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5 Tips For Keeping Your Sales Job | Subscribe to this Blog |
October 19, 2008
by Jeb Blount, author of Power Principles
Listen to the audio version of this article at: http://sales.quickanddirtytips.com
For many Sales Professionals the stress of our current economic situation is already taking a toll. Besides shrinking retirement accounts and the relentless stream of bad news, corporate compensation policies are becoming less generous, customers are cutting back (which impacts commission checks), the competition for new accounts has never been more fierce, and the cost of everything is going up. And, to make things worse, salespeople everywhere walk on egg shells wondering when the next wave of cuts may leave them without a job.
Fear is palpable everywhere I go. Everyone is scared. Most people are searching for answers. Some are so paralyzed with fear that they are taking no action at all. I’m not going to presume to tell you that your fear is unfounded because it is not. I’m not going to deliver an empty message telling you that if you just manage your attitude everything else will work out. Though attitude is very important, attitude without action can hurt you in this environment. What I am going to give you are a few commonsense tips designed to help you stay employed so that you have the means to make it through this recession in one piece, and are positioned to win when we come out on the other side.
Tip One – Activity Is Everything: complete all of your customer visits, make all of your prospecting calls, hit all your new appointment and closing appointment targets. Even if you are not at quota you don’t want anyone questioning your activity. And if you are achieving your activity targets but not hitting quota, the economy, not you, may get the blame. Activity is tangible. It can be measured, analyzed, and reported up. When you hit your activity targets the perception is that you are working hard and toeing the company line. Your company and your boss are more likely to invest in and keep the salespeople they perceive to be hard workers. One more note here – be sure that your reports and paper work are perfect and always on time.
Tip Two – Don’t Complain: you are stressed out, your company is cutting back, the boss is more demanding, and things are changing. You may even be asked to take a pay cut. Heed this warning: DO NOT COMPLAIN. Don’t complain to anyone, for any reason, at any time - no matter what. If you complain to co-workers, they will use your words to throw you under the bus and save their own hides. And the last thing the boss wants to deal with is a complainer. The boss is likely way more stressed than you are. She doesn’t need you to remind her of how bad she already feels for reducing entertainment expenses, cutting spiffs, or having to announce that the annual awards trip has been canceled. So learn to keep your mouth shut. Instead, start repeating to yourself, “I’m lucky to have this job.” or “It could be worse, I could be unemployed.” Keep a smile on your face, accept things as they are, and stay focused on your activity targets.
Tip Three – Become Indispensable: in the past when companies downsized it was always last in, first out. Today, however, most organizations choose who goes and who stays based on productivity. In other words, people who generate more value for the organization stay. Being indispensable means more than just doing your sales job perfectly. It means volunteering for projects, looking for ways to add value, and consistently asking the boss if there is anything you can do to help. Change your way of thinking about work. Right now your job must become everything. Devote yourself to it – even if it means putting other things (like time with your family) aside. Work longer hours, be seen often, and always offer to lend a hand. Your goal is to create the perception that you are an employee the organization cannot live without.
Tip Four – Make No Enemies: unfortunately, in most companies, non-salespeople don’t like Sales Professionals. This dislike is motivated mostly by jealousy. The other people in your company are jealous because you work less, have a flexible lifestyle, go on the award trips, and out earn almost everyone – including top executives. Because of these feelings, your non-sales co-workers are looking for a reason to hate you. Normally this is not such a big deal. However, in a recessionary economy, you must not create enemies; and if you have enemies, do whatever you can to repair those relationships. Be flexible with demands and difficult people. Bend over backwards to accommodate. Let insults and affronts to your character roll off your back. Smile. Be polite and respectful. Stay away from office politics at all times. And, never say a disparaging word about anyone because it will get back to them.
