Black Sales Journal

A manager might be  prejudiced, but if this individual does not discriminate, legally it does not make any difference.   We don’t care what people think, we care what they do!   Know the difference between these two unfortunate situations and know what might be actionable if it affects you.  When it comes to prejudice, thicken your skin  and know the rules. Be knowledgeable and … always be the professional!

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If you have read Black Sales Journal before, you recognize that I frequently comment on racial prejudice, racial preference, and the effects of negative racial perceptions.  It is natural to provide comment on these topics as they represent the 8,000-pound elephant in the room and as a result are not discussed openly in most forums.

We spend time discussing how the Black sales professional can successfully use tactics to neutralize racial preference and how we all (all Black professionals) can nullify and improve negative racial perceptions.  We also face the fact that racial prejudice is a different and difficult beast and that we may never change it.   Psychiatrists often characterize prejudice as a deep-seated attitude.  We all are aware that something negative has been cast into someone’s personal life, it can have a permanent effect.

Importantly, we should recognize the relationship between racial prejudice and racial discrimination and how they manifest themselves in sales.

The Attitude versus the Action!

For the purpose of this explanation let’s define both of these:

Prejudice – Unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.

Discrimination – Treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit:  racial and religious intolerance and discrimination.

(Courtesy of Dictionary.com definitions 3/5/2012)

So there you have it, racial prejudice is an attitude.  It can reach deep into ones fiber, but an individual will never be tried in a court based on this attitude, as it is not a crime.  If a customer has this attitude, they still remain a viable customer for someone, but possibly not for a Black sales professional.  If your employer has this attitude it is unfortunate yet as long as they make objective and meritorious decisions, they are not guilty.   In other words they can be prejudice but not discriminate strange as it may sound.

Racial discrimination is a different animal as it is action oriented.  A distinction made on the basis of race can potentially be afoul of the laws and regulations, and is almost always ethnically wrong.  It goes without saying that racial discrimination is unfair and although a customer is free to do anything they want, in the case of an employer it could be legally actionable.

The Vicious Circle

The relationship between prejudice and racial discrimination is suggested to be ‘circular’; meaning one leads to the other.  You document racial discrimination but you talk about prejudice as someones disposition or attitude.  Racial discrimination might mean that you get no ‘call-in’ prospects, bad territories, or no house (orphaned by another rep leaving) accounts.  Discrimination may be hard to prove, yet there is evidence, especially when you are able to compare the situation on a relative basis between all sales professionals at a location.  Know what extras you get and how well you performed when you get the chances and if you feel aggrieved read Black Sales Journal 3/9/2011 When You Feel Screwed  – Three Steps to Getting Help.

I make the suggestion that from the standpoint of professional sales that we realize that the most important activities that we can undertake are as follows:

When Bad Gets Worse – Racial Harassment

The unfairness of racial discrimination creates frustration and ill will.  Things are even worse when there is racial harassment.  Racial harassment normally comes from the employer and can emanate from management or coworkers.  A strong example of this is the Montrelle Reese vs. ThyssenKrupp (see Black Sales Journal February 13, 2012).

Racial harassment has a primary purpose of demeaning and driving an individual out of the particular work environment.  It is akin to racial bullying and has no place anywhere, especially in the work environment.  Making someone miserable is awful, and anyone who witnesses it and does nothing is full of fault as well.  It makes no difference as to the colors involved.

Know the facts and know your options.  Most importantly, recognize that acts of discrimination, harassment, and bullying may be actionable, but prejudice is not.  It is an attitude.

Additionally, always be the professional.

Your comments are welcome.

If you are like many of us, there will be a time in your career that things will go wrong.  You will potentially feel slighted if you don’t  get equal or fair treatment, including important resources like preferred territories, distribution of prized or house accounts, or even issues regarding salary increases or promotions as compared to your peers.

__________

This problem can be vexing in the sales workplace.  You might feel embarrassed, emasculated, and even paralyzed, yet need to have answers.  Your job is important to you and your family, so you must take care to do this correctly.  It is also difficult because you feel powerless to affect outcomes when you believe management is working against you.

Yes, you feel your options are limited as you are working hard to insure that you keep your job, yet your results don’t always put you in a position of strength.  Frankly, I have been there.

What Are Your Options?

