Black Sales Journal

Happy Martin Luther King Day!  There is no more important time than now to begin to affect your appraisal rating.  Read this post and begin the process.  You are the expert on you!  With this in mind prepare your case!  Always be prepared!

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There is no time that is more important, or as intimidating, as annual performance appraisal time.  You probably don’t think that there’s much to be gained in this process.  If so, I vigorously disagree with you.  It is an important time of the year that evaluates your performance for last year, and sets the tone for the upcoming year.  You can have significance impact in this process and document.  Because it is a lasting document, and impacts everything from your salary to your future employment I urge you to insert yourself into the process early.

The sales profession is fairly objective from the standpoint of meeting goals.  As I said a couple of posts ago, “You can lie about the numbers but the numbers don’t lie.” In the end, the numbers or lack of numbers will define your future, but your best bet is toframe the situation correctly, enunciating what you have done and what you need to strengthen.  Remember, you will have the edge, as you should “be the expert on you!”  You should know your numbers and your situation, and feel comfortable leading the conversation.  Below you will see what actual items you should take into that discussion.

You might remember the discussion that should have happened mid-year, if one did occur.  We outline some strategies for this in Black Sales Journal 7/21/2011, After a Difficult Mid-term Review….  This was a suggestion to take the offensive, and hopefully you seized upon it.  This level of proactivity may be uncomfortable, yet it is well advised if you do the homework.  There is no way to hide from the fact that everyone can see your activity and performance.

No competent sales manager is going to avoid this opportunity to tell you his or her thoughts regarding improvement.  We all can be better.   If you are already ‘on the top rung’, this could be the opportunity to get additional resources that could result help you be even more equipped for success in the future.

Additional resources could be items such as:

• A sales assistant assigned to you
• An expanded territory
• More prospects
• More house accounts

Preparation for The Session

You know whether there are problems in your performance.  You don’t need to be psychic to know this.  It is not uncommon with being in a sales job that you can be criticized for your prospecting or production numbers.  The key is that you need a plan to get back on track.   You will want to have at a minimum the items below:

• Be honest with yourself –Honest self-evaluation is the most important activity that you can undertake.
• Know your weak points – Outline them, detail them, and understand them fully.
• Know your numbers – The metrics are ultra-important, and your understanding of them is the cornerstone to succeeding.  See Black Sales Journal 2/28 – How Many Prospects do You Really Need? for some help in this area.
• Craft your solutions – Come up with real ways to repair your performance.  Reduce these to writing and be prepared to present them to the manager.  Help can be found at Black Sales Journal 11/10/2011 2012 is Here! – Solidify Your Sales Plan.
• Ask to be first – Get it over with, and avoid the anxiety of waiting to be called.  Get it behind you and get to work on the 2012 year.  If you have the above items and are prepared, you should rather be first rather than last.

Prepare Yourself for Criticism

Criticism is natural in sales, but sometimes hard to take.  Sometimes it is pride that makes it difficult, and sometimes it is just stubbornness.  Tough words are hard to take, especially if you think you are not being treated fairly.  I will provide more on fair treatment below.

If you have done the items above correctly, you will probably have selected many of the same items as your manager has selected to present to you.  So here is your opportunity to ask for the meeting, present these items to him, and show your ability to be objective.  If you do it correctly, you hopefully will have already started the activities that you are talking about.

Fair and Equitable Treatment

In any position, sales or otherwise, you run the risk of being treated differently than your peers.  This is called inequitable treatment and it may be happening for a variety of reasons.  The reason could be as simple as the manager not knowing what goals or measure they used for other sales professionals to situation where a manager who purposely differentiates his or her treatment for any number of reasons.  Among these reasons could be such items as racial preference, age or sex discrimination, or even racial prejudice.

Your remedies need to be structured based on what is actually happening.  Be careful with accusations, and remember that even though anything can happen, it is difficult to prove certain claims if you do not document everything that happens.

Remember that your human resource professional might be your most solid resource if you think you are being treated unfairly.  Don’t hesitate to discuss it, and get opinions based on what you believe, but don’t make wild claims and accusations.  Ranting might feel better, yet it will not gain you an audience.  Like the 60’s television show Dragnet suggested, “Stick to the facts”.  I would suggest you reference Black Sales Journal – 3/32011 – When You Feel ‘Screwed’ – 3 Steps to Getting Help for more on this important issue.

In business you don’t have the ability to beckon for Martin Luther King or WEB Du Bois, you need to be able to surface your grievance to someone who is paid to be objective and readily available.  Think it over first, and check your emotions at the door.

There will be more information on this in some upcoming posts.

Remember your all-important objectivity.  I know that is tough, but your self-evaluation as indicated above will give you the edge.

