I had a problem yesterday. A friend of mine called. She’s a salesperson….and apparently a struggling one. She wasn’t always a struggling salesperson; in fact, she’d been very successful a few years ago. However, she’s now hopped among four jobs in the last five years, and been a bottom-of-the-force performer at each. She recited a fairly common litany of complaints – company doesn’t support her, prices are too high, sales manager micromanages, etc.
Here’s my problem. As a friend, I’m supposed to commiserate and wish her luck on the job change she’s planning. As a person who lives the sales profession, I can’t do that. Success in sales is a simple equation: (Quality of activity) x (Quantity of activity) = Results. If you’re failing, the downfall is in one of these areas. If some people are selling for your company, there’s no excuse for you not to be selling. In fact, each of the common excuses I hear – and I hear a lot of them – have an explanation behind them.
“You know, the economy.” This one drives me nuts, and I hear it constantly. Usually it’s when I’m interviewing a salesperson and asking him/her about why a particular job ended. My response is, “No, I don’t know the economy. Did everyone suddenly quit buying your product – or did they quit buying it from you?” What we call “the economy” is simply the combined result of millions of decisions, each day, to do or not to do business. If we don’t help people make decisions to do business, we’re contributing to a down economy. If you’re waiting for external forces to life “the economy,” I have a feeling that you’re going to be waiting for awhile. It’s up to YOU.
“My sales manager is a jerk.” Look, I realize that it’s popular to beat up on sales managers. One popular sales author has practically made a career out of it. BUT – most sales managers are just good people who are trying to do their best at their job. More importantly, THEY are accountable for YOUR results, and they’re trying to help you get results. Being “micromanaged?” Tough. In sales, you earn your freedom; you want freedom, put up some numbers. A number of years ago, I had a salesperson who was failing, and who was fighting me and complaining about my “micromanagement.” I finally looked at her and said, “Do you realize that the easiest thing for me to do would be to fire you?” It’s true – upper management will always support canning a failing salesperson. If your sales manager is “micromanaging,” it’s probably because he/she is trying to work with you to turn your lack of results around. Cut him some slack, and help him do so.
“I just need a product I can believe in.” I honestly don’t know what to do with this one; the key problem here is that the problem usually isn’t the product or the service. The problem is that YOUR customers don’t believe in YOU. The key question to ask yourself is, “Are customers having positive experiences with my product?” If they are, then the problem is you and not the product.
“Prices are too high.” Once again, the key is to ask yourself if people are buying at those prices, or are they just not buying from you? Usually, the former is the case and not the latter.
“I’ve been talking to other salespeople…” This one is the “surrender” moment. If you’re struggling, it would be nice to think that other salespeople in the company will help lift you up and perform better. Unfortunately, that’s seldom the case for several reasons. First of all, salespeople know that the weakest performer is the first to get fired; if that’s you and not them, so much the better. Second, salespeople tend to help those whom they respect. If you’ve been a performer in the past with this company and you’re struggling, they might help you. If not, expect them to pile on.
The trouble is that too many salespeople have these issues, and feel that the fix is a job change. It’s not. Sales is about driving success, not being a passenger. When you change jobs due to failure, you’re hoping that other people – or external forces – will make you successful. That hardly ever happens. So, I pose the question that’s the title of this article: “If you’re not succeeding now, when do you plan to do so?” It’s more rewarding – and more permanent – to fix your own problems rather than hope others will fix them for you.
How did I coach my friend? I gave her tough love. I told her that she needed to figure out what she was doing when she was successful a few years ago, and then see what’s different now. I told her that changing jobs would be the worst thing for her. And I told her that, ultimately, success in sales is self-driven. And that’s what I’m telling you now.
