15/05/2022
ART OF SALES
Unfortunately, I often come across people's attitude towards the Sales manager profession as a temporary phenomenon, an activity that helps to maintain a certain standard of living for a short time while they look for what they think is a real job. In a simple word, it can be called “hang out for a little”.
The reason is probably the fact that people's consciousness is influenced by the upbringing from the past times. The image of the shop assistant, the over buyers from the market, when there was a certain distrust of people engaged in sales. For them, the word "manager" just sounds nobler, but the meaning is still the same, that these people cannot be trusted. Until the salesperson realizes for himself that “manager” sounds proud and it isn’t a worse profession than a pilot or a doctor, he will not succeed as a sales manager.
The sales profession also helps in life, in terms of communication. I can tell you from my experience that it is not difficult for me to be the first one to talk to a stranger, irrespective of whether it is a shopping center, a bank, a medical institution, or a post office. My profession has given me great self-confidence.
I have been in a managerial position for over a decade now and I am 100% sure that it is impossible to sell well and manage people well at the same time. Once I had to make a choice, and once that choice was made in favor of management - helping salespeople, which is also a very important point. The help can be manifested or consist of some small details. It can be advice from sales experience, help with some internal issues in the company. You always have to be there when it's difficult and give a helping hand to your salesperson.
When it comes to interaction with customers, I am convinced that honesty and the ability to listen and hear are of paramount importance for customers. As for honesty, again, this is a result of our upbringing from the 90s. When everyone was forced to engage in rip-offs, push-ups, etc. There was absolutely no concept of win-win, i.e. no one wanted to make concessions. Nowadays, in our sales world, this is more than important.
As for listening, in my life, there are many more so-called “talkers” than people who know how to listen and I understand why. It is very difficult to sit and listen when you already understand roughly what they want to tell you, and you want to interrupt. By learning to strike a balance between listening and speaking, I am sure that one can achieve inner harmony and respect for the client, and this is not insignificant. I have been working on this a lot lately.
Every manager has to “get his lumps in” during his career as a salesperson and draw the right conclusions from it. To deal properly with defeats, whether it be losing a single deal or even losing a relationship with a client. There are always examples of defeats turning into victories. Working on mistakes and only moving forward is the salesperson's main engine. The ability to regroup in time, to make adjustments to your actions, is the key to the success of our profession.
We can talk endlessly about the mistakes of sales managers. I will touch upon only briefly the main ones and those of them which I experienced on myself:
1. Expensive!!! When we hear it from a client, our whole world as a salesperson crumbles. I am convinced that this concept is in our heads. A lot of business literature has been written about it.
2. Never put the customer into your problems. You often hear: "I haven't prepared a quote for you because the supplier hasn't sent me prices" or "I haven't sent you a quote because our internet is down". That should not worry the client! Solve your problems!
3. Always fight for the deal to the end. As long as you realize there is at least one minimum chance to salvage the deal, take it.
4. Prepare for the meeting, the call. A very important point. I've often observed (and been in situations myself) when relying on impromptu and your charisma, you find yourself in unpleasant circumstances when a client asks a specific question and you don't know the answer to it, simply because you haven't prepared for the meeting. Knowledge and information about the client, their activities, or information about the specific person you are going to meet (their hobbies, achievements, etc.) gives an additional trump card to the conversation. 100%. The best impromptu meeting is thorough preparation!