An Important Note

Many managers, for whatever reasons exist, ask you to do the work in constructing the actual performance evaluation.  If you are asked to write your own evaluation and bring it to your manager, then you need to be wise about the level of your self-critique.  Be selective about what you include in such areas of:

• General performance ratings
• Areas needing strengthening
• Skills that need to be acquired
• Training needs

Make sure that you give yourself some room to work, as there is only 24 hours in a day, and 365 days until this process happens again.   Focus on what can actually be done, and that which helps you the most.

The manager should not be ‘bailed out’ from giving his or her evaluation of your performance, and if you do all the work and evaluate yourself, you may rob yourself of the opportunity to hear how your boss really feels.  Additionally, I am not sure that it would be fair to have a manager essentially say, “I agree with your self-assessment’, then sign it.  They need to do their part in your development by advising you of what they perceived would help you.

Get something out of this process.

Your comments are appreciated.

The popularity of Black Sales Journal has increased immensely over the past three years as advice on these topics regarding our noble profession has value to those of all ethnic backgrounds. BSJ readership is a spectrum of all colors, sexes, orientations, and nationalities. BSJ covers a variety of topics that are not discussed in any other forum.

BSJ deals with a multitude of situations,  from performance, to prospecting,  to prejudice (and more). Racial prejudice is real, but not always the culprit.   Racial discrimination is, at times, practically unavoidable; in a society that is so diverse and so unwilling to move out of personal comfort zones.  This allows decisions to be governed by the simple phenomenon I call Racial Preference.

Racial Preference in sales is when a buyer elects to do business with someone because they are more comfortable with that individual primarily because of their race.

Racial Preference is simple, and not always intended to be harmful, but I think you recognize that it can rob a deserving individual of success.  Whether intended or not, racial preference  often results in racial discrimination.  Nonetheless, there are strategies and tactics to deal with this, and we help to do that.

Racial preference happens, among all races, and we all need to avoid the simple urge to choose the person we elect to do business with on the basis of their color, gender, orientation, or nationality.  You see the quality of the individual, the level of their preparation, their responsiveness, and their professionalism make for a powerful case to do business with the best!  Always be the professional and always be the best!  We can take you there!

Black Sales Journal By The Numbers

I started Black Sales Journal in November of 2010 with an inaugural issue describing the purpose and the objective.  Three years later, in an extremely competitive market, I still hope to help Black sales professionals get the information that will give them an edge in getting that professional sales position, generate real prospects, leverage strong vibrant relationships, and … land the ‘all important’ account.

This advice is available for everyone, although I direct it to those that I think sometimes find themselves at a disadvantage for reasons beyond their control.

Here are some brief excerpts of the BSJ monthly report numbers defining readership that I think are so impressive and important:

Black Sales Journal - Statistics 2013

Even more importantly, I attempt to give realistic and logical strategies and tactics to get the edge while in the sales position.  As a result the site attracted and ‘held’ the attention of sales professionals and ‘want-to-be sales’ professionals who garnered information from the site.  Note these 2013 stats:

• 900 – On average, by month, over 900 visits to the site lasted for more than 15 minutes!
• 650 – On average, by month, over 650 visits to the site last for more than 30 minutes!
• 275 – On average, by month, over 275 of those visits to the site last more than 1 hour!

BSJ is viewed on computers, cell phones, tablets, and by RSS.

All told, there were over 71,365 visits to the site.  I would be foolish to think that some visits were not only on the bias of curiosity, but many come back again.

I Need A New Job!

One of the most important activities is to help professionals get the position.  There is no more important difference maker as getting the position, or improving your employment situation.  We don’t stop there, as there is no doubt that many professionals may be skilled sales people, but still have not had a wealth of experience negotiating salary, benefits, and terms and conditions.  There are many posts regarding getting the employment situation right for you.

March and April are two of our heaviest months each year, and I suspect it represents individuals attempting to be their best for the job hunt season.  In preparation for the 2014 job hunts we will spend the second half of January and the first half of February with post designed to get candidates, from newbies to proven professionals ready for a new frontier.

Master the Relationship!

If you have had a chance to read BSJ in the past you know I stress relationship management.  No matter what your color, the mastery of the relationship is the most important task you will have for lasting prosperity.

Minimize these disadvantages by having the most powerful relationship possible, and make some money!  Read Black Sales Journal to learn how.

If you master the relationship, you will learn that issues that were disadvantages, will suddenly be unimportant.  You will see that the advantage of the relationship trumps all else.

Thank You For Reading

Thank you for reading Black Sales Journal, and I welcome your direct comments feel free to email me directly at michaelparker@BlackSalesJournal.com and I will respond as quickly as I am able.  I hear from many readers, and help privately to solve problems.  Feel free to contact me.