If You Have A Pulse, You May Be A Sales Professional

Articles, Selling,

Never in my 35+ years of B2B selling has the “professional salesperson” bar been set so low. While that is a very discouraging state of affairs, for those of us who are in sales and at least have a pulse … we have an outstanding opportunity to really stick out in a crowd. All you need to do is … breathe.

A few months back, at one of my networking group meetings, we were talking about referrals. Salespeople love referrals! Everybody wants them but, I wonder how many people are willing to do what is necessary to earn them? I asked this question … “Do any of you keep a scorecard on other members in order to determine whether or not you would be willing to refer them?” Dead silence. I must be the only one who does this?

If I refer somebody to one of my valued clients, that referral will reflect back on one person only and that person is me. I will be either a hero or a bum in the eyes of my customer. I prefer to receive assurances, beforehand, that I will be the former rather than the latter.

My only basis for determining your predicted behavior with one of my clients is my personal experiences in interacting with you yet …

  • You don’t take care of business

  • You jack me around on monies owed me

  • You are disorganized

  • You don’t give back or to others

  • You are late to meetings

  • You stand me up on appointments

  • You don’t follow up or follow through

  • You are unresponsive to phone calls, emails, or other requests for communication

  • You demonstrate no sense of urgency

  • You fail to keep me informed

  • Your mom never taught you how to say “thank you”

And … I should expect you to behave differently with one of my clients??

Is this a new phenomena or has it always been this way? Good salespeople have always worked hard at their craft and I see no reason why they are not doing the same today. Are we so overwhelmed by what has become almost a 24/7 profession due to the influx of mobile and internet activity that we feel that we must cut corners … somewhere? Perhaps. Are these valid excuses for not exhibiting what I consider to be the most basic of professional sales behaviors? No, they are not!

Once again … this is really good news for the few professionals that are left! All you have to do is what you were trained to do, what you love to do, and what you know is necessary for your success. Sounds simple but, you will stand head and shoulder above the vast majority of your peers!

 

Craig M. Jamieson

Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services
Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!
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