Rut or Grave? Know the Difference!

Staying sharp in the sales game.....

During a recent out of town trip, I spent some time with a sales force that was, to be polite, an aging sales force. Mixed among the hundreds of years of sales experience were a number of long engrained sales habits, both good and bad.

I recognize that many sales professionals fall into a trap after many years, especially many years in the same organization or industry. The trap is that a “stale” sales person develops a sense of entitlement, an attitude that borders on arrogance. If you are in sales, you need a gentle swift kick in a key area to remind you of the number one rule in sales: “It really IS all about what have you done for me lately?”

I have a dear friend, now retired that shared with me a painful story he endured some years back. This gentleman was in more than a rut, had been doing the same sales route for over 20 years. One afternoon, he called on what he perceived to be one of his top customers, only to find out that the customer had switched vendors. Shocked and hurt, my friend asked the customer what went wrong and was told that he no longer provided any real value to his business. “But I am here every week, I support you” was his plea. The shop owner explained to him that bringing donuts every week and being a nice guy is appreciated, but my friend had brought no new value to this long term relationship in some time. I coined a phrase many years ago about sales people as they got older. “The only difference between being in a rut and being in a grave is how long you choose to remain there”.

Fortunately for me, I have held a wide variety of positions over my career. Mixed among 3 stints with manufacturers, I have started and sold distribution companies on three separate occasions over a 40+ year career. I did not allow myself to grow stale anywhere, I didn’t have time to! However, as I work with others, I see a growing number of sales people who have not changed a thing about their sales approach in years, if not decades.

Many years ago, I worked for a gentleman who would routinely, with little or no warning and minimal conversation, change account managers and reassign different customers to each of us in the field. It used to drive us crazy, but looking back I can now see the genius. Switching things up from time to time not only expanded our own individual horizons and experiences, it virtually guaranteed that none of us ever got to the point of being stale. Our training was uniform and we had a terrific customer support system in place, so the changes were generally seamless for the customers, just a different face as their current primary point of contact. That particular owner realized the depth of the relationship between his organization and the customer base had to go much deeper than that one person.

Being an effective sales person or sales manager in business today requires you to be sharper than ever. Many industries are no longer growing, they are in fact mature and saturated markets. Many industries have seen serious M&A activity that has created the classic "fewer but larger" business model. Any business needs to continually evaluate and constantly measure their performance and results, and be nimble enough to make changes quickly. We used to forecast for 1, 3 and 5 years out. Today, we look at 3, 6 and 12 months out, not much further than that. The game has certainly changed, have you kept up?

If you are a seasoned veteran in the sales game, now is the time to make certain you are current, up to date and provide the type of true value your customers need today. How do you get started reinventing yourself? Start by having honest and frank conversation with your current customers. Be prepared for some tough answers. Be prepared to make some tough changes. Ask them to suggest one area you can provide more value to their business.

Next, raise your personal level of awareness in your own industry. This is incredibly easy to do, in the electronic communication world we live in now. I personally subscribe to nearly 50 online newsletters, updates, trade magazines, industry websites and even a few of my competitors email lists. You would be amazed how much information your competition will send you if you ask for it! I get a few tidbits of info each day and read and absorb as much as I can. This helps me create the type of value for my customers they need today when I am able to share accurate, current information about our industry with them. As you engage in conversation with your customers, or potential customers, if you are fully up to speed about the industry, you will be considered a better resource for them. If you are behind the times, you have provided them with an accurate forecast for heavy rain, 3 weeks after the flood. You get the idea. If you are not up to speed in your own industry, shame on you. There is no reason or excuse. Remember, you need to be sharper than ever, more aware than ever before.

Finally, listen more and talk less. It remains such an easy way to improve sales results. One of my early mentors taught me that we were all born with one mouth and two ears and we would do well to use them proportionally. Funny how good advice remains timeless.

Good selling!