For
the past few years, since I began using this weekly blog to share stories about
sales and sales management, I have been receiving numerous questions from
readers including my own clients. Over the next several months I am going to
use my weekly ramblings to post one reader question with my answer. Please note
– my answers are based on my personal and professional experiences and in no
way reflect my company or specific clients.
Q: What is the top characteristic you
seek in a younger, less experienced sales candidate?
A: This one, on the surface, seems easy.
For both experienced and new sales people I want them to be patient. Patience
is a virtue – as the old saying goes. But, I did say on the surface. Patience
is actually not easy to remember, have, and show in all sales cases, especially
for someone new. Sales people must be capable of being patient throughout the
sales process, but also with themselves, and definitely in the early days of
their career while learning and training. It is also important for the sales
manager to remember that patience is required for the new sales person to
learn. The sales person is watching and trying to absorb as much from their
mentor as possible, so this person too must show patience in their sales
process in order for the new sales person to learning the right way.
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For
the past few years, since I began using this weekly blog to share stories about
sales and sales management, I have been receiving numerous questions from
readers including my own clients. Over the next several months I am going to
use my weekly ramblings to post one reader question with my answer. Please note
– my answers are based on my personal and professional experiences and in no
way reflect my company or specific clients.
Q: What do you believe are the best and
worst current trends or tools being used by sales people?
A: My answer to this question is social
media for both the best and the worst. Social media can be a sales person’s
best friend if used properly. LinkedIn, for example, is an amazing application
based on connectivity. You have the ability to not only make connections with
your customers, but with prospects as well. A sales person no longer needs to
make cold calls if they know how to use LinkedIn to warm the initial call up.
Research on companies and who the right people are to contact are at your
fingertips. But, just as powerful as LinkedIn can be, other social media
platforms like Facebook can be a detriment to a sales person. Forget the “time
suck” that is Facebook, but when a sales person connects with customers on
Facebook they are opening up their personal lives for evaluation and potential
criticism. Politics, religion, parenting styles, hobbies, you name it, are on
display on peoples Facebook pages. A sales person runs the risk of alienating
or upsetting the customer relationship because of the personal agenda. It is
wise to use and manage LinkedIn carefully and even wiser to keep your Facebook
life separated from your business life.
Tags :
For
the past few years, since I began using this weekly blog to share stories about
sales and sales management, I have been receiving numerous questions from
readers including my own clients. Over the next several months I am going to
use my weekly ramblings to post one reader question with my answer. Please note
– my answers are based on my personal and professional experiences and in no
way reflect my company or specific clients.
Q: What advice do you have for a
forty-something sales person changing careers? I am staying in sales, but
moving into a new field, and I am terrified. Thank you.
A: Fear is okay as long as it does not
consume you. I commend you for taking the leap and being willing to bring on a
new challenge in your career. Keep in mind that you are not new to sales just
new to this specific area. Sales is sales in so many ways. You know how to make
cold calls, develop leads, and bring new business through the door. What you
lack is product knowledge. My advice is to study, study, study. You need to
become an expert with the products you are representing and you also need to
know your competition. As you gain this perspective with the new industry, you
will also need to learn the ins & outs of your new company. Gaining an
understanding on who’s who and what’s what in the company will give you the
necessary insight to pave your own way. Last thing – they hired you because of
your skills. You have what it takes to be successful, the tools of the trade so
to speak, now have the confidence to apply those skills.
Tags :
For
the past few years, since I began using this weekly blog to share stories about
sales and sales management, I have been receiving numerous questions from
readers including my own clients. Over the next several months I am going to
use my weekly ramblings to post one reader question with my answer. Please note
– my answers are based on my personal and professional experiences and in no
way reflect my company or specific clients.
Q: What is the most recent mistake
you’ve made in business and what was the lesson learned?
A: I broke the golden rule of hiring
& firing – to hire slow and fire fast. I made the decision to hire a sales
person based on only a few interviews that were condensed in a matter of a
couple weeks. I believed the candidate would be a worthwhile hire based on his
years of experience and his communication skills, especially his writing
skills. Unfortunately, because I fast tracked the hiring process, I did not
spend nearly enough time analyzing his capabilities in new business development
and cold calling. While his sales experience seemed extensive on paper, he was
not skilled in new business development, rather he was a glorified account
manager. He was not successful in cold calling, networking, or developing new
opportunities on his own. I then gave him many more chances and opportunities
to improve than I should have. Actually, it was unfair to him as well to keep
him around with false hope that he could turn around his activity level. In
fact, I should have let him go after three months. It was definitely a mistake
on my part to hire him and even a bugger mistake not to fire him sooner.
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