The situation around the world is grim, the pandemic has hit us economically but more so made us realise the fragility of our lives, our existence and the importance of our co-existence with nature. The last being the most important and a reminder to us, the humans to mend our ways.
Organisations and institutions across the world have enforced the ‘Work from Home’ rule, cities and provinces have instituted lockdowns and that seems to be the right step at this juncture to overcome the pandemic. However, one can’t help but think of the people in blue collar jobs or labourers who tend to lose their daily income because of these steps, if not compensated adequately by the governments or the companies they work for. In the corporate world, the biggest impact can be felt by sales professionals. Even if the companies reduce their top line projections or guidance, the target pressure may reduce for these professionals but they still take a haircut on their income or compensation which would typically be weighed more towards the variable (the commission or incentives) that they earn from their sales performance. Right now the test of mettle is how innovative the companies can get to ensure they keep themselves afloat and develop new ways to present their products and services to the clients and customers.
My story in sales starts from the time I decided to leave the Army and got myself a post graduation in business administration. I realised that being in combat, in the front faced with all of the action was more of a habit which made me yearn for a similar adrenaline rush in the corporate world. Being the face of a company or a product and leading from the front (in the literal sense) seemed to be more plausible in the sales function which brings in the bread home for an organisation. As I made that decision during the course, the first and early reactions erupted from my family and friends. “Are you going to sell door to door”, “Aren’t you doing well in the course”, “As an Ex- commissioned officer of the Indian Army, aren’t you marginalising yourself”, were the few among several questions that were thrown at me. The best however was from my granny, “I always thought you were intelligent, but your father encouraged you to join the Army and now you take this further towards sales? why couldn’t you have become an engineer”? As if I wanted to become one and as if this was being handed over to me on a platter. She apparently didn’t hear about my tryst with calculus and trigonometry. She made a cute plea to see if she could drill some sense into me.
However, the biggest challenge lay ahead as I prepared for the corporate placements through the last few months in college. Corporate recruiters didn’t see veterans as ideal people for sales. The cliched remarks were that veterans were good in administration, operations, human resources and supply chain; which they definitely are but also are good in managing teams, objectives, goals, targets and devising strategies to achieve them. These dogmas propelled me to think creatively to find repertoires which could convince them that I was the right person for sales and one person whom we fondly called ‘Naga’ our program director passionately pursued. What did I do? I culled up my experiences in army of mapping my area of responsibility (AOR) in combat zone which is called a grid reference based eye sketch of residents, villages, houses, institutions (exact location) as a market mapping capability which is a key skill in sales. I spoke about my attempts in negotiating surrenders of terrorists in dire circumstances to endorse my negotiating skills. I showed them how we used to shadow terrorists in mountainous and jungle terrain for days to display my perseverance and doggedness. I narrated instances of how all the combat ops that we undertook didn’t yield the desired results which again proved of my perseverance and patience to do the same activity again and again, a very important skill for any sales professional.
Finally, the ‘Argumentative Indian’ in me convinced a few of them that I was apt for the job and thus I began my second journey of learning. I tried my hand at B2C (Business to Consumer), B2B (Business to Business), S&D ( Sales & Distribution) and these experiences brought in some tangible but immense intangible learnings. Few are worth mentioning.
Game of Probability– Perseverance (at the cost of repetition!) plays a big role on how successful a sales professional can you be. The more you try and keep trying actually increases your chances. The ideal sales funnel is one close in five, but that ratio starts with one close in fifty and the progression is based on how you ‘bash on regardless’.
Be the best student of Rejection– This is your best teacher. Every rejection teaches you what not to do the next time and if you look back at your attempts you see a pattern which you may need to break.
Present facts as a Knight– Don’t get too caught up in the technicals. The client or the customer sees you as a saviour of their problems and not a professor who is writing his thesis. Knowing your product or service is good but how shall that help your customer is the key. Be succinct and keep polishing your elevator pitch always. Be their knight in shining armour.
Fib and it shall cost you– Being the knight could also compel you to brag about some features to your customer or client which may seem like a dream to them but, may not be true. Its like telling a bald person who is desperate to regenerate his hair that this comb that you sell, shall make his dream come true and if it doesn’t, he gets his money back albeit not from you, since you would be long gone!!! Life is a circle and this ought to come back to bite you, maybe not the first time but definitely someday. The clients or the customers place their trust in you and sometimes their life and earnings if you are in financial services. You can’t play with that.
Become the Customer– Place yourself in his or her shoes to understand their situation, predicament and then decide whether they need what you are offering or how could you deliver better. Empathy ironically is the biggest asset which a sales professional can develop and display with honesty.
Start with a Disclosure- Share your experience and tell your story with full honesty and conviction. Get the customer to know the real you and it shall be a relationship for a lifetime than a one time sale.
My brother in law, Pankaj Bansal who co-founded an HR tech firm was an HR professional through the major part of his career. As he built his company, he understood that acquiring clients, convincing investors and talent to be part of his journey was as critical as building the product or service capability. He dove right into sales and his learnings can be summarised in one sentence that he still feels strongly about and echoes with me, “Sales is a skill everyone should develop, it teaches you humility yet driving you to be an achiever”.
This isn’t a profession meant for someone who could not figure out his life. This isn’t a profession for the weak. Actually, every human being in this world is a sales professional. When you interview for a job, even for a position of a scientist in a reputed lab, you are selling yourself by convincing the interviewer of your skills and competencies and thus why should they select you. Every parent in this world ( especially Indian moms) sell dreams everyday to their children. If you study hard and focus, blah blah blah shall be your life in future! If you eat certain green vegetables which may taste awful but are healthy , you shall grow up strong!! It’s seems selling is in our DNA! So sell hard, sell right and persevere through…
Jai Hind
Musings of a realist 