Business sales requires that a sales professional builds and cultivates relationships.  That position plays the role of relationship manager. All other relationships pivot on the relationship that the sales professional generates.  For those who have sold for years, you know all of this.  Much of this post is for our younger sales professionals.

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As relationship manager, it is obvious that each relationship will be different, and will vary in depth.  That is the way relationships work in business and in personal life.  We all believe that we evaluate our relationships carefully, yet that evaluation comes with our own judgmental biases and perspectives.

The comfort of a relationship can lead us to speak and act in ways that are too casual.  I am speaking of the usage of slang and colloquial terms and phrases in your business relationships, as well as on the job in your own workplace.

Your Customer

If you are a Black sales professional, it is most likely that your customer and you coworkers come from a totally different background than you.  Life experiences build perceptions (Remember the 3Ps, Perceptions, Preference,  Prejudice and Your Customer – Black Sales Journal 12/27) which one carries until they are ready to give them up.  The danger of slang in a business relationship is that you do know when a word or phrase validates a perception that a buyer might have.

This does not mean that you cannot say all slang, yet slang that is culturally significant when you are still in the relationship building stage could be unacceptable.  I will admit to my guilt in using culturally biased slang with some customers.  Usually it was long, well developed relationships where I exercised that ‘privilege’.  The length of some of those relationships was decades, and I was well familiar with their views, and the customer with mine.  I was lucky, and still probably should have been a little more antiseptic.

Is This a Big Issue?

I don’t think this is a big issue, yet for some of our emerging talent, it should be heard.  Forming relationships is hard work. You need consistency and some personal protocol.

We all have a way of feeling comfort.  It can be a review of your relationship with a customer, or having the strength of a relationship confirmed by a new large order.  If you are wrong in your level of comfort you might seem crass, or you might spark something that chips away at a relationship.

Culturally biased slang includes language that in the Black community would not necessarily be offensive, yet we are not often selling to the Black community.  Even when we are, we want to have a solid idea of who our customer is, and what our boundaries are.  I suggest that it is easier to be in a business mode, and not take the risks unless you are certain of your customer and your relationship.

Your Work Environment

The work environment is a territory that you will know better than your customer.  Even in this territory, you should recognize the limitations that you should impose on yourself.  The workplace should always be considered “foreign” territory.  A familiar place for doing what you do to earn money, and make a career, yet a place that quite often has a set of rules that you have become comfortable with, even if your coworkers are barely comfortable with you.

None of this is bad at all.  Being at work is earning a living.  I had the fortune of working at a place that accepted my cultural differences and allowed me to grow.  All places don’t offer that haven, so your judgment is important here.

I was not the first Black sales professional that worked there, yet I was their first Black sales manager.  By the time I worked in that role, there were things that I said that I wish I could have taken back.  I learned on the job, and learned the hard way.  We all will not work for a solid and forgiving organization.

If you follow the same rules that you should use with customers at your job, you will never lose.  It will be easy to remember, and you will not turn anyone off.  Remember, taking back things you have uttered is like trying to “put toothpaste back in the tube.”

A Simple Example

Many years ago I was on a sales call with a sales professional who the customer told some difficult news, to which he uttered “That Sucks!” Think about that comment, and apply it to business relationships 12 years ago when it was even more sensitized.  The response from the customer was a face that I interpreted as being taken aback.

Now, quite frankly, there were many words that could have been used there, yet the one that came to mind did not sit well with the buyer, who was an older female.  When we left the call and were in the parking lot, I coached that this was not an appropriate comment.  I believe it was for laughs to a degree as there were several people in the room, yet that only means that there could have been several people offended (I don’t believe there were, yet our buyer appeared to be).

I believe that the sales rep took it to heart and appeared very professional in other calls.  I also believe that he apologized to the buyer who quickly stated that it “was fine.”  Fact is that it should not have been done.

How About Profanity?

I once had a manager who could use profanity, and no one ever seemed bothered by it.  Now, I don’t know if they were, as I was not polling, yet there were never any repercussions.  He was well accepted, and had a way about how he did it that desensitized.  I never felt I would have been that blessed.

The fact is that Black professionals should be careful about using profanity for more reasons than I could list in this journal.  It is easier to keep it clean, and be expressive and emphatic.  I believe there is no place for it in our day-to-day public image with the customer or employer.

Remember to always be the consummate professional.

We welcome your comments. Reach me at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.

I think you deserve to get paid!  Read this post, as well as the post at the bottom of the page to find out how.  Don’t get a new job and be regretful about the major reason that you are there….your money!

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On the last edition of Black Sales Journal we discussed “knowing the landscape” as you prepare to negotiate your salary for a new job (that post is at the bottom of this page).  The objective was to have all of the homework done so that a target can be achieved, and there is likelihood of success.