Tip Five – Be Prepared to Jump Ship: it is always easier to find a new job when you have a job – especially if you are at the top of your game. Even in a recessionary economy top sales professionals are in demand. The proof of that are the more than 100,000 sales jobs currently listed on http://www.SalesGravy.com. Unfortunately, many people only start searching for their next sales job the day they get fired or laid-off. You must be prepared. Start by getting your resume in order – get a professional service to put it together for you if you don’t have time. Post your resume on job boards, like http://www.SalesGravyJobs.com, where you can hide your personal information. Begin searching online to get a feel for the sales jobs that are available and which companies and industries are expanding. Most importantly, keep your eyes and ears open. Pay close attention to the moves your company makes. Don’t make any career changes in haste or in a panic. But, if after careful consideration, you feel like your demise is inevitable and you are about to be cut, take action to make a change while you are still employed.
Jeb Blount is the bestselling author of Power Principles. Get the new Power Principles audio book at http://www.salesgravy.com/shop
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How Safe Is Your Job? | Subscribe to this Blog |
September 30, 2008
by Ro Johnson
With the recent economic news: Not very! If the financial crisis spreads further economists say we could start to see more day-to-day impacts, such as you can’t get a car loan or home equity line of credit, or that your credit card limits are reduced.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
If the crisis continues to spread unchecked, we also could find that our employer isn’t able to borrow the money it needs to buy new equipment or inventory, expand its operations, hire new employees or even pay us. This could lead to higher unemployment and lower consumer spending, and send our already spiraling economy into spinout mode.
Think your job is safe? How much does your company depend on a strong banking system? Who are your customers? How do they pay for your services? How much of your compensation is salaried? Do you own stock in the company, or are you a principal? What about your largest client, is their share of your revenue large? If it’s more than 45% then your firm could be exposed to implosion.
If businesses take a conservative stance on spending the first area of their budget to slash will be marketing expenses. It should be the last, but it isn’t. The company will focus on maintaining its current customer base and cutting operating costs. It will opt for less expensive ways of generating sales by using advertising versus direct-field selling. They will cut layers of management down to a minimum, leaving many executive level sales professionals scrambling to polish off their resumes. This is reflected by the large number of highly qualified and long experienced sales professionals registered with online job searches.
“We are in a credit crunch and it’s starting to crunch America’s businesses, large and small,” said James Wilcox, a professor of financial institutions at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
How safe is your job? Better batten down the hatches because a storm is coming.
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Job Fair Season | Subscribe to this Blog |
September 13, 2008
by Chad Pinkston, Chief Sales Officer, The Corporate Playbook
As the oppressive summer heat rolls out and the crisp fall air rolls in, we can look forward to Job Fair season (only slightly less popular than it’s fall rival, college football). We have attended and hosted hundreds of Job Fairs and during this process, we’ve surveyed countless HR directors and hiring managers only to discover employers find Job Fairs almost as big a waste of time as your average participant.
Think about your own experience at a Job Fair. If it was even remotely like ours, you would have been better off just randomly submitting your resume to companies on Monster, while playing Nintendo Wii. Most Job Fairs are set up to be absolute cattle calls, “just stop in, see who’s there” no focus, no direction, just companies and free stuff to entice you in the door. The fundamental flaw with the Job Fair approach is the focus on numbers not connections or engagement. Now, we do understand that without numbers, the participating companies are not going to be interested and if companies aren’t interested then potential candidates will in turn not show. So, you end up with this eastern philosophy “Yin & Yang” so to speak; if one side is out of balance, the whole thing implodes. So how do you turn a Job Fair into a Career Fair making it mutually beneficial for both the candidates and the employers?
We thought we would share some of the key training topics we use with our athletes both through our online network and campus visit training modules to prepare them for an upcoming career fair, we hope this helps the next event you attend:
* As Abraham Lincoln said, ” If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my axe”. That’s right, a sharp axe is the first step (We’re speaking metaphorically here unless of course you are applying for a lumberjack position then please take Abe’s quote literally). You need planning & direction to make this work. The worst thing you can do is stroll through casually & unprepared. Most career fairs will be posted online, days if not weeks in advance. These postings will detail which companies will be in attendance and their booth locations. Map out which companies you want to visit first, research those company’s websites and read the position descriptions. Hit those companies first.
