Black Sales Journal

Some times you have to face the music.  Know when to let go, and how to do it.  This post will help with this enormous task. Sometimes a situation is “just not for you!”

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In Black Sales Journal we have talked about a lot of topics, many of them being fairly sensitive.  This topic is one of those that is practical, as the profession of sales, and certainly the plight of the Black sales professional can lead to some tough decisions.

There are many solid reasons to leave a sales position at an organization, but more reasons to stay and be successful.  But if you must leave, you must leave!  Organizations are ‘organic’, meaning they change and respond to their surroundings, but these organizations, and their sales functions are far from perfect.

But don’t expect perfection, as a matter of fact, expect imperfection and find a situation that favors you.  It is natural that organizations are imperfect, because the people that run these organizations are imperfect as well.

As you may remember from past issues of Black Sales Journal, you work directly for a person, not for the whole of ABC Corporation!  Your relationship is with a supervisor, manager, or in some cases an owner/principal (if it is a smaller firm).  Remember that issue because your ability to form productive and mutually rewarding relationships is the most important activity that you can undertake.  Relationships are everything!

8 Reasons to ‘Ditch’ Your Sales Job!

These are not the only eight reasons, but they are reasons that manifest themselves in many sales organizations, and some of them specifically affect Black sales professionals.  We talked about some of it in Black Sales Journal 4/7/11, When to Consider Moving On.  Take a look at this one as well.

Let me state before showing these items that I think there are things that stem from adversity that build character and sharpen focus.  Now character building and focus sharpening do not pay the rent or house note.  Make good decisions though and don’t run from difficult situations.  Gotta Go, Gotta Go!

You don’t believe in your product or service anymore – If you really don’t, this is a true reason.  If you don’t believe in it, it will undoubtedly show through in your work.  Find something else to sell, or you will be a faker, a hypocrite, or even worse, a liar.  Understand, you don’t have to believe in your product to sell it, but if you don’t, you won’t necessarily defend, promote, and evangelize the merits of the product to the degree necessary to be a premier sales professional.

You don’t believe in, or respect your company’s management – If it is your belief that your management is ‘Mickey Mouse’ or even worse, you obviously can still work there.  If it grates you to a big degree that they can’t get it right, you may need new management, and thus a new company.  If they can’t define the direction of the organization, or ‘waive like a reed in the wind’ constantly changing program and direction, you may desire new leadership

Your relationship with your sales manager is strained and irreparable – This one is simple, but complicated.  Here we are in the most important relationship you can have in the workplace.  If this one does not work naturally, or does not respond to some attention on your part, you have to ask yourself one question:  “Am I able to make it at this place without managerial support?”  If you pretty much can do it and enjoy the benefits of a solid income and work conditions, even without this relationship being ‘warm’, then I would try to hang in there.  Remember, managers turn over also!

You are working ridiculous hours and have literally no family or personal life – This one does not happen as much in the sales world as in some other office settings, but when it does happen, it is usually because of not having much sales support.  If that is the case, you need to measure the positives of the organization against the detriments.  If you are leaving at 5:30A and getting home at 7:30P with regularity and at the same time you are sure you are efficient at what you do, you probably need another situation.  Maintaining work-life balance is important or your mate will be stressed and your children will miss you.

Business ethics are an issue with your sales manager or company management – If you think that your manager, or your company’s senior management is unethical in terms of they way they treat people, finances, or laws, then it is time to go.  See Black Sales Journal 12/1/2011, Are You Ethical?Make sure that you have solid justifications, and then make your decision and go.  No needs for a spectacle, but if there is an ethics problem and you feel the need to state it, do it in your exit interview or in a well-spoken memo to human resources and your manager.  This one should come from your heart and your head.  If you really feel it, then you need to do it.  We are all known by the company we keep!

You cannot make enough money at this company – If you cannot make enough money to live on because of the compensation or remuneration system, you may need to give it up.  If you cannot make enough money based on the inferiority of the product, you may have to cut ties as well.  You have to be objective regarding your abilities and your effort and you need to ask the question, “How would I fare under another system?”

Stress is taking over your life and causing you medical problems including lack of sleep – If you are stressing over your sales position in such a way that you get no requisite sleep and rest and you are losing appetite, you are either in the wrong job or the wrong profession.  Things always get worse before they get better in employment situations, so begin your assessment as to whether the job, or occupation is for you, and if you need a change, start now.

The issues of racial fairness, and gender equity exist, and all means for remedies are shut down. – This is a big one.  If your manager, or managers are inherently unfair, at least, or potentially prejudiced or discriminatory, you have some decisions to make.  Note BSJ 12/20/2010 Preference, Perceptions, Prejudice, and Your Employer and recognize that the solutions get decidedly slim when you are dealing with the unfairness of racial discrimination.  Racial preference is one thing; prejudice is a whole different ‘ballgame’.  Put up the good and dignified fight, but if you sense the imperative to vacate, then it is understandable.

