For years I worked as a Service Sales Manager, and what we really did was service the customers and then try to up sell them on our "value added" products. That's a very popular word in the sales arena, value added. And it's the one thing you try to sell when you're working in sales.
"We don't sell products, or services, we sell value." , my sales manager would always say.
"Oh well I was confused I thought we were selling a service, my bad. Hey how hard can it be to sell anyway?", I said to him, "All your people do is serve up a bunch of bullshit on a plate."
"You really think it's easy don't you? You want to find out how easy sales is?", he asked and he had this funny smile on his face.
"Sure.", I said all arrogant and full of myself.
"Okay, I'll schedule a ride along for you. You can go out with one of my reps. It'll be good for you to see what were selling out in the field.".
"It'll be good for me too. To see what kind of lies your reps are telling people in the field.", I said with good natured smile and a "poke" at his team. It was all in good fun, we did this kind of stuff all the time.
In order to prepare me for the initial ride along he scheduled, he handed my this huge book, probably about 500 pages all in a binder.
"What the hell is this?", I asked.
" That's our sales process. I'll give you a week to read it, and then I'll send you on a ride along with Scott. You think you can handle that?"
"No problem.", I said, but I really meant, "WTF is this? 500 pages of sales process? Am I studying Six Sigma? "
He set the ride along for a Friday, and I was thinking, "Oh this is great, sales reps are never around on Fridays! I'll get to leave early! Woo hoo!"
First of all let's talk about Scott. All the Service Managers hated Scott, but not because he wasn't a nice guy, but because we were all jealous of him. He drove a nice car, he made good money, he was consistently one of the top sales people in the company, and he was always being talked about by upper management as the next possible General Manager. In other words, he was our competition, if any of us were planning on being promoted. That was really why we hated him.
I met Scott at our plant, and he asked me if I had read through the binder and if I could remember any of the sales process, or facts about the industry. I told him "yes" which was a lie, and as we were grabbing sample products off the shelves, he started quizzing me on facts regarding our industry.. He asked me about 10 questions and when I got 5 of them wrong he look pissed.
"You're not taking this seriously are you? Did you even read the binder?", he said very smugly which made me hate him even more.
"I read it but I didn't memorize the damn thing."
" All you service guys think this is easy but it really isn't. You have to commit all of that stuff in the binder into memory so you know what the hell your talking about and it comes off naturally. It's not as easy as it looks."
"Right!", I responded in an equally smug manner.
"You'll see. I tell you what. I'll do most of the talking today and you just observe. Is that cool?"
"Lead the way. I'm just a passenger on this train."
Scott did lead the way, and it was easy to see why he had done so well. His personal appearance was impeccable, he spoke well, and his presentations seemed very well planned. He put people at ease and the 4 appointments we had went very well, with him signing one account and getting a commitment on another. He was batting .500 but that's pretty good in the sales arena. I was actually impressed, which again made me envy him even more because I knew he was in line for a promotion the same as me.
The day wore on and I was getting anxious to try my luck at maybe at a cold call instead of just standing there saying, "Nice to meet you", and "Yeah I'm his trainee for the day." Especially, since I was actually a manager and he was just a senior sales person. I found it insulting, but still I was enamored with his ability. It's hard to hate a guy you respect. As it got close to 4 pm, I was thinking we would be ending our day, but he asked if I wanted to try my hand at a few cold calls.
"Oh really? You're going to take of the leash? Gee thanks dad.", I said with a great deal of sarcasm in my voice.
"Okay smart ass. Now don't offer to shake any one's hand unless they extend it first, and be sure to look them in the eye as your introducing yourself. You have to try and be smooth, it's not as easy as it looks."
He had been doing this for years and I hadn't ever been in sales. I was eager to see how I would do. In the back of my head I kept thinking, "I got this, I got this. It's easy. If Scott can do it I can do it. Okay don't shake the hand unless extended, and look them in the eye. And don't look afraid, and..."
We were on Van Nuys Boulevard and we walked into an old auto shop and I looked around for the owner. There were about 4 mechanics in the shop, all looked to at me kind of funny, and I asked for the owner. They pointed to an office. I was nervous but I walked towards the office with Scott trailing behind, opened the door, and stupidly extend my hand to an older man who sat behind a desk. It looked like he'd been drinking, and there was a Coors Light can on the desk. I stood there with my arm extended and recited my lines.
"Hello sir I'm S from ______, and I wanted to talk to you about your uniform service. I have a few ideas I think can help you. Is now a good time?"
"F#$k you. Asshole. ", he said and he almost spit out the words at me.
"Oh I'm sorry, I see your obviously busy. I can come back another time?"
"F#$k you. Get outta my office." he said and held up the beer can like he was going to throw it at me.
"Okay sorry, sorry.", I responded and backed out of his office and closed the door. Scott and I then left pretty abruptly and as we rounded a corner he started laughing.
"Ha ha! That went well didn't it! Not as easy as it looks is it?" he said between snorts of laughter.
"F#$k you. Asshole", I said, in the same tone as the old man had yelled at me. Scott laughed even harder.
But he was right. Sales is not easy money at all. It's hard work, and for the next two years I didn't even think about trying to make a living at sales. I didn't want any of that "easy money".
How about you? Are you ready for the "easy money". Because remember, it's not so easy.
-M
No comments:
Post a Comment