Black Sales Journal

There is a point in the career progression of many sales professionals when they come to a decision point on whether to stay or leave their current position.  This situation gives reasons to ponder some of your alliances and loyalties.  If you are wise your first loyalty is to yourself and your family, and that makes it even more important to make the right choices.

There are a few questions that you should ask yourself:

• Do I believe in the Company and the management?
• Do I believe in the products I am selling?
• Am I tired of the politics in the organization?
• Do I need more money and a better compensation system?

The above questions offer some food for thought. Here are some responses that will give pause.

I don’t believe in the Company and the Management

This one is as strong as it gets.  If you don’t believe in the organization and have no confidence in the management, it is probably time to leave.  Alignment between management, the organization, and those who sell its products is a wonderful thing when you can have it in total.  Alignment often is slow to take root when there is new management, yet can be powerful once it happens.  Alignment can even work when it is partial.

If you are selling a product for an organization that you do not believe in, it is the start of trouble.  If you are selling for an organization that you do not believe in, and also selling a product that you don’t believe in, I suggest you find the door.

If you can fake passion for your organization and your product for a long period of time, you might feign effectiveness, but you are still a candidate for a job change.

I don’t believe in the Product

This one can be vexing, as products and services are changed and upgraded constantly.  Be careful in considering changing jobs for this reason, but if you do not believe in the product, it will show.  Defending and promoting a product that is, in your mind, so flawed or ill-priced that you don’t feel that you can properly promote it is a tough situation.

Is your company out of step?   Is your company poor at R&D?  The good part is that usually you have a suite of products, and some are more solid than others.

Do a good evaluation on this issue.  Remember products change, and improvements happen.  Do not use it as an excuse if it is just a reason for concern.  Keep in mind that things are seldom clear-cut as they appear.  For instance, the products that are priced the most attractive and competitively often have lower commission rates.  You then have a more attractive product price, but get paid less.  This is a game of give and take.

No matter what, if the product is lacking, and no one in sales or in marketing cares, then it might be time to leave.

I am sick of the Politics and the Process in My Organization

There are politics in any organizations as a whole, and there is definitely a home for politics in an organization’s sales department or function.  There is no science in the distribution of prospects, territories, or many of the other spoils of sales.  Much happens that could be considered unfair, depending on your point of view. We face the fact that in the sales function, concerns for one’s own well being makes many things appear unfair.

These inequities should be addressed, if they are real.  I cite some ways to deal with this in Black Sales Journal 3/3 – Do You Feel “Screwed”.  You should professionally state your concerns and give some opportunity for things to change.

Remember, this is most often less than systemic; it is usually an individual manager’s actions in most cases. When it is systemic, it is hard to prove, yet no less worthy of being spotlighted.  Be prudent, and never petty, as it will diminish your point.  Keep in mind that pushing for transparency in the sales function is probably a battle that will not be totally successful.

I Need More Money!

Perhaps you do, but be honest with yourself about whether that is true, and why you are not making it at your current employer.  Brutal honesty is necessary to keep from “kicking the can down the road”, meaning moving from one sales job to another without changing any particular part of yourself or finding the type of job that fits you could make the next job more ‘permanent’.

The average sales volumes, average commissions, average bonus, and average income for your position, would make for questions that you might want to investigate.  There is one more question that tells a story.  What is the average tenure or longevity of a sales professional in your organization?

So the question is “how long do sales professionals stay, and how much do they make!!!”  Is the problem something structural like the remuneration system?

This one is important as it can be rather revealing for you.  If others are making more because they are selling more than you, then there may be some self-indictment.

Be Brutally Honest with Yourself!

Do a good evaluation of the questions above.  Know how these questions and subsequent answers relate to you.  You cannot be successful in the long haul without making adjustment after adjustment.

If you don’t like prospecting, work to solve your problems.  If you are not organized, get there by coursework and attention to the problem.  Work on your sales skills and your regimen and always seek to improve yourself.

Don’t “kick the can down the road” by changing employers frequently for all of the wrong reasons, engage in constant improvement and adjust and adapt as is necessary.

If the time comes that you must leave for any of the reasons cited above, you should professionally consider moving on.  Always be the professional.

We are anxious to hear your comments.

Business entertainment, especially customer dining, is an event that we may take for granted.  It is important for most businesses but always suspect as an expense that can be smartly trimmed in terms of cost, and even frequency.

Business entertainment is a tool that when used wisely can aid in relationship building.  When done correctly, this can result in far greater returns than the business meal or entertainment actually amounts to.

If you desire to claim a business lunch, dinner, or other entertainment, these expenses should be directly related to the business purpose.  The meal or refreshments should be related to the legitimate image business activity, and should be able to stand the test of proof.  Technically, only then would you and your employer be allowed to treat these expenditures as expenses, and not as income when the burden of proof comes along.

