Black Sales Journal

The role of sales manager was one of the most rewarding positions I ever worked.  To be able to bring fresh new sales talent into an organization was always exciting.  To make the moves to mold an existing sales unit into a conglomeration of individuals who reached and exceed sales goals with regularity was exciting as well.

The patience and determination that job required was amazing, while at the same time, it required one to quickly see thought the mud while pressing for accountability from sales the professionals.

It is a fact that sales managers, if they are solid in all aspects of management, make good managers in total.  They understand the customer better that others as well as the process of business development.

Even more important is the reality that the Black sales professional, even when moderately successful in sales, should consider a pitch for that important sales management job.  We will touch on that in this post.

Being prepared, and having the tools is important.  Let’s discuss some of the ways that you can be prepared for the opportunity.

The Most Important Tools for Sales Management

There are requisite skills for every job out there, and that is true for the job of sales manager as well.  Most sales managers are given a first assignment in a field unit, then increasing responsibility as District Sales Managers, Regional Sales Managers, and Vice Presidents of Sales.

Someone with responsibility for an operation, such as a General Manager, will want in their employ someone who does not resort to excuses or finger pointing at other units.  They need someone who understands the sales process.  I listed some of the skills and attributes that individuals responsible for operations look for when they seek a leader for a sales unit:

• Leadership
• Coach and Trainer
• Visionary
• Team Builder
• Motivator

Now, couple these with the fact that you also want these attributes in the leader of your sales unit:

• Intelligence
• Responsibility and Integrity
• Mental Toughness
• Accountability

If you can get these items, in various amounts, even with need for improvement, you can be an effective manager.

Do you have these skills?  If you have them, have you been able to demonstrate them? These are important questions as this is where you can make a difference.

Let’s Take A Closer Look

Leadership - This most important attribute can be demonstrated by your accepting responsibility in meetings, projects, breakout groups, and other assignments.  Don’t be in the “everyone else took a step back” situation.  Step to the front and claim the role as a leader.

Coach and Trainer – This is an important role for a sales manager, so to the degree that you can demonstrate it, you will show initiative and skill.  Best suggestion; mentor other sales professionals in your organization.  Nothing works better than another professional saying that you helped with his or her career.  You also learn in the process.

Visionary – This is an attribute more than a skill, yet totally necessary in the sales management realm.  I speak of it in Black Sales Journal, March 7, 2010, Be The Consummate Professional. It is what happens when you know what you are doing well as a professional, and knowing your organization, and are able to determine ways processes or products can be done better.  It is foreseeing the change before it is necessary.

Team Builder – This one you can do, and are probably doing already.  Now, remember why it is important … Sales professionals are used to being mavericks.  They are used to a “zero sum” game, “I win, or you win, we both don’t win.”  The ranks of sales is not stocked with team builders, you can stand out from those that are faking it.

Motivator – It might be hard to prove your level of skill on this one.  You can show energy, enthusiasm, as well as drive in interacting with your manager and others.  They must see you as being able to provide an atmosphere of motivation that will benefit others.

Intelligence – This one is one that cannot be faked.  You need to have the basic intelligence to run the business of distributing the company’s product.  They will not give you an aptitude test, yet they will look at everything you have done lately, and how you handled it.  Do you understand business functions, and can you think “on the fly?”

Responsibility and Integrity – I put these two together for a reason. These, as is intelligence, are reasons that professionals don’t get into sales management.  If you are whiney, and complaining, even when you are correct, you will not get there.  If you “fudge” on expense reports, and the only reason that actions are not taken are that they cannot prove you did, you will not get there.  Show responsibility and always exude integrity, and you will be looked on favorably.

Mental Toughness and Balance – You cannot be a sales manager if you don’t exude mental toughness.  You cannot be down one day and up the next.  It does not work that way when you are responsible for others.  Know that the “sun will come up tomorrow” in everything you do.  Know the law of large numbers and be able to teach it to others.

Accountability – Be accountable, and be able to expect it from others.  Avoid excuses, and always know your role, your goals, and everyone else’s.  Accountability is the rule in management, and even more in sales management.

How You Can Get Prepared?

If you are Black, you recognize that Blacks are underrepresented in sales.   It suffices to say that they are well underrepresented in sales management.  We, frankly have woeful numbers in the sales management ranks.

The way to have more Black sales managers is to perform and strategize.  Perform well as sales professional, and strategize as to the best time to make the move to management.  The positions come up when managers retire, get promotions, or are terminated.

That means you need to draw up ‘your own’ succession plan for your organization.  How long does your managers, or his or her peers have to work before promotion, retirement, or termination?  Who is your competition, and what do they have as their attributes as compared you?  Show your motivation, always increase your knowledge, and above all, do everything you do with integrity.

Later this month we will review how to ask for the sales management job.   This is a chance for you to show your preparation and you qualifications.  Make sure to see it.

We welcome your comments.