There are some things you can do; yet you need to do them correctly.  I am going to give you an example:

Problem -Distribution of orphaned accounts and prospects to favored sales representatives.

As a sales professional you know how refreshing it is to get customers and prospects that you do not have to prospect for.  Customers who get the introduction to you as their new representative  feel instant credibility based on the organization that you work for and will give you a chance to consummate the relationship by your actions.  That credibility can be very important to a Black sales professional.   I also talk about “the spoils of sales” and how the distribution of business and prospects can help, or hinder.  I made references to situations like this in Black Sales Journal December Post of Preference, Perceptions, Prejudice and Your Employer.  Feel free to take another look at it.

When you are seeing these accounts distributed to other sales executives who have less experience, less product or service knowledge, and less tenure than you have, it can be disheartening.  This happened to me years ago when I was a sales representative.  You may feel powerless, but you should not feel voiceless.

I was pretty good at selling commercial insurance products to medium and large businesses in the Chicago metropolitan area many years ago.  I was also proud of the organization that I worked for 5 years (eventually I retired from virtually the same organization with 32 years).  You can imagine what I felt like when in the midst of various situations where there were several distributions of prospects and accounts and I received literally nothing.

What I did was simple.  If faced with the problem, you should do it as well:

STEP # 1 – Research your sales record and your effort and be brutally honest

Be honest with yourself about your record, which will buttress you case, as well as the situation.  Did you handle a previous situation like this poorly?  Take an honest account.

• Seek Counsel - Find someone (a sales colleague or another sales professional) who is objective that you can seek honest counsel with and really listen to his or her response.
• Review Your Activities - Take positive account regarding what you have received in terms of “call-ins”, and other business, and any other failures.
• Take account - Know what you have done with this type of business, and be prepared to show the facts.
• Know Your Total Performance -Note your total performance, activity and production, and be ready to account for why it should have come to you.
• Be Ready to Prove Up! - Note that speculation and conjecture do not count, it is “not what you know, but what you can prove”!

STEP #2 – Have a frank but professional discussion with the sales manager or principal.

I went to my manager and advised of my concerns.  I was one of two Black sales professionals in a staff of over thirty-five.  I talked clearly, and unemotionally, and stated my concerns.  We reached agreement that I did deserve more.  The facts should speak for themselves, yet you still may not reach an agreement.

You may find that it is still an issue.  I met with the manager again four months later, yet felt the need to hedge my actions and set up a meeting with Human Resources as well.  In my discussion with my manager, I had to make the inevitable statement that I was still bothered and that my concerns were being ignored.

Here is the part where you have to put your self “out there”.  Do not be afraid of the conflict generated from it.  Conflict can be healthy if done correctly.  If you believe the situation, it is what you have to do!

This meeting might seem fruitless to some, yet it is the meeting that gives you the opportunity to say that you may need to look for some satisfaction or discussion elsewhere.  The manager should not be surprised at that point when HR calls to get his rendition of the facts.

STEP #3 – Make Your Case with the Human Resource Manager

Let’s be clear here, you need a party that can be fair and is also interested.  I am not telling you that the HR manager or generalist is an ally, but I am telling you that this individual has a tendency to be fair, and has knowledge about how the company will handle such a concern.

The reason that you had the conversation with the manager first is because that would be the first request of HR, or anyone else called in to help.  It just makes sense.

For HR you want to do the following:

• Define the problem.
• Summarize the conversations with the manager
• Be clear about the disparate treatment or inequities, and be ready to prove up.
• Open yourself up to asking for help.  That help might be having a discussion with the manager, getting clarifications, or even having discussion with the manager’s manager.

What you should not do is:

• Lose emotional control
• Play the “race card”
• Talk about confrontation

In Summary

Whether it is distribution of favors, salary, or other issues regarding equitable treatment, Human Resources is not the end-all, yet they can be objective and provide perspective to both parties regarding equitable treatment. If you believe that it is because of racial discrimination you should be prepared to enunciate it clearly and succinctly with as much evidence as possible.

Always note that your previous record with HR, and your current sales record are all in play in this discussion.  But…if you are being treated unfairly, you should find comfort in discussing it without a focus on race as the possibilities of discrimination, if any is obvious, will be on the mind of a good HR manager or generalist anyway.

This is a sensitive subject with a heavy impact on the lives of sales professionals.

I look forward to your comments.