Oh, for the love of sales

In the last few months I’ve done quite a bit of soul searching. When I decided to take a break from the corporate world, a couple of months ago, one of the primary goals I had in my mind, as I set out on this journey was to truly figure out what I wanted to do professionally.

I’d always been into sales, building relationships with clients and managing a book of business. Yes, I enjoyed what I did thoroughly and was always the most excited soul in office on Monday morning (probably because I was also the first one in office on a Monday morning) but was this something I wanted to continue doing for a living?

Short answer? Yes!

I love everything about the world of sales and consulting. Even as I write this, I’m feeling this tinge of excitement, thinking about my next journey and about the value I’ll be able to bring to the next organization, team and role, with the different skill-sets and the more positive mindset I’ve acquired, during this break of five months.

It is nothing short of exhilarating.

I’ve been asked why I wanted to be in the world of sales and also about how the profession is looked down upon by quite a large percentage of the world around us; How sales is considered to be a sleazy, irritating and 'terrible' profession, filled with people who are always trying to pitch something or the other to poor old consumers.

I’ve always been fascinated by that question. Because it couldn’t be farther from the truth I’ve realised in my experience as a ‘sales-man’.

Sales is not sleazy at all! Sales is everywhere around us. We are all sales-people. We pitch to our parents, friends, partners, colleagues, bosses, clients, children, relatives and to the traffic cop who's pulled us over for jumping a traffic light. Basically, everyone. We are surrounded by sales. It is the profession that ends up putting food on the table, getting in the big bucks for organizations and making sure that value keeps exchanging hands. I love it!

But don’t get me wrong. I do understand that, simplistically speaking, there are two kinds of sales people out there - The ones who live to just 'sell stuff' and meet 'numbers' and the ones who live to add value wherever they are, and whoever they meet. When I talk about sales, I am (obviously) referring to the latter. The ‘value’ adders, the value-seekers and the changemakers.

With that context in mind, here are 7 amazing things that the world of ‘value’ selling has taught me:

#1. It is all about listening with?intent

For a long time we’ve imagined sales to be all about pitching our product or service and making sure we get our point across to our audience. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Well corroborated by Daniel Pink in many of his lessons (read about him here ), sales is more about ‘listening’ than anything else.

We HAVE to listen to our customers so that we understand their goals, objectives and current pain points. Because that’s how we’ll understand their true needs and address them. Without the skill of being able to listen ‘intently’ and not just for the sake of it, we are not going to get anywhere in the world of ‘value’ selling.

#2. Intent means showing empathy in our interactions

Ah, that omnipresent word, ‘empathy’. What does it mean and why can’t we stop using it everywhere? Because it matters the most. Especially in today’s times. No, not referring to the pandemic but referring to today’s times when everyone is trying to do their best while being bombarded by a million different things, facing tremendous internal & external pressure.

Empathy is one of the finest skill-sets we can develop. And in sales, empathy means to understand the customer so well that they know that we’ll have their best interests at heart, always. We should put ourselves in their shoes and ‘feel’ their problems even before thinking about our pitch or our products. True empathy comes from a feeling of detachment from the end goal (selling).

#3. To be empathetic, one has to be an expert?first

Empathy comes from a core feeling of comfort and confidence. And to be able to feel that, we need to be experts in our field of operation. We should know the ins and outs of everything related to our profession.

Okay, I’m not saying that a sales or consulting professional in the world of cloud technology should know how to perform complex infrastructure migration tasks. That’s what solution architects and cloud engineers are there for. But sales and consulting folks should know the use-cases, the pros & cons of different platforms, a high level understanding of the various services, and a good grasp of the market & competitors.

We should know enough to be able to hold a conversation, lead a call and engage multiple stakeholders. If we are not confident, we will always be defensive and never be able to show empathy or any of the other ‘cool’ behavioural traits that awesome sales/consulting folks exhibit so naturally.

#4. An expert builds credibility

As soon as we become an expert in our area of work, we should be able to hold intelligent conversations with people around us. Some of these people will be future or current customers. As soon as they see us as a source of truth for the areas they are interested in, our views become a source of credibility for them. Their research will most likely include us and our thoughts about the subject because they know we are pretty good at what we do.

If we’ve ever seen someone who is intelligent and well-versed with a subject, we know that those people normally never faff around or talk too much about mundane things. They get to the point and more often than naught, it is the right point. This is respected beyond anything else. Especially when dealing with people who are already hard-pressed for time.

An expert builds credibility.

#5. A credible human can build?trust

The most enjoyable experiences I’ve had are the ones where a CxO has reached out to someone in the team (or me) and asked our advice on products or platforms that we don’t even work with directly. Why? Because the CxO knows us to be credible and trustworthy. With time, and many experiences, we've shown the CxO, and their team, that we mean well for their organization. We know our shit, we stick to our core values and we share meaningful insights.

This trust takes a lot of time and effort to create. But once it is created, it is one of the most valuable things any sales/consulting person has.

#6. Trust is at the core of any relationship

Like with any other relationship, once we cross that boundary of trust and belief in another human being, the relationship reaches a different level of maturity. This is a great place to be in. A place from where each party can focus on their core tasks, knowing well that the other party has their back, and will not do anything to break this partnership.

Great sales people are great relationship builders. They understand how to create lasting connections and how to maintain these connections. And it doesn’t take much effort. For the well-equipped sales person, who is confident and self-assured, building long term connections comes naturally. It just flows, from empathy to expertise to trust to relationships.

A great sales person also knows that a lasting relationship needs to be nurtured and never be be taken for granted. This also takes time, effort and a core belief in doing what's right, always.

#7. Relationships are all about being there for each other and being open with each?other

Finally, creating lasting relationships is about being there when our customer needs us. Or pre-empting their needs by sharing solutions to problems they probably don’t even know they have right now. Channeling the right vision for someone else (a customer in this case) is one of the best ways to build camaraderie. Customers should know that they can count on us, even when they’re not in the room. They should always know that we’ll have their back and be their biggest supporters.

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Sales, consulting and managing ‘quota’ has taught me a lot more about life and the world around us, but most of all, it has made me a better human being, open to understanding problems of others around me and trying to find solutions for those problems.

Always grateful to this profession and all my mentors, colleagues and most of all, the customers who’ve taught me everything I know.

Cheers!