You Don’t Have to Sell Alone

Early in my career I sold various metal components. I only held the job for a short time, and it was for good reason.

Despite the enthusiasm of the Sales VP for growing sales, my experience in working with the rest of the team was that new customers, new orders, and building new relationships was not a priority for anyone else in the company.

As an example, every sale I made needed to pass by the Director of Finance for approval before I could send the proposal. This seems like a relatively simple step, except the Director of Finance seemed to place review of my draft proposals as the last priority, often taking a week or longer to get back to me.

When she did, there were always questions and suggested changes which forced me to go back to the potential customer to renegotiate.

I wasn’t new to the industry, so I can tell you from personal experience most of the requests were either unrealistic or unnecessary.

Additionally, I lost several deals because the delays created by the Director often resulting in it taking several weeks to issue my “final” proposal to the customer.

And if the customer wanted to negotiate terms, you could add another 2–3 weeks.

The issue was simple.

The Director of Finance saw her job as that of the purse holder, and she believed that every deal the company made needed to meet specific criteria she had.

This was all fine, but my challenge was that the targets were never clear.

Every deal seemed to have a different margin goal.

Of course, I tried to sit with the Director of Finance to better understand their process so that I could lessen the delays, but she told me it was her job to protect the company financially, sharing nothing more to help me, help her.

I tried discussing my frustrations with the VP of Sales, but his response was “if you want to work here, that’s the way things are.”

Turned out I didn’t want to work there, so I moved on after six months.

The company closed about ten years later.

Selling is a team sport.

It takes more than good salespeople to make a sale; it takes a team that starts with the CEO all the way down to reception to make a sale work.

If you’re in sales and your team isn’t supporting you, then you need to act. Build one-to-one relationships with key managers or leaders who are part of the process; communicate upcoming opportunities and potential barriers; offer ideas on how to collaborate to win more sales.

As sales professionals, our job extends beyond selling customers.

Oft-times we also need to sell our internal team on the challenges we face, the opportunities that exist, and how their role directly and indirectly supports sales.

This might seem like an unnecessary step, but for top sales performers, it’s just part of the job.

The good news is you’re good at selling, so start using the same strategies internally, and you’ll start to see more support.

Remember, most people don’t understand how much effort and time sales can take — it’s your job to help them understand.

And once they do, you’re selling opportunities, and the ease with which you make them, will only grow.

Best,

Shawn

P.S. Sales Mastery Club: In June, I’m bringing together a group of top sales producers to share best practices, discuss challenges and learn from each other. This will be a 60-minute virtual meeting, recorded and shared with all who attend. I’ll also be sharing insights around how to use technology to optimize prospecting. If you’d like to join us, DM or email me and I’ll add you to the waiting list.

P.P.S. Join me on LinkedIn livestream at 12pm ET every Monday through the end of June. In this series, called The Ten-Minute Sales Multiplier Strategy, I've share specific methods and tactics to multiply your sales, all based on my latest book The Sales Multiplier Formula. Simply visit my LinkedIn profile (or YouTube channel) on that day and time to watch.

Here's what's coming up.

1. Invite Me to Speak: Motivate your sales team to sell more, and get real world actionable tips and strategies by inviting me to speak at your sales meeting or annual retreat. Learn more here.

2. Get Personalized Coaching: Up level your skills, improve your sales performance, and/or lead your sales team to achieve higher levels of performance with group or one-to-one coaching. Choose which option is best suited for you here.

3. Read The Unstoppable Sales Machine: Equip yourself with unstoppable sales skills for the new economy. Get a personalized copy of the book by clicking here.

4. Enroll in one of my LinkedIn courses: 1) Sales Strategy: How to Effectively Sell Your Product or Service, 2) Sales Prospecting: How to Connect with Today’s Busy Buyers, or 3) Cultivating Strategic and Analytical Skills in CPG Selling.

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Email your sales questions to: info@shawncasemore.com