Getting Technical

The IRS sets some basic rules that individuals and business follow.  A quick review of the rules that the IRS as set forth will show a couple of rather simple tests:

Directly Related Test

To qualify for reimbursement under the directly-related test for entertainment, including meals, you must be able to prove the following:

• The main purpose of the combined business and entertainment was the active conduct of business.
• You did engage in business with the individual during the entertainment period
• You had more than a general expectation of getting income of some other business benefit at some future time

The Associated Test

If the expenses meet the directly-related test, they may qualify under the associated test.

This test states that entertainment is:

• Associated with the active conduct of your trade or business and,
• Directly before or after a substantial business discussion.

This test includes the Substantial Business Discussion rule that is a requirement of deductibility for your employer.

According to Publication 463 – Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses for 2010 from the Internal Revenue Service, “A business discussion will not be considered substantial unless you can show that you actively engaged in the discussion, meeting, negotiation, or other business transaction to get income or some other specific benefit.”

Keeping Credibility

Accuracy and truthfulness are at the heart of professional credibility for the Black sales professional.  Even greater is the fact that only one instance of inaccuracy or untruth can do away with years of work establishing the credibility.  There is more on credibility in the last Black Sales Journal 3/31, Credibility – A Goal of the Black Sales Professional.

I am going to cite some basics, and these are truly basics for expense report integrity.  Here are some suggestions for keeping your standing and credibility intact regarding expenses:

• Be timely - Submit your expenses no later than 1 week after they are due.
• Be organized – Keep information in a system that allows you to produce your receipts and expense forms as is necessary.
• Insure accuracy - If you do your expenses regularly, you will be under no time pressure.  The accuracy in your reports builds confidence.
• Be honest - Above all, there is truly nothing worthwhile to gain by having your employer pay for a lunch for you and your friend.  It is frankly not worth it!  Only claim what you can prove using receipts.
• Be Knowledgeable – Know intimately your organization’s expense policy.

Some Business Entertainment Specifics

We all have a particular responsibility when it comes to business entertainment, and especially meals.  We should make sure that the meal or event matches the business purpose.  There should be no instance where entertaining at the most expensive restaurant in town happens for a casual business discussion.  Remember, being modest and practical is prudent and a sign of good judgment.

Here are some basics entertainment do’s and don’ts that you may benefit from:

• Take Ownership – Forget the roulette that takes place where you the participants of a meal wait for the bill to come, then “wait” each other out to see who will pick up the check.  Unless the customer has advised that they are picking up the meal, they are probably not going to do it.  “Own” the event and then the rest of these strategies will be possible.
• Wine – If you are the host, only you should order the wine.  You may not realize why if you have never been burned, but the ordering of wine is an extremely high expense at an upscale meal.  If you are unsure you can accept someone’s counsel, yet your job is to order, and replenish the wine.  Feel comfortable stating to the server, or wine steward that you are responsible for the meal, and you will be responsible for the wine.
• Cordials and Liqueurs – If you open up to your guest having these, you could be in for a surprise.  Once you open that gate, you are hard pressed to control the cost of any one of them.  An aged port could definitely be in range, yet some of these items could be the price of a small pony.
• Order First – It may seem like bad manners, yet the host ordering first begins to set the tone.  When you order a fairly simple strip or filet, you are sending a message that the ‘market-priced’ lobster, which then attaches itself to a filet to make surf and turf, is probably above the price point.  Now, they may still do it, but the majority of people get the hint.
• No When to ‘Cut it Off’ – This is always uncomfortable, yet practical.  After the meal, when the laughter and libation goes on, know when to say to the server that you need the check.  That does cut it off…at least for you.  If someone else wants to pick up the tab, it can start there.  This is responsible, and practical.  If it seems like it is wrong, think about the bill you are going to submit, and how management is going to react to it.
• Tip Correctly – If you tip correctly you will always find those who serve you eager to have your table.  Great service deserves 20% or more.  Good service deserves 15-20%.  I have had some mediocre service at times, yet did believe that 15% was warranted, because of the size of our group.  I cannot ever believe that a tip should be stiffed unless the server was rude, insensitive, and downright awful.  If that were the case, I would be having a conversation with the manager as well.  If you are unwilling to talk to a manager, then stiffing a tip is more retribution than anything else.
• Treat Wait Staff Properly – When you are entertaining, much can be ascertained about your view on your staff and others by the way you treat the wait staff.  They are not perfect, and you are not either.  I have seen customers make a decision to avoid a formal business relationship with a vendor when that vendor launches aggressively into a server for forgetting something small.  That is about rudeness, and even sometimes about power.

Use Good Sense

It is all about using good sense.  When you do it, the most common mistakes are avoided.  Don’t feel peer pressure, or the pressure that makes people do those things that are regrettable.

Build a relationship with your customers, not a game of one-up.  Be modest when they treat as well.  You will build a relationship with your consistency.

Your comments are welcome.