Part Two: Should I Stay or Should I Go

Every person ever hired for sales goes through the same thing – training. Of course, I was no exception. New product means new information means new method. And becoming good doesn’t happen by accident. I’ve been through many types of training and found that one thing remains the same: the difference maker is not the material. It’s the trainer.

In my experience the splits are 20-60-20. Which means there’s a 20 percent chance the training is outstanding, a sixty percent chance it’s ordinary, and a 20 percent chance the training is inadequate. My training in LED lighting started with ordinary and didn’t take long before it became inadequate. Let’s explore the winding path a bit more.

Four years ago, I started with remote training. Pre-pandemic, this was not viewed with the same acceptance it is today. Remote training, then or now, is most favorable because of swift action. Who doesn’t like a fast start? The unfavorable aspect was no in-person contact.

What made this such a challenge was figuring out a lot of the mechanics on my own. Much different than being taught in the field by an experienced manager. The only option was spending plenty of time in trial-by-fire. The one thing missing was, well, the details.

Don’t get me wrong. Needing to know these details was made perfectly clear. The challenge was knowing it when I saw it as a rookie versus someone else with years of experience looking at the same thing. What I pick up on isn’t what the veteran will.

Details in lighting are everything and there are no less than ten that are need-to-know. The basics are wattage, lumens, and voltage. Additionally, run-time, cost per kWh and maintenance schedules factor into the consideration. Altogether, gathering these necessary facts makes the difference between an amateur and a professional.

Some of this is accomplished simply via documented inventory. Other times it requires an on-site visit for pictures and measurements. Properly putting the entire puzzle together means having all the pieces. If you don’t have the trust of the prospect, these asks can get ignored. However, nothing can be left out, or there will be holes in the project.

Handing a rep a spreadsheet and putting a target on the CFOs back is good old fashioned spray-n-pray. Heavy volume. Put many boots on the ground. It’s practically military. Because it works. I respect it. But many reps aren’t cutout for this style. The rigid discipline. Managers pushing this tend to be abrasive and tough to work with.

I’ve worked with many types of managers and know when rapport exists. It was there. Still, that’s only one ingredient in the recipe. If our sales principles aren’t lining up well, communication about a prospect gets misunderstood. If our communication about prospects is too far apart, the deal collapses. If too many deals collapse, the business fails. It was evident that without stronger guidance I was going to walk away.

There was no way around this since my trainer was in a different state. Constant travel wasn’t an option. I needed something else to stay in the game. The stakes had to be raised. Turns out, in a complete stroke of luck, the co-founder lived an hour away. If I hadn’t been local, this probably doesn’t get mentioned. Some things can’t be explained, they just happen.

At first, a request to meet the person was shot down. Too busy. No time. You’re too new for something like that. You don’t have enough in the pipeline. In other words, I wasn’t nearly important enough. I gave myself an ultimatum. Get a phone call with the co-founder or be forced to leave.

Believing in what I chose to do, and more so in myself, I persisted through the resistance. After repeated asking, the call gets lined up. It wasn’t going to be enough. The only way it would work out is meeting in person. So, after a few tense minutes on the phone with both of us apprehensive, the man who would change my future agreed to get a cup of coffee.?

Thanks again for reading into my journey. Stay tuned for part three.?