company information (Your company’s trade secrets)
• Customer/Client information (contact lists, phone, addresses)
• Customer Confidential Information (Credit card, financial, and other)
• Your company’s system access information

The information above, as well as  other important information that could be on drives, media cards, etc, can send your company’s IT professionals into “Def Con One” in terms of actions to protect customer’s privacy and your company’s systems and information.

Losing your laptop or Blackberry/iPhone/PDA sends into action a wave of activities designed to protect that information.  This could include “wiping” which is the remote erasing of all of the data on either device.  This falls under the category of “better safe than sorry.”

Depending on what industry you are in, there is also the possibility of federal laws being violated.  If you are in the health or medical industry, which includes health insurance, your responsibilities are even more strenuous, because of health information privacy.

Losing your brief case would be tough, and would potentially put some information in the hands of some who might read it or use it incorrectly.  Losing your PDA creates a different exposure that includes the possibility of improper access of gigabytes of information (thousands of briefcases) and a gateway to other information.

The most important action you can take if you make the mistake is to inform your IT department immediately after the problem happens.  Before that, take all necessary steps to protect it.

Company Vehicles & Fuel Card

Fewer companies provide the benefit of company vehicles now, and that is fitting.  The “tests” that qualify sales professionals, even though they are in outside sales are strenuous, and limiting.

If you do have a company vehicle, you should recognize that not only is this a company asset, but also your company is watching everything you do with it.  Fleet companies and your own HR department are doing what they can to insure that this company asset that could easily be valued up to $25K to $40K is protected and maintained correctly.  It only makes sense.

With this in mind:

• Respect and follow all maintenance schedules. These are recorded and the paper trail is easy to follow.
• Use your fuel card correctly.
• Document according to policy.  Maintain confidence by following the rules to the letter.

Above all, treat the vehicle as if it is your own.  Keep it clean in appearance and it will be noticed.

Company Credit Card

More mistakes happen with company credit cards than you might believe.  Sometimes the mistakes are harmless errors, but some are as a result of mistakes of character.

You can know your company’s expense and credit card policies to the letter, yet there is another test that is even simpler.  If you are in doubt, do not use your company credit card.  This short section is less a review of company expense policy than how you actually use the card.

Remember, if you use the card once for a personal expense that is not business related, you have crossed a boundary that breaks a confidence.  Improper use goes past using the card for personal expenses it also includes using it in the “wrong” places.  I am totally amazed at any sales professional who uses the company credit card at a “gentleman’s club” or any like establishment.  What more indicting activity can you have on your judgment than to use a card with your employer’s name on it at an establishment like this?

Be smart and careful with this valuable asset.  Many organizations require that you use the credit card for any business expenditure.  This increases control, and makes it even more necessary to be discrete.

In Summary

Always know the policies of your operation, and always use common sense.  Improper use usually comes from improper judgment and an ignorance of the ground rules.

Protect your electronic media with your life.  You don’t want to have that information floating around out there, but you really don’t want to undergo the “Spanish Inquisition” that will result from losing it when your IT department and your manager begin their query.  Care is necessary as anyone can lose one of these devices.  What happens if you lose two of them?

Your comments are always welcome.

The profession of sales is a seductive art. I did not say it was sexy.  No matter how you try may to make it sexy, it still involves the nuts and bolts and rigorous work of someone moving a product by convincing an individual to do something that they otherwise might not do.  This is the essence of the chain of distribution.

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Is All Sales Just Sales?

There are those whose job is sales, yet the audience is different; actually it is much different, as they will not be the end-user of  your product. When you are selling products and services to those who have the responsibility of selling them to others, you are in an interesting situation.  Whether you are a manufacturer’s rep, a wholesaler, a distributor selling to retail, or another like role, you have a responsibility to recognize the subtle difference in a role that exist when you are not selling to someone who will then sell your product to the end user.

In most of these cases, you are selling to sales professionals who work under various titles.  These are the people that will ultimately sell to the end user, and most likely have characteristics (as sales professionals) that we all know quite well.  It is a group with personal drive and a quest for dollars (most of the time), and recognition (quite often).

You know a great deal about them because you, as a successful sales professional,  have many of the same traits.

What is Different?

When you are selling product to sales professionals, you must recognize some simple rules:

• You are talking to the “Star” when you talk to your customer (the dealer, sales rep, or otherwise).
• Time is of the essence so respect it.  Attention spans can be short, and getting shorter once you start talking if you are not getting to the point.  They need something from you, but don’t want to spend an afternoon getting it.
• Clarity of information is essential, know this and deliver everything in the clearest format possible.  As a sales professional yourself, you recognize that vagary causes you to move to consider another offering.
• The information you leave behind must be useful and in a format which gets interest and solves problems.  The information that you leave for the customer must be useful, or you have wasted print cost or development costs.
• If he/she cannot understand it, they cannot sell it! Be precise and simple in your explanations and characterizations of your product.

Why do I say “you are talking to the Star?”  Remember, the “star” is the one with the  relationship  That is the ultimate “star” because they can present your product the way you want them to do it, or the way they want to do it.  You obviously want them to present your product the way you want it, so recognize the need to make them look good!

Other Important Strategies

There are a couple of other things to remember that might work well for you in this endeavor:

• Recognize who is your “customer”. In most cases, it is not the end user; it is the individual who makes the decision to recommend your product.  This is a huge issue.  There is a difference between customer and end user, and depending on how you run your process and present your product, you could alienate your“customer”.  Don’t make that mistake, as your competition may be solid in this distinction.
• Be the best in customer service and support. This is an area that you are in control of.  Even if yourcustomer is a “prima donna”, it is your customer, and your compensation and ratings are dependent on, most likely, several individuals like him/her.  Make them look good, and you benefit; if you are remiss in giving proper support, you both suffer.  They don’t get the sale, and you might get the criticism.
• Always document well…but don’t use it as a hammer. When a sales professional works to procure business, they often read proposals from suppliers and vendors for hours.  As a matter of fact, they see so many that they often get confused.  Be clear in your documents and your presentation, and realize that they will make a mistake at some point; you just hope it is not an expensive one.  If you can, consider helping them, yet the clarity of the information and your documentation will protect you.
• Always be discreet. Do not discuss their business or affairs with any of your other customers or contacts.  Treat them the way you would like to be treated in that regard.

Get the most out of your contacts!

Your value to your customer comes in your knowledge of your product and process, and your ability to sell to them based on your understanding of what the customer needs. Your objective is to make this person successful, and thus a believer in you…then you will meet your production goals!

In the end, they will acknowledge you and your input into their success…or at least we hope they will.  Let’s put it this way, they will recognize it, and hopefully acknowledge it. The most important thing is that they will contribute to your success.

Your comments are welcome.