Everyone in Business is in Sales
This Article by John Hill first appeared in Long Island Business News (June 27-July 3 Edition)
How many times in your career have you heard the comment, “I’m in business but I’m not in sales” I find it ridiculous for any businessperson to make that statement. If you are in business or have a job, believe me, you are in sales, EVERYONE SELLS!
For some reason, many professionals refuse to acknowledge that they are in sales. I know if you ask an attorney, he or she will deny that they are in sales, but they do have someone in the law firm that generates business. They call that person a Rainmaker. There is another group of people that are not in sales… they are in business development. They find the opportunities and then give them to someone else to close. Some people have customers, and others have clients.
It seems that we try so hard NOT to be associated with sales, which I find deplorable. Let me give you some facts about sales, which is an honored profession. Professional sales people are the highest paid professionals in the world. They make more money than movie stars or professional athletes. There are more sales and marketing types running Fortune 500 companies than any other profession.
I first started in sales after I had worked as a field engineer for a high tech company. I quickly learned that sales people make more money than field engineers, so I decided to go into sales. I was employed by a west coast company as one of their east coast sales people. Since I was selling a technical product, I wasn’t a salesman, I was a sales engineer. Regardless of what I was called, I was in sales. It was a learning experience and an opportunity to make a lot of money providing you worked at it. Success in sales is what you make of it. Within a year I was one of the top sales people on the east coast.
Some of the young sales people I have met today are more focused on technology then they are on sales. It seems to be a chore for them to pick up the phone to speak with a potential sales opportunity. I believe their social skills are limited. Just looking a prospect in the eye seems to be a problem. They would prefer to send an e-mail or text the person. I find that cold and uncaring. Sales is people dealing with people.
People want to do business with people they like. What kind of impression do you give when they only way you communicate is by e-mail or text?
I had one young salesman tell me that he has a client on the west coast with whom he has been averaging $300,000 to $500,000 thousand a year in business for the past three years, and he handles everything by e-mail or text. He said he checked the company’s website and checked them out on Google, and, from all that he has read they are a successful company. I asked him if he has ever met his client face-to-face, and he said he has only talked to him on the phone twice in three years. I told him to give me his name and in 60 days he would be my account. He just laughed. But you have to wonder if you are doing that much business with one company how much business are you leaving on the table, because you haven’t taken the time to visit the person?
If you are doing business with a major client, find out as much as you can about that person. Go beyond being a salesperson and become his/her trusted advisor, someone whom he calls when he has a problem or needs some advice. If you accomplish that, do you think he will be looking elsewhere for products or services that you can supply?
Just remember, because a person has President on his business card, don’t be too impressed. To me, President is another word for salesperson, because, in a successful company, its president or owner knows how to sell.
So when someone says that you are only a salesperson, smile, because in the long run you will probably make more money than he or she who is probably more interested in titles than personal monetary and business success.