In this edition of Black Sales Journal, we will spend a little time dealing with the actual negotiations themselves.  This includes receiving and responding to an offer(s).  This is far from a science, and is probably best classified as an art.  The art of how to get what you need in a dignified manner, while maintaining the deportment necessary to keep respect.

Remember, if you are sales professional, it is not unlikely that your prospective employer expects you to do some negotiation.  They won’t be offended by it, yet it should be done correctly.

The Golden Rule – The One With the Most Options has the Most Power!

Power is important in negotiations.  It does not need to be displayed; yet it defines the activities that either side employs.  Knowledge is important as well.  That is why we spent time last week on being firmly aware of “the landscape”.  You would feel totally different about your current or past salary numbers if you knew what all of your colleagues were being paid.  You might be satisfied, happy, or dismayed, but probably would feel totally different.

Options are important.  When I mention options, I speak of viable alternatives to an action.  If you have five job offers, and all are in the field you want and have robust salary offers, you have an amazing number of options. No matter what you ask for from any one of these potential employers, you can be steadfast in getting a good deal.  You have five viable options, and you have “the juice” (power).

However, if your prospective employer has 5 candidates, and although they are not identical (of course they could not be), they each are strong and would make solid sales professionals.  The prospective employer, in this case, has the power.  They have options and will use their “superior” position to their advantage.

There is nothing nefarious about any of this; it is the use of options resulting in the position of power in a negotiating relationship.

Power for the Black Sales Professional

This is a sensitive subject, yet relevant.  As a Black sales professional can you transform what has historically been to a disadvantage to an advantage?  Can you take advantage of the relatively low number of proven Black sales professionals in your quest for this next job?  The answer is solid “maybe.”

Most larger operations are looking for accomplished Black sales professionals.  The numbers are just not that large, and accomplished Black Sales professionals are still a small subset of all accomplished sales professionals.  You won’t know enough about the organization, or the candidates you compete against to be able to use any gambits to enhance your positioning.  I suggest that if you are the best candidate in the competition, and negotiate well, then you have done all you can do to get the job.

Remember, as I have mentioned in Black Sales Journal on several instances, you are being made an offer by an individual, not a corporation.  Realize the importance of that statement.  Someone (the hiring manager) will make the decision, with the guidance of Human Resources and company guidelines as to what the range is.  You are trying to get the most out of that salary range from the negotiating manager.

Some Useful Techniques

These are simple, and can be remembered.  Always try to negotiate salary by itself, apart from all other work benefits.  It may not be possible, yet it is advisable.   The natural progression of the process is as follows:

Step 1. Evaluate the offer

Step 2. Give a suitable response (note below)

Step 3. Deliver a counter offer or receive a counter offer

Step 4. Make a decision

Here are some things that remember.

• Always remember what you stated as your salary expectation in your application process.  It can come back to haunt you.
• Know the landscape before the application process.  Use the tools and your intuition before giving a salary expectation.
• Give your salary expectation, as well as your discussions in the form of a range and use the term “…depending on the accompanying conditions and benefits.”  This allows you some flexibility.  Example: “I would expect between $60,000 and $75,000 depending on the nature of the bonus plan.”  The bonus plan represents a variable, and you don’t know enough about it, for the most part to be concrete.  This gives you the flexibility.
• Know the number you want!  Use your tools and experience to have that number.  Have a solid idea, but stay flexible.
• When the offer is made, always advise you will get back to them and mull it over.  This is an important decision.

As you evaluate the offer, and it comes up well short of your number, your response should be respectfully done.  I suggest: “I was hoping for a stronger salary number.” Or you could say, “This is a wonderful opportunity, yet the salary number is disappointing.” Now, here is where having options is important.  But, if you have no options, you should still say it.  If they don’t give up any of their negotiating room, you can still say, “I will take the job!”  Their answer would likely be either:

• We will take a look at it.
• This is the best we can do!
• What are you thinking about? Be realistic in your expectation.

One way or another, their objective will be to keep salary parity with other sales professionals.  If they started low, estimating that you will “come back”, you will get their final offer.  If they won’t negotiate, and it is a good offer, then you should accept.

Negotiating the “Other” Things

These items are easier, and more palpable.  Know what you want and ask early.  Get them to thinking about your needs.  If you will lose a car from you other job, they should know coming in that you are expecting a company vehicle, or an allowance.  Human Resources can help you with some of these items early on.  Ask them about the transportation and the benefit issues, and ask the hiring manager about other important work issues.

Remember, if you don’t have agreement before you say “yes”, you will have little chance of getting it in the end.

Also remember, your salary is not as important as your total compensation package.  Believe in yourself!

We welcome your comments.  Write me at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.