* “Act As If”- If you have ever seen the movie “Boiler Room” you probably remember the sales manager’s (Ben Affleck) monologue. He began each point with “Act as if”- Well the same is true here “Act as if you are going to an interview not a Career Fair. This means all aspects: Dress, attitude, presentation & practice.
* Dress- Yes, were going to suggest you dress for the position you want. At this point, you’re probably thinking, “yeah I’ve heard that a hundred times” well; that’s because it works. If you want to differentiate yourself from the casual participant, wear a suit. You will come across focused & mature. You are going to be meeting more than just the companies you identified and you will make a much stronger first impression.
* Attitude- you can have the greatest resume, or on the contrary, a mediocre resume and your attitude will be the tiebreaker. If you come across unenthusiastic, smug or just plain apathetic you won’t get a second look. So, put on a happy face, have a positive attitude. Look the recruiters in their eyes & smile.
* Presentation- have you ever been to one of those swanky- reservations, 3 months in advance, unpronounceable name type restaurants? Only to discover you could have paid 95% less at Taco Bell & received 95% more food. Why do you do this? Presentation! It’s the dress, the attitude and the presentation that draws you in. So when you go to your next career fair, focus on the presentation. Dress for the part, have the positive contagious attitude, walk tall with confidence and own the room!
* Practice- just like preparing for the game. It doesn’t change. Use the same methodology you would in athletics. Practice a personal elevator pitch (more on that next week) for when you meet with the recruiters, practice a mock question & answer session about your industries of interest(guys practice tying a tie, I know that sounds dumb- but waiting until the last minute to prepare & showing up with a jacked up Windsor knot is even dumber). I’ll reiterate- Treat this just like a game situation, you are in essence preparing for the next game.
That’s it; everything comes down to preparation & practice. Follow this simple formula & you will make your next career fair a success.
For more information about upcoming career fairs & additional career planning resources visit www.TheCorporatePlaybook.com
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Sales Pros are Not Happy | Subscribe to this Blog |
August 30, 2008
by Dave Stein
Debbie Antonelli of Richardson pointed out to me that a recent survey by ExecuNet has only 54% of sales executives are satisfied with their current job:
Profession Percentage of Executives Satisfied With Current Job
CFO/Comptroller 68%
HR 65%
Marketing 63%
General Management 61%
Sales 54%
MIS/IT 53%
Source: ExecuNet 2008
I’m being not cynical when I say I’m surprised that the percentage for sales executives isn’t lower.
More insight from the survey:
Top Five Reasons Executives Are Unhappy At Work
Limited advancement opportunities (12.8%)
Lack of challenge/personal growth (12.3%)
Compensation (11.7%)
Stress Level (7.7%)
Job Security (7.7%)
For sales executives, I believe there is another reason for unhappiness in their jobs: many don’t have the capabilities to perform successfully. It’s too much of a challenge rather than lack of a challenge (indicated in number 2 above).
Here are two indicators that this is true: First, tenure of sales executives is getting shorter year after year. These sales executives aren’t leaving their jobs in less than two years because they’ve been wildly successful. Second is the overall lack of performance of the sales people that work for these sales executives. Here are the stats again, for those of you who missed them:
Depending on the industry, 25% (e.g. heavy equipment) to 33% (enterprise application software) of sales people are unsuited for their job. (ES Research Group, 2007)
Only 37% of companies report forecast accuracy is greater than 50%. (CSO Insights 2007)
In 2006, 38.5% of salespeople missed their annual objective. Turnover among salespeople last year (2006) was 40%. (Sales Benchmark Index 2007)
This isn’t just a bad situation. It’s an epidemic.
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