MEMO: Sales needs to get on the same page

"I have never worked a day in my life without selling.  If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard."

Estee Lauder

It's no wonder there is a fascination, fear and disrespect for the profession of sales.  There are oodles of experts with unique perspectives, definitions and advice.  Seriously folk, let's get on the same page for goodness sakes!


Most, many, MBA, B.Comm., BA consider "sales" as a final resort.  Defeat when CEO doesn't appear to be accomplished any time soon.  Then you have your father-in-law or someone several times removed tell you their worst sales nightmare when you admit that you are considering sales as a career.  


Sadly, only the ones that "get it" really "get it".  Sales as a profession has so many opportunities.  For example, where can you build a business without putting your own capital up front?  Be rewarded, compensated when the business grows without any ceiling?  Sales.

What frustrates me is that sales professionals, sales experts, sales trainers are their own worst enemy.  They are too readily prepared to offer advice without explanation, credentials, or common language.  It is little wonder, that if you look up sales under Google, Twitter, Wikipedia or Facebook you are bombarded with conflicting and massive information overload.


PLEASE.  Everyone get on the same "page".  


Let's agree that "order takers" are not sales reps, they are "customer service reps".  Hunters with the capability to market are Business Development Representatives (BDRs).  Farmers that are pros at expanding established customer base, are called "Account Executive" or "Account Manager".  Then there are "Sales Representatives" that sell, with a little bit of everything else thrown in.  Get over it.  Most knowledgeable buyers recognize titles ... Managers, Directors, VPs.  What they want is "listen to me".

It all comes down to hunting (catching), farming (sowing) and then cooking (customer service) and delivering (operations).  Each has a unique role, none more important than the other.  When everyone can understand that, get on the same "page", share, communicate, strategize ....   it's amazing what can happen!


I admire those that come up with "Customer Experience Manager" or "Big Cheese" as cool or innovative.  BUT please, can we at least agree on what is what, who is who,  when it comes to sales?  That is, get on with our jobs.  Bring in new revenue.




"Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him.  Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity."

Karl Marx

Wisdom. Knowledge. Understanding. What I wish I knew when I was a teenager.

"Information is not knowledge."

~Albert Einstein

With free time until a new assignment November 1^st  I have been working through a “MeDOs” list.  Except, it seems my two teenage daughters have decided that they are in one crisis or another defined as "stressed out" to them:

A) HOMEWORK: After job, boyfriend, friends 

B) SLEEP: Cell phone alarm doesn't work 

C) BOSS: Won't switch shifts because of A) 

D) MONEY:  Equals clothes, gas, entertainment 

E) CAR: Gas drains from D) because of A)

I bet you know of cures or recommendations.   Trust me, they’re teenagers.  They don't want it.  They want to be heard and understood.  They certainly don’t want you to tell them how to solve anything.  

My father passed away a year ago October 28, 2011.  I miss him.  We would always have these great conversations.  He was 76, just shy of 77.  He seemed to always call when Mom was out playing bridge and between his beloved Vancouver Canucks games (or baseball, etc.)    When I was the same age as my daughters, he went to work and that’s all I remember really.  Everything else revolved around me.  Hmm, let’s see, homework (check), working (check) … you get the picture!  I don’t recall asking his advice or if I did, what that advice may have been.  I doubt I was listening.

It was the past 5 or 10 years that I started to ask his advice.  Perhaps retirement and aging brings out the glory days of wanting to revisit them, share them, or just plain have your kids learn from them?  Most likely, nature evolves into a pattern where we want to hear about everything from our parents.

I’d rather my kids learn NOW what I know several years later, wish I knew or paid attention to while I was in my teens.  Most likely, that will arrive when they hit their 40s, with families of their own.  Miraculously, if they were to listen, this is what I would say:  

MISTAKES:  Everyone makes them.  When you admit them and learn from them, that is when you will grow.

INTEGRITY:  Is something that you have and nobody can take it away from you.

LEARN:  Be a sponge, ask questions, then more questions, clarify if you don’t understand, restate it in a way you comprehend, finally share it.  There is always something you can learn from anyone regardless of age, station or background.

SUCCESS:  As soon as you think you’ve “arrived” you have just limited yourself.  Always have goals, with ladders or specific goals within those goals.

FAILURE:   Is normal.  No, it isn’t cool.  Yet, the coolest people can count the number of failures they’ve had.

REPUTATION:  No matter how far you reach, how far you’ve come, there will always be someone out to discredit you, take you off track, or suck you into negativity or character assassination.   If you keep a steady path, you will see it for what it is.

CHARACTER:  Be known for being a person of character.   It is within your own control.  Beauty, wealth, athleticism fade long before character.

YOUTH:  Youth is not a look, it is a spirit.  Like words in a song:  there are young people wise beyond their years and old people immature.

PERSEVERANCE:  Continue no matter what.  It doesn’t matter how often you face challenges, it is more important how you face them.  

HUMOUR:  Always and often.  Find ways to laugh so hard that it is contagious.

COMMUNICATION:  Listen more, speak less.  You may not realize what you're missing if all you hear is yourself.  Write often to inspires yourself.  Nobody else has to read it to be of value.

DECISIONS:  (My dad’s favourite)  “What’s the payoff?”  What is the worst that could happen?  Instead, focus on what could be the best.

HUMILITY:  Be humble.  There is no such thing as saying “thank you” too much.  When people ask how you are, they’re not asking for a play-by-play.  Let others brag about accomplishments, if they’re meaningful, you won’t have to.

INTELLIGENCE:  Is not IQ.  It is a measurement of what your brain can absorb.  Your attitude determines what you retain.

“Nothing is impossible.  The word itself says “I’m possible”

~Audrey Hepburn

 “MeDOs”


HEALTH:  Annual Physical: Usually schedule around my birthday.  Life is a gift.
AUTO:   Maintenance: September is a good goal to have. Back to everything.
CLOTHES:  Sort through clothes I no longer want.  Donate to charity
PAPERWORK: Organize paperwork in advance for tax season.  Proactive.

Health, Heart, Soul spells GO!

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

~World Health Organization, 1948

A healthy, happy and well-fed sales pro or leader is created by balance at home, great company, family, and a holistic outlook from the inside out.  For example, the post Thanksgiving Dinner I had tonight with my husband was splendid.  Although his first reaction was there wouldn't be enough for his carnivore pallet :


POST THANKSGIVING DINNER:

JM's Lite Cheaters Ceasar Salad topped with fresh shrimp
Hard boiled egg
Home made Bruchetta
Couple slices of cheddar cheese
Few Carrot Sticks
Crantini


Bruschetta (8 Roma tomatoes, 4 garlic cloves, 1 T fresh Basil, 1/2 tsp ea. freeze dried Oregano, 1 small red onion; sprinkle sea salt; chop everything into fine pieces ~ let ingredients absorb ~ahhh can you say garlic?

JM's LITE CHEATERS CEASAR SALAD:  Fresh Ceasar Salad Dressing from Produce section of Supermarket, 2 Romaine Lettuce Hearts (washed in ice cold water with ice, absorbed in towel and store wrapped in fridge until ready to toss); approx 3 T  Ceasar separate container; add about 3-4 cloves minced garlic;  let sit for 20-30 min.;  when ready to serve lightly coat with Parmasan Cheese, douse with coarse pepper, then toss with Cheaters Dressing.  I leave out croutons because there are enough calories .... ahhh garlic .. again!

Crantini Martini made from left over homemade Thanksgiving Cranberries (below) Place  2-3 cups ice; 1 oz vodka, 2-3 T leftover Cranberry mixture into Blender ~let it rip!


FRESH CRANBERRIES:  Fresh cranberries, 1/2 cup brown sugar (or sugar to taste), cover fresh cranberries with water, boil/simmer/mash/cool

CAUTION:  Ensure everyone eats at the same time to enjoy each other's garlic "aroma"

VOILA:  You feel healthy, prudent using leftover while being happy (thanks to the Crantini)


NOTE:  Flowers from Thanksgiving Dinner Table

TIME:  No more than an hour if you follow the menu order.


P.S.  No, hubby didn't go looking for snacks afterwards.

DESSERT:  Go for a walk, preferably a park close by (like the one I'm fortunate to have nearby pictured above) and just "BE".




"Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body"

~Cicero