CAUTION!
Ask the right questions before taking your next sales job
by John Graham
If you’re in sales, you know the feeling. It’s the middle of the night about
two weeks after starting a new job. You were enthusiastic and could hardly
wait to going. Now, your head is full of doubts. You try to shove them aside,
but they don’t go away. “Everything is new,” you tell yourself. “I just need
to give it a little more time.” But the doubts keep coming back.
The gap between what you were told about the job and what is actually
happening gets wider by the day. After about three weeks, you finally ask
yourself, “Have I made a mistake?”
Salespeople seem to make more job mistakes than others, becoming dissatisfied
faster and moving around more. Maybe it’s because they’re naturally optimistic,
always seeing the possibilities and ignoring the problems. Or, could it be
that they’re basically customers at heart and can’t resist a good sales pitch.
To avoid taking the wrong sales job, ask the right questions before taking
a new position. Some may seem odd or even offbeat. Yet, the answers will
give you the information you need to make the best possible decision.
“May I see your resume?” This is a question you must ask the sales manager,
who will be so flattered that you’ll have it in your hand almost instantly
(salespeople always seem to have an updated resume readily available).
Now you have the SM’s employment record. Is this a job jumper? Have the
moves been upward, lateral or downhill? How would you rate the companies
where the SM has worked? Or, has the SM been in the same job for 30 years.
Is it coasting time? Is the fire still burning?
If you’re unimpressed by what you see, hand the resume back and come up
with big smile. Thank the SM profusely, offer an excuse for leaving and
get out the door fast. If you go to work there, you will be blamed for the
SM’s poor performance.
“Where will I get my leads?” If the answer is unclear, assume this is
a “DIY” outfit. If you want to spend your time looking for your prospects,
instead of making presentations and closing business, take the job.
If, however, you’re a competent salesperson, never take a sales job unless
there’s an ongoing prospect cultivation program.
It’s a company’s responsibility to invest time and effort developing qualified
leads for the sales force. If this isn’t happening, then you’ll be a canvasser,
not a salesperson. And your income will reflect your actual job status.
“May I see your office?” Don’t be bashful. If you haven’t seen the SM’s
office, ask to see it. Here’s why. So you can look to see if there’s a
“sales scoreboard” on the wall, listing the salespeople and their “results.”
If there is, get out fast! This SM is only interested in pushing product–and
salespeople. There’s no interest in developing customers, looking to the
future or building relationships. Your only value will be in terms of
where you stand in the ratings. If you’re at the top, you’re great. But,
if you’re down the list, watch out. You’re gone.
Here’s the point: sales managers (and companies) only interested in short-term
results hire short-term salespeople.
“May I review the company’s sales support system?” While the SM will
be impressed with your interest in learning more about the company, your
objective is uncovering the company’s approach to marketing.
If the website and marketing communications are “customer-focused,” you
can be fairly certain the company is committed to understanding customer
needs, building relationships and delivering a high level of service.
If, however, what you see is “company-centered,” describing solely the
wonders of the firm and filled with one “we” after another, start worrying.
Should you see full-color photographs of the Chairman of the Board and
the President don’t even bother to say “thank you.” Just head straight
for the door! Get out because this is a self-serving, self-satisfied and
ego-driven company that’s more interested in looking in the mirror than
in helping customers.
“When are the slow selling times?” This question will catch the SM off
guard – and get you a straight answer.
“Well, May and June are never very good and we just write off November
and December.” Now you know a lot more than just the company’s “slow times.”
You’ve learned that the down periods are a “tradition.” Everyone accepts
the fact that sales during one-third of the year are lousy.
Evidently, the company hasn’t thought seriously of implementing a marketing
program to overcome the problem.
Here’s the point: when sales are down in the valley, you will be faced
with scaling the mountain without a rope—other than the one wrapped around
your neck.
“Could I go with you on a sales call?” By asking this question, the
SM will be putty in your hands.
Once you’re in the customer’s office, you’re ready to go to work–without
saying a word. Your goal is to listen for the “90-10 test.” It’s simple:
the customer should be doing 90% of the talking. If the SM’s mouth is
open most of the time, then this is probably a pure product-pushing sales
organization with little regard for the customer’s needs.
If this happens, don’t go any further. Bail out!
“What is it that gives you a market advantage?” Now you’re probing.
Once again, the sales manager will be impressed because the question separates
you from the applicants who talk endlessly about their “accomplishments.”
Your goal is to find out if sales are price-driven. What’s the sales manager’s
philosophy? Is it to low-ball the price? If that’s it, then this isn’t
the company for you. The only way you’ll keep a customer is to push to
get the price down as low as possible–and then some. If that doesn’t work,
neither will you.
“What can you teach me?” Now, you’re on a roll. When you’re huddling
with the sales manager as you wait to meet the vice president of something-or-other,
quietly ask what the SM can teach you.
You can count on your question to trigger this response: “Hey, you’re
real good. If you come with us, I’ll teach you every trick in the book
and then some. I’ll make you great.”
Who could possibly refuse such an offer? The answer is you. Without realizing
it, the SM has let you know that clever techniques and tricks are what
make sales.
“It’s all a matter of orchestrating the customer,” the SM whispers. “I’ll
show you how to do it.” At this point, tell him that your mother is very
sick and you must return to your family home in the Fiji Islands immediately.
Today, clever sales closes and manipulating methods are ineffective and
repulse customers. They want a knowledgeable, trustworthy expert who can
be an advisor, not a huckster.
“May I visit your marketing department?” If the SM takes you down the
hall and says, “Turn to your right and it’s the second door on your left
just beyond the restrooms,” then you know the marketing department is
the closet where the sales materials are stored.
If the answer is, “You met Judy, our receptionist. She responds to requests
for information. Gets everything out fast.”
Now you’ve made four valuable discoveries: 1) this company doesn’t understand
marketing; 2) it has no interest in marketing; 3) it doesn’t know where
it’s going; and 4) it has no plan to get there. At this point, head in
only one direction—straight to the door.
There they are, the questions that make the difference in choosing the
right sales job. Most of the time, it won’t take more than two or three.
The answers will be obvious.
John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing services and sales consulting firm. He is the author of The New Magnet Marketing and Break the Rules Selling, writes for a variety of business publications, and speaks on business, marketing and sales issues. Contact him at 40 Oval Road, Quincy, MA 02170; 617-328-0069; jgraham@grahamcomm.com.