The Black sales professional is subject to the same questions that others will face.  If you have been through several interviews, you are basically hearing the same questions over and over.  It is not that there is a lack of ingenuity on the part of the interviewers.  The interview process is a combination of observing the physical presence of the applicant, noting the reaction to your questions, and noting the quality of the answers to those questions.  The interviewer is attempting to envision you as a sales professional representing his organization.  That is the real test.

I am not going to cover the multitude of questions that you can be asked on an interview.  I will talk about some of the usual questions that you have heard before, and a quick general example of how they can be handled.

First Do Your Homework

Before you do anything else, do your research!  Know the company, and the duties of the job without reservation.  The web makes for an excellent resource for you to do this.

Check the organization’s web site to get an idea of their approach to diversity.  In larger corporations, they will have a diversity mission shown on their site, or at least their view of their diversity efforts.  This does not give you an edge, yet tells you this organizations investment in diversity and what you are up against.

7 Questions You Will Answer

I am going to cover 7 questions you will answer in the next job interview.  They may state them in a slightly different way, yet they are seeking the same information.

As commonplace as these questions sound, practice them and go in prepared to answer to them:

#1.  Why are you leaving your current job?

Do not ever criticize you previous employer or manager!  Whether the facts are true or not, this is a guaranteed way to not get a second interview.  Stay north of this issue by talking about challenges, larger product lines, better territories and products, etc.  This positive part of the interview might be the first question you get, so this chance to speak positively is important.

#2.  Tell me something about yourself?

As you practice this know the job you are applying for including the skills necessary to do it.  Know and practice your “elevator speech” on yourself. You are giving a brief synopsis of your social, educational, and employment background.  You will add to this some quality statements that set you apart from many others.  State clearly items that describe your drive, ambition, and desire to be successful.  Example: “ I am a sales professional trained in professional sales while at ABC products.  I believe in hard work and the benefits of preparation.  My successful sales career has benefited from my study at ABC University with Marketing as my field of study…” Your statement should last no more than 1.5 minutes, and is always better followed by saying “…is there anything in my professional or educational history that I may clarify for you?”

#3.  Why should we hire you over the other candidates?  What makes you different?

Since you don’t know the other candidates, and don’t necessarily know, so spend your energy on the second question.  Talk about your results orientation, your ambition and drive, your record of accomplishment, and your vision for what you might do in a better territory, with a better product, or better support.  This question hinges on your ability to verbalize why you are better.  Practice your statement and delivery.  Example: “I have a wealth of relevant experience and education.  Most importantly, I have verifiable accomplishments in this same territory selling a product that, I believe, is inferior to yours.  I know the industry, and the customers, I just need the right product.”

#4.  What qualifications do you have which would make you successful in this business?

You are the expert on yourself and you have studied the job description and the company.  Your answers here should be designed to let you list the qualities which make you’re a good candidate.  You know the qualifications that will make you successful, now you need to be able to prioritize them and deliver a flawless speech that links together your qualifications and the position.  Example:  “ I believe my technical background coupled with my quantitative skills gives me great chance of success as a technical sales representative for ABC equipment.   I have a degree in mechanical engineering, and have had an a career selling technical products to the same clients that your organization depends on.”

#5.  What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Most interviewers ask it because they just think they should.  Some ask it because you might tell them you are an impatient being that could be prone to slapping a fellow employee.  I think that if it is asked, it should be on the basis of the interviewer trying to determine your ability to self-assess and even be critical.  This one deserves more practice than many of the others questions.  You don’t want to be known as a perfectionist, nor someone uncomfortable with detail, you want to always appear well adjusted in your activities and reactions.  Example: “One of my strengths is that I am persistent, with prospects and customers.  One of my weaknesses is that I always believe that there is a possibility of the sale even when I get rejected repeatedly.  I often, in the face of low odds, continue the solicitation.”  This one takes the sales mentality and gets strength and a weakness from the same essence.

#6.  If this position gets filled, would you take another job in our organization?

This is a basic, unadulterated trap. Don’t fall into it.  A true sales professional might want to be a sales executive, sales representative, or sales manager, yet does not want to be a purchasing person or a human resource professional.  The answer, if you want to be a sales professional is no.  I asked this question in the past, and was able to determine that the candidate wanted a job, not a sales career!

# 7.  Where do you see yourself in five years?

This question is designed to find out your career orientation.  Don’t let it be a trap.  Be prepared to answer in a way that stresses that you want to be successful as a sales professional.  You want to talk about what success might look like, and you might mention that at some point down the line you might consider sales management.  They want to know your intentions.  Example:  “I see myself being a successful sales professional with a profitable, well developed territory.  I would like to be your sales leader in revenue and product sales.”

As stated before, practice is important.  Landing that new sales position will involve more questions than these, yet you can be assured these will be asked.  Practice will give you the confidence that you need to answer these, and other questions confidently.  Good Luck.

Please feel free to give us comments.