Black Sales Journal

A sales department is best when it has a vibrant atmosphere and unbridled activity.  Once it gets going, sales professionals can be fueled by this activity and a desire to ‘compete’ with their fellow sales professionals.  If the atmosphere in your sales function is electric you will endeavor to be a part of it, hoping that success spills over to you.  If the atmosphere is more like a funeral, you will utilize your best judgment in attempting to separate yourself from it or at least insulate yourself as best you can.

You work with other sales professionals; some are on your team, and some you compete with.  Know them well and know their disposition as there is money to be made out there and you don’t need anything to slow you down.

Friend or Coworker?

As you already know, if someone is on the payroll they are a coworker.  The important issue is that in the sales profession, not all coworkers are your friends.

This is not meant to be divisive, but to stand in recognition that unless your sales function is organized in a different fashion than most, sales departments or functions are designed in a way that spurs competition.  This is not bad; it is just an environment that pits employees against other employees.  In sales you probably have learned to accept it.

Situations occur when you forget that ‘Emily and John’ are the competition and you believing they are friends share ‘trade’ secrets.  This is where feelings get hurt.  Be ready to compete fairly and recognize that these are coworkers, and you owe them respect, but give no quarter from a business standpoint.  Compete and win on the virtue of hard work, and doing things smarter.  Be relentless in terms of your persistency and always be ethical.  Your friends are not the same as your coworkers even though you may be committed to them.

Treat everyone with respect and don’t expect to find your ‘BFF’ at your job because that is not the way it is meant to happen.

Don’t “Buy” Anyone to Early

You will meet a world of individuals at your job and many will be in the sales function.  You will be asked at some point to give your impression of them to someone inside or outside the organization.  The most important thing you could do is to be cordial and helpful, but to reserve judgment on anyone until you are sure.  These are coworkers remember?  When someone rushes to judgement I call it “buying someone”.

Work with them, cooperate with them, but don’t “buy” them until they prove their worthiness over time.  You can be an excellent sales coworker without endorsing someone.  You definitely will know when it is time.

The problem with buying someone too early is that you may not have an idea of what that individual is really about until you have difficult times.  Tough times do not change people, it unmasks them. If you have given a premature endorsement, you could find yourself backing a real ‘loser’.

The Vampire

I once worked in a sales department that had a variety of characters.  There were journeymen, sage veterans, hard working upstarts, and then there were those who were full of complaints and found nothing right with the manager, the company, the product or…. the world.

I call them vampires and if you know some of these individuals, your quest will be to keep away from them.  You won’t need garlic, or a crucifix, but will need to strictly avoid this person whose quest is to ‘suck the life out of you’.  These unhappy sales people have the poorest of attitudes.  To them everything is wrong with the organization and that they bear not fault or blame for anything.

• The vampire is constantly on vigil to determine who is trying to accomplish anything new and innovative, so they can discourage them.
• This individual is peering over your shoulder to determine if you are taking any new training or courses for self-improvement, as he or she would love to talk you out of it.
• The vampire is trying to determine what prospect you are working on as he or she knows all of them and they want you to think it will be fruitless.
• This individual would do anything possible to engage you in a long 3-hour lunch as he or she has nothing to do, and they want to make sure you get the same amount done as they do…nothing!

The vampire can be bright and be full of knowledge, but just does not recognize that you get out what you put in.  They may have made a decision as to how much energy they will expend, but now they want to rob you of yours.

It is Real

I once had the challenge of working with a sales representative who was truly a vampire.  I was the regional sales manager in another state and this individual complained about everything.  His field sales manager seemed to accept that he was going to complain, but eventually it was realized that he was hurting morale.

The vampire assured us that management was sorely lacking (I did not take it personally), criticized our products, attempted to negatively influence new hires, and did everything possible to turn sales representatives against the organization.

On the basis of performance, we had to help him make a decision that he did not want to be with us.  It was for the best for all parties.  I resisted saying that we put a stake through his heart as …well you know why!  Remember, if your goals are so crosswise with the organization, read Black Sales Journal 4/7/2011 When to Consider Moving On, and think about your next station in life.

Always leave when it is wise and always, always be the professional.

Your comments are welcome.

During my days as a sales manager I was often asked by fledgling sales professionals as to what they could do to compete with the wealth of sales professionals out there with greater experience and knowledge?  What could they do that could negate that experience and make them the sales professional of choice?

The answer may well be nothing! Nothing negates the advantages that knowledge and experience gives.  It is something that cannot be taken away from the sales professional and there will be a day that you all will be glad about it.

However, there are some actions that you can undertake that will put you in a position to win, and your ‘weaknesses’ will be your strongest assets.

Know Your Assets and Use Them

Know your most plentiful assets and know how to constructively employs them to make the difference in how the client/prospect perceives a sales professional.

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Question:  What does a new sales professional have in abundance over the successful sales professional?
Answer: Time

The new sales professional has the ability to spend mountains of time on individual prospects and clients, ultimately impressing them with his or her attention and presence.  Be wise about it; yet note the relationship building aspect of spending face-time and effort impressing the buyer and how this will pay dividends.

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Question:  How can you make the client ‘dependent’ on you?
Answer: Make yourself indispensable and memorable.

How can you use your ability to focus on the customer?  Create memorable moments (Black Sales Journal 2/3/2011 – Make Yourself Memorable) by sending personally signed cards and notes that share information about products, industry news, and economic data.  Share outlooks and comment on how that might affect your customer/prospect. Increase the customer’s dependency on you, and a relationship is created.

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Question:  Does your customer have a perplexing problem?
Answer:  Do Extensive research

Take on a project of solving a problem that could be a game changer.  I once was acquainted with sales professional that was asked to advise how to insure a totally new energy concept.  He researched, and researched, and once finished presented to the prospect and the prospects two biggest suppliers.  The project never got off of the ground, but the sales professional ended up winning the account for both of the suppliers (he already had the other principal) as a result of his spirited work.

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Situation:  You need to find prospects…now!
Answer:  Use your ability to access technology for a full-out prospect blitz.

Find new, untapped prospects using your ability to research online.  Most experienced sales professionals have a wealth of work to do with existing accounts, and they are also about the business of sourcing prospects.  They won’t have nearly the amount of time, and potentially technology background to do this.  I have seen it done often, and it is often difficult for the vets to keep up.

Sound too Simple?

It is simple.  The problem with sales is that cumulative sales and existing clients generate a significant amount of work.  The sales professional who is the beneficiary of that account either does the maintenance work, or delegates it to an assistant or inside sales person.

Sales professionals vary in their ability to delegate, but no matter what, it takes time to do the actual work, or to delegate.  The new, but lean, sales professional can use that time to develop prospects and relationships as well as source them by spending the adequate amount of time finding those that have not been claimed.

Use your intrinsic energy to master the prospect system, find the relationships and then deliver solutions so that you can sell.  Spend valuable time working at relationships as you have the time to do it.  It is still a lot of work, but this is what you can be doing.

Here is the time to put together a good plan regarding which prospects to attack, and what sales assets to exploit.  You have something to offer, and it does not work with every buyer/customer/prospect, but with many it makes a significant difference.

Being effective when you are new is important.  Your sales plan executed well is the true meaning of effectiveness.

Always be effective!

Your comments are appreciated.