Guest Blogger - sales professional on realizing your value
A long time ago at a networking event not too far away, I asked Carlos Perez-Santalla if he had any material to pass on to those working with me looking for sales positions. Today he noticed me on LinkedIN (due to the new site information) and thought about it. Since he had a little time, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to send me this article. Carlos thinks it might be just what a job seeking salesperson needs to read to realize his or her worth.
I love sharing information with readers; sometimes we need a different perspective. So, here is a post from Carlos himself, a wonderful sales person:
Who Do You Want At The Controls?
You're on your way to a Caribbean island vacation. You have taken a commercial jet to Puerto Rico, and now you must take a "puddle jumper" - a small two-engine prop driven plane that holds about 18 passengers - to your final destination.
There are two scheduled flights, leaving about 20 minutes apart. Jim, one of the two pilots who have been flying the route for several years, has a truly amazing record. During the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of flights, he has not once encountered severe weather or turbulent air and has never experienced a system failure or equipment malfunction. If there is such a thing as good karma, Jim has it.
The other pilot, Chuck, has not been so fortunate. He has encountered turbulent air countless times and also found himself in the middle of sudden severe storms numerous times. On one occasion, the plane took a lightning strike that knocked out the rudder control. On another occasion, a lightning strike knocked out an engine. During one flight, the landing gear malfunctioned, and Chuck had to enlist the help of a passenger to manually crank the landing gear into position while he continued to fly the plane. If there is such a thing as bad karma, you might suspect it has found a home with Chuck.
Knowing the experiences of both pilots, with whom do you want to fly? Jim has been incredibly lucky. Should you choose him? Chuck, it would appear, has been rather unlucky. Do you want to fly with him?
How do you decide who is the better pilot?
Does Jim's good luck make him the better pilot? What happens if you take Jim's flight and maybe, just maybe, it's the one during which his luck runs out? How well prepared is he to navigate through a severe storm, to maintain control of the plane in rough air, or to effectively deal with an equipment malfunction? Perhaps quite capable, but you don't know.
Does Chuck's bad luck make him the better pilot? Perhaps. After all, he has encountered difficult situations - many difficult situations - and competently handled them. How do we know he competently handled them? Well, he is still with us...and still flying. Enough said.
So, who would you choose?
I'd choose Chuck as my pilot. Why? If there's a problem on the flight, I'd want a pilot who's previously "been there," knows instinctively what to do, and has demonstrated the ability to do it.
I'll bet you're wondering what Jim's or Chuck's piloting skills have to do with sales. Fair question.
Suppose we rewrite the story? This time, rather than pilots, let's make Jim and Chuck salespeople who sell similar services. Both are applying for a sales position at your company. The person hired will end up working on your sales team.
Jim has an amazing track record. His closing ratio hovers around 80%. Jim is also quite fortunate. His company not only supplies him with pre-qualified leads generated by its advertising and marketing efforts but also pre-scripted presentations. Jim's responsibility is to contact the prospects and schedule the appointments and then deliver the presentations in a polished professional manner.
Chuck is not so fortunate. His company doesn't supply him with leads, pre-qualified or otherwise. He must use his own initiative to uncover opportunities; qualify those opportunities; navigate his way through layers of influencers and decision makers; and then develop and deliver relevant presentations. Chuck's closing ratio is around 68%. The total number of sales he closes in a given period of time; however, is about the same as the number of sales Jim closes.
Who do you suppose is the better salesperson?
Who would you want on your team?
I would choose Chuck. Why? For the same reasons he was my pilot of choice. He has demonstrated the ability to competently do the job - all aspects of the job - including its most difficult aspects. Jim may also be capable, but we don't know that. He has not demonstrated that ability.
Whether it's piloting a plane or piloting a selling opportunity, it's facing the difficult challenges, sometimes making mistakes (correcting them and learning from them) that enable one to develop competency. And, competency trumps luck every time.
There's nothing wrong with luck...when you have it. But, eventually, and usually without warning, your luck runs out - the economy takes a nose-dive, the marketing leads dry up, or a new and more aggressive competitor emerges. When that happens, what do you have to fall back on?
Competency, on the other hand, never runs out. You develop competency by doing the hard tasks - facing the problems, challenges, and difficulties and then working through them. The competency you develop enables you to continue to function and weather the storms and survive the lightning strikes - in whatever form they take.
So, strive for competency. And if, along the way, you encounter some good luck, consider it a bonus.
If you would like to see more of Carlos' thoughts please visit him.
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Debra Wheatman, CPRW, CPCC is President of Careers Done Write, a premier career services provider focused on developing highly personalized career roadmaps for senior leaders and executives across all verticals and industries. Visit careersdonewrite.com to learn more.