Giving Thanks in Sales

When I reflected on this past week of Thanksgiving and my career in sales, I drew a correlation to the concept of giving thanks in sales. This is SO IMPORTANT and is often a step that can be overlooked. Early in my career and many people's careers, we have a chip on our shoulder where we want to prove ourselves to our peers, our teammates and our supervisors that we can "close a deal" without anyone's assistance. While it can be a good motivational tool, it's not the reality of sales because their are always people involved in your success in sales.

One of my idols growing up was Dean Smith - college basketball coach at University of North Carolina for 36 years. While he is known for many contributions to the game of basketball and our society, I have always enjoyed recognizing him for the installment of the tradition of "thanking the passer" or "pointing to the passer". This is the act that a player demonstrates when they score a basket and publicly point to the player who threw them the ball to give them credit.

So as we come off the holiday of Thanksgiving and start back to work for the final push of 2020 (one of the most challenging years anyone has ever experienced), be sure to give thanks to others along the sales process. The list of individuals to thank is extensive as the sales process touches so many individuals. While most people think of the Decision Maker, Teammates and their Boss, I wanted to focus on the ones that are most often overlooked. Here are just a few of the individuals that come to mine and a few suggestions on how best to give them thanks.

THE INTERNAL CHAMPION AT THE CLIENT

The fastest way to a decision and hopefully a YES is to work with the decision maker directly. However, a lot of great leaders want to make sure they have buy-in from their team so even though you are directly connected with him or her, you might be passed down to other team members. Other times, you might not be able to directly interact with the decision maker and may be working with someone who will be a strong influencer or as I like to refer to them - an "Internal Champion".

The Internal Champion usually doesn't receive an invite to go on the away team trip on the team plane or the chance to attend the VIP reception (usually that goes to the Decision Maker). So you must find other ways to continually give thanks to this person. One simple way to do this is to make sure when the sale closes or is renewed, you call this individual to personally thank them. Another way is to provide this individual with a small gift recognizing his or her efforts (i.e. autographed memorabilia) or working with your leadership to sign a letter personally thanking him or her for their individual contributions to the deal.

Even if the deal doesn't close, it is so important that you recognize this individual's efforts to lobby on your behalf. More times than not, that person will be able to assist you in closing the sale in the future or will move onto another company that might be a fit for your business and will remember the experience in working with you on the sale.

THE FRONTLINE AT THE CLIENT

While warm-leads are always the preferred path in sales, cold-calls is a critical part of sales. This means interacting with a decision maker's admin (aka the Director of First Impressions). It is well known that these individuals carry A LOT more power than most think and ultimately determine your interaction with the decision maker. A very simple gesture that can make a big impact is writing a hand written note to this individual thanking him or her for connecting you to his or her boss. Another way is by sending this person a small gift such as flowers, a unique item from your team or a mobile phone charger. As with the internal champion, regardless if the sale closes or not; taking the time to thank this individual for all their support will go along way and will be remembered with future interactions.

THE SALES SUPPORT TEAM

Sales support exists in every organization. These might be the individuals providing you with research, building out the presentation or coordinating all the touchpoints for the pitch. Throughout the process from start to finish, it's critical to make these individuals feel inclusive of the sales process. This allows them to understand how they can deliver beyond the checklist and keeps them engaged in the sale through each step with the prospective client.

When you receive GREAT work from this team, it's so important to recognize it right away and not wait to the end of the sales process. This can be done by calling them and personally explaining why their work is so important to that particular sale. It can also be done by forwarding it on to their department leader with a note of appreciation or sharing the experience during an internal sales update meeting. Little gestures like this can go along way to continuing to grow the relationship between sales executives and the sales support team.

INTERNAL DEPARTMENT LEADERS

During the sales process, other departments will become involved in assisting with the sale. This could be the operations group who helps escort a perspective client through the facility, the analytics group who helps with building out the financial model, the marketing group who develops an innovative concept, the production group who produces an amazing sizzle reel or the many other departments that have an impact along the way. The key is to make sure that each individual as well as his or her department understand that their role is SIGNIFICANT.

As a salesperson, you should take the time to know each of the department leaders, understand other departments environments and what "wins" look like for their department. It is also important for you to educate other departments on the challenges with the sales process and the "WHY" behind some of the internal steps you need to take to solidify a deal. This will build chemistry between departments and help leverage resources.

As was previously mentioned, the act of gratitude can be as simple as calling that person and saying "thank you". If a deal does close, be specific with your appreciation on how that department's actions factored into the success so they can be repeated over time. If there are extra SWAG items left over from an event, distribute them to different department leaders and their teams. The acknowledgement that you provide to different departments will be reciprocated through your internal sales process becoming less strenuous.

LASTING IMPRESSIONS

Think about the impact that the two words "thank you" have on your self-esteem and mental state when directed at you. Now think about how you can provide that same feeling to others along the sales process and begin to implement your own method of demonstrating gratitude. 2020 has been challenging and made us all reflect about what is really important in life so let's make a lasting impression by being thankful to others in the sales process.