No matter what you do, leave with dignity, and as a professional. Never succumb to the pettiness of spite.  You are better than that.  In the near future, we will once again discuss remedies for injustices, but in most cases these items above are not injustices, just a bad systems and poor management.

Keep reading over the next few weeks and you will find out how to deal with many of these issues.

Your comments are welcome. You can reach me at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.

It is true that many professionals are losing their job. Hopefully it will not happen to you.   If it does happen, your ultimate goal is to be prepared and be the professional.  Losing one’s job does happen.  Have your bases covered.  If you do lose your job… lose it “Like a BOSS!”

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At some point in your life, you may have to endure the act of “getting fired.” Obviously, there is no positive light when this is happening, yet it does happen in the world of sales.

One of the most common reasons has to do with performance.  Performance issues happen to sales professionals of all colors and backgrounds.  They can be particularly vexing for the Black professionals because the stigma that getting fired carries coupled with racial preference and racial prejudice issues can severely limit future hiring opportunities.

You may find a few articles and publications that talk about what happens when you get fired. Rest assured that for a sales professional, this does not have to be a “death sentence.”  Most people, sales professionals included, associate their livelihood with their identity, and can be devastated if they are terminated.  Additionally, changes in your relationships with co-workers, many of which you may classify as friends, can be just as shocking.  This is especially true with the suddenness of a sales termination.  This is less important than the impact on your psyche and your family, but significant.

There is no way to ‘get fired’ gracefully as you have are not in control.  Your reactions to the activity can be calculated and professional if you follow some of the suggestions below.

Always be Prepared for the Unexpected

Termination does not have to be a “death sentence”, yet it is a separation by any terminology.  You should always be prepared no matter how well you are doing in the job.  Since losing your position can happen for of a number of reasons, including the company ceasing to do business, you should have this plan in effect even if you are doing well.

It is normally, for all professions, a “sudden” act that may catch you “off guard”.   For this reason, I prescribe to a steady state of readiness.  Let me explain that this is more of an attitude than anything else.  Recognize that you have no ability to know for sure, but may be able to predict when it will happen.

What is more important is that you treat your situation with planning and preparation.  I also believe that you should take care to recognize that you may well be under contract.  If you are not under contract/agreement you need to recognize general ethics that I strongly believe that you should consider.

Here are the items you should focus on:

• Your Sales Contacts – Always have your prospect contact list duplicated on some type of accessible media.  Many sales professionals use a company issued phone, PDA, and computer.  Your contact’s information is on those devices, and your ability to recreate that information is limited once you are separated from it.  You have worked years to put it together, take this precaution.  As a sales professional this is ultra-important.
• Key Contact Data - Have [your] Customer Profiles of your key clients up to date, and stored where you can access it—as discussed in(Black Sales Journal 1/20 Deepening Your Customer Relationships Part II). There are many that believe that client data such as this is company property.  I believe that when I have achieved the relationship that gives me personal access to client particulars about their family and social data, that it is my personal property based on my ability to be in the position to get the information in the first place.  A customer who has allowed you to be a “business friend” has not given you clearance to share his wife’s name and their personal particulars with the new sales professional left there to service the account.   It is yours, and it would be wrong to let that information go to someone without them achieving that status.
• Have Your Contracts in Hand - Have access to your sales contracts.  It is important to have your signed copies in your possession, not in your files at your place of employment.  This would include your employment agreement (if you have one), your non-compete agreement, and any non-disclosures that you have signed.  This will tell you what you have agreed to do, especially including employment after termination. There is a possibility that some provisions change if you are separated by termination.
• Know Your Rights re Final Payments - Have a copy of your sales compensation plan handy as well.  This will advise you of what is done regarding your final commissions/bonus payments if you have some coming.  If you have these papers, you don’t leave this most important area up to your former employer.

Some Things Can’t Be Taken Away From You

Remember to document your accomplishments - Keep up-to-date copies of your sales numbers.  Your ability to get a job will be based on your ability to show past sales accomplishments.  Nothing shows this like the real numbers on the actual reports.

I still have information from when I was a sales rep (1979), as well as a sales manager (1985), and all jobs after that as well.  You might wonder why?  The answers are quite simple:

# 1 – You can lie about the numbers, but the numbers don’t lie!

#2 – It’s not what you know; it’s what you can prove!

I kept the information that came in paper form.  You may have to print it, and should do so at the end of every year.  This is far from too much to ask.  In discussions about these numbers I was always in a position of strength.

No one can take away your pride – If you are a solid citizen, parent, partner, or friend, no one can take away the fact that you have great worth.  Don’t ever let the removal from a position rob you of your self-esteem.  Keep everything in perspective.

Above all, realize that “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”  If you are giving your best, there is an employer out there who needs you. Your comments are welcome.  Contact me at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.