Know What You’re Doing And Where You’re Going
By: T.J. Tedesco
For: High Volume Printing
Published: October, 2001

Some of the best thinking is the simplest. Seventeenth century French philosopher, René Descartes, unleashed generations of philosophical debate with his statement, “I think, therefore I am.” Thomas Paine’s easily worded pamphlet “Common Sense” helped launch the American Revolution. Who can forget Cuba Gooding Jr.’s memorable line, “Show me the money?” Today, we’re going to discuss two simple questions that every sales representative should honestly answer. It’s important: Their future success depends on it.

Question 1: What Are You Doing?

Print sales representatives sell print, right? Those of you familiar with me should know that the answer is, “Wrong!” We sell reliability, ease and a good night’s sleep. Selling print these days feels like we’re selling a commodity. Often, we don’t make any significant progress. Throughout my twenty-year business career, I’ve met many people who enjoy selling well enough but express remorse over the products they sell. As a consultant, I’m trained to keep my eyes open. Guess what? Invariably, these are the bottom-dwelling 80% that sell 20% of all the work out there. Some may be able to stay employed and provide subsistence for their families, but superstars they ain’t.

Contrast them to the top 20% that sell 80% of the work. Rarely, do you hear any words of complaint about the products they sell. The word “commodity” doesn’t cross their lips, because it’s a given. Much of what is sold in America has a commodity-like appearance, especially to those with intimate knowledge of the product. From wherever you’re reading this right now, look around you. Examine furniture, clothing, appliances, light bulbs, electrical wires, automobiles, components, materials and whatever else is nearby. Some salesperson somewhere sold these products and it’s a pretty good bet that 80% of them are bemoaning the fact that they’re selling near-commodities. Nearly every product and service has competition. Doctors, lawyers, professors and photovoltaic engineers all live in a world of competition, deals and conflict.

The grass isn’t greener on the other side, even when there’s a downturn in the economy. No matter who you are, what you do and where you do it, business is a challenge. It’s not what you do, but how you do it that counts. Sales representatives that understand this perform better than those that don’t. Price competition? It’s a given in our industry … and most others. If it weren’t, everyone would find out about the easy pickings soon enough. It’s what you call the free market.

History is replete with thrilling examples of get-rich-quick stories. Think of the Californian and Australian gold rushes of the nineteenth century, US automobiles in the first half of the twentieth century and high tech since 1980. Yes, some people make it big, but there are three realities: 1) The window of opportunity is narrow, 2) Risks are high, and 3) Many more people fail than succeed. Instead, day-in and day-out accumulation of wealth happens the old fashioned way, in industries just like ours.

Until a sales representative fully believes that printing is a great place to be, he or she will not be successful. Attitude is everything. You can learn the skills, go through the motions and look like you’re doing the right activities, but until you have developed a strong attachment to what you do for a living, you won’t be as happy as you could be. The next time someone asks you, “What do you do?” answer them something like this, “I sell printing, keep promises and help a lot of people.”

Question 2: Know Where You’re Going

This question gets right down to goals, ambition and varying definitions of success. Different people need different things from their jobs. At one end of the spectrum, some work merely to meet financial obligations. At the other end, some define themselves by the very work they do. Most of us are somewhere in between.

Since success can mean so many different things, think about what is important to you. Undoubtedly, a lot of people enter the rigorous selling profession because of the promise of financial reward for good performance. However, some discover the realities of the hard work necessary to carve out a lucrative selling career, give up and turn their attention elsewhere. For those that are solely motivated by the lure of money, beware. It’s much easier to make a lot of money if you enjoy what you do. Then, financial rewards are almost a byproduct of a job well done. Now, let’s turn our attention away from money.

For some people, the social aspect of a job is very appealing. Since a lot of sales activities are heavily people-oriented, sales careers naturally attract a disproportionate amount of outgoing personalities. Friendships form with both customers and co-workers during the course of business and some of these last a lifetime. If the social aspects of your job motivate you, recognize this and turn it into an advantage. Be a helping resource for other people, give non-proprietary knowledge freely and don’t be surprised when other people repay favors in kind.

On the other hand, some people never want their work lives to intertwine or interfere with their personal lives. Some of these are the clock-puncher types. If you fall into this category, save yourself a lot of time and aggravation and quit the selling profession fast. You will do your company and yourself a big favor.

Knowing what motivates you is only part of the equation. The best sales reps are keenly aware of the activity levels required to achieve the outcomes they want. Regardless of how money-motivated you are, map out what’s important to you over the next few years. Make sure that what you commit to paper is true to your inner nature and realistically can be achieved. Use your sales manager as planning resource, especially if you’re relatively new to selling. Any worthwhile manager who perceives you as being deadly serious about your career will be delighted to help.

Once you’ve set your personal compensation expectations, back into the sales volume required to meet your goals. Figure out how many clients you need. Then, do the math and learn how many sales visits and telephone prospecting calls must be made to generate the sales you need. Once your goals are set, monitor your actual selling activity levels versus your plan to find out if you’re on target. Developing this type of sales methodology is very important. Over my career, I’ve noticed that the top 20% has a much better understanding of the activities needed to generate the income they expect.

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Steven Covey is fond of the expression, “Begin with the end in mind.” Zig Zigler adds, “If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there?” Don’t these statements sum up what we all need to do when planning our careers? Know what’s important to you and make sure that you have activities structured that turn your goals into reality.

T.J. Tedesco is a “hands-on” marketing, sales, coaching and training consