Lessons from a Top Rep

The best sales rep I ever worked with did not look like you would expect. He made his first impression at the all-company meeting by forgetting that he had a blood soaked tissue stuck on his freshly shaved – and cut – face. To say he was forgetful is an understatement. He was always leaving something in a cab – his wallet, phone or something else important. You just never knew what would be next. And, while he was a nice looking person, he was not the most suave and debonair of sales reps that I had ever met. Nope, what separated him from the rest of the pack was his absolute commitment to the job.

Like many reps, he had a territory full of prospects. But unlike the rest of his colleagues, he pulled a detailed list of companies from Hoover’s and spent his long Thanksgiving weekend stratifying his prospects against a set of criteria that helped him rank them in order of likelihood for success. For example, industrial manufacturing firms were less likely to purchase his product than a financial services firm. After this fairly exhaustive analysis he had a list of companies where he could apply laser focus.

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Next, since most of the companies in his territory were multibillion dollar corporations, he identified the divisions that would be most likely to do business with him. Using information from annual and quarterly reports, he would find the fastest growing divisions and began to investigate them; what did they produce, who was in charge of what, how strategic were they to the corporation? Why fast growing divisions? That’s where the action is! That’s probably where the most investment is occurring. When he learned what he could, he started emailing, calling, mailing, and working his way through the organization. Over time he created a “system” for calling in to accounts that the rest of the company adopted as a best practice. And, what added to the efficacy of his approach was his unobtrusive and authentic manner when speaking with people.

He was also a dedicated student of the industry. If you could award a bachelor degree for industry, competitor and product knowledge, he would have earned his PhD – with honors. It didn’t come any easier to him than it did anyone else. He just spent time on studying the business – his business.

Always recognizing when it made sense, he was artful at engaging the right executives at the right time to help him sell. Since we worked for a small company, our CEO was fairly accessible. But he didn’t always go right to the CEO. Management at each level has currency, so he was always very careful to spend the currency wisely. I’ve been frustrated as a sales leader to get engaged at non-decision-maker levels where my currency is misspent. Make sure to engage your company leadership at a like-for-like organizational level; Director to Director, VP to VP, SVP to SVP, President to President, and CEO to CEO. Or, as close as you can get!

He was also careful to spend his own currency wisely on his internal resources. He almost never cried “Wolf!”, so that when he needed unique financial terms the CFO was ready and willing to help; when he required assistance on a sticky contract problem, legal was at his beckon call; when he needed the implementation to be performed a certain way, the professional services team was almost always willing to oblige.

This guy was not a “squeaky wheel”. He was an absolute grinder that consistently produced great results for the company. If you read my blog “How and Where to Focus Your Energy”, then you can be sure that he was absolutely committed to the things he could control. And because of that, he wielded much greater influence over the people and processes he did not control. In other words, his influence loomed large over the organizations that were poised to help him.

Once he had firmly established himself as the top sales rep in the company, the organization marshaled resources to help him even further. He had a dedicated inside sales rep to help him set appointments and a nearly-dedicated pre-sales technical associate. Other sellers squawked about how unfair it was that he was getting more resources than they were. Management’s answer was simple – produce the same and you’ll get dedicated resources too! Needless to say, he continued to do very well, made amazing money, was showered with stock options, and eventually promoted to a Regional VP of Sales position.

Sound good? It can be you! Just follow the same process:

1. Work really hard. Commit fully to your book of business or territory like it is your own company. What would you do if you were commission only? Would you waste so much time on senseless email? Would you work with greater urgency?
2. Get your Industry PhD by knowing all about your company, its products, the industry and your competitors. “I just don’t have time for all of that.” Right. Now tell me all about your favorite TV shows. C’mon and get off your duff. Subscribe to the newsletters and sign up for Google Alerts http://www.google.com/alerts to get a notification any time something important happens to a customer, competitor or your company. Consume every article you can find. Dig for more and keep reading.
3. Research your prospects. What divisions are growing fastest? Who is in charge? Where are the locations? What do they make? How do they sell it? Who buys it? Who are their competitors?
4. Prospect, prospect, prospect. You’ve got to get on the phone, be proactive, and get fresh appointments. All the time. And measure the results. Need some help? Take a look at my “What Are You Measuring?” blog.
5. Engage your management when and where appropriate, protecting their currency.
6. Use your currency wisely. It’s okay to be the squeaky wheel. Just make sure that legal, finance, etc. don’t roll their eyes every time you email or call. Be that rep that they love to work with. One that produces results, is grateful for their help, recognizes that they have other priorities, establishes realistic expectations, and doesn’t cry “Wolf”.
7. Do what you say you’ll do when you say you’ll do it.
8. Repeat steps 1 – 7.

Execute and you’ll soon find yourself at the top!