I love nature and I love mankind. They are not always compatible it seems. I love sales and I love people. It seems they are not always compatible either. An element of nature that brings controversy and strong emotions, positive and negative, is the recent reintroduction of the wolf into parts of the American West.
The wolf is one of the most persecuted and misunderstood animals on the face of the earth. Often we tend to be ruthless with what we fear and with what we don’t understand. Selling is like that. There are a lot of myths and misunderstandings, fears and evasion on both sides.
I cringe at the false schmoozing I see amateur salespeople using, trying to gain an audience or close a deal. I have seen customers rolling their eyes, and pulling away trying to avoid or escape an over talkative salesperson. I have watched prospects recoil in disgust when salespeople attempt to close after ignoring all the signals that there is no deal. I have seen salespeople in tears not understanding how they could lose an important client in view of a long and close relationship. I too often hear salesperson’s talk about promises and intents received with optimism and trust that evaporated or slipped away in a fog.
I see the exasperation of sales managers working with qualified salespeople who are not succeeding. I see the exasperation of owners and upper level managers puzzled and confused in how to direct. I have had to ask for too many resignations and I have had to advise too many others to ask for them as well. I have lost sleep and my appetite wondering what they and their families would do.
I have also seen the elation. I have seen the satisfaction, joy and loyalty of customers who finally have found a solution. I have seen the confidence, happiness and pride that days and weeks of hard work and a closed deal can bring a salesperson, manager or owner. The dignity, the pride and the confidence and satisfaction on both sides are priceless. That is what we are about: building self-respect, success, satisfaction, confidence and “deep” relationships on both sides of the sales process.
Like the wolf before me, I have gone down many trails and worked on many skills. I have used and developed (in many opinions) the best sales training material available. Some succeed with it and some don’t. We use the best profiling, assessment and screening tools available for employee selection. They (the profiles) enable many great hire’s but some that are only average. I have coached and trained managers and watched some succeed and others fail. It was by traveling these many trails that I came to realize there had to be an “ecosystem” of all these elements working together to maximize the chance for team success. The strength of the wolf is the pack. The strength of the individual wolf is the pack. That is what we are about bringing strength, dignity, and success to the individual and to the pack with an ecosystem of ingredients that can be mixed to meet the specific requirements of the client. A recipe for success is having the right ingredients in the right amount – skills, personal talent, management, culture, vision and commitment (to name a few), the right eco system for a thriving sales culture.
Garry, President of Leadership Connections http://www.leadershipconnections.com
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Hey Gary ! Nicely Done all that and he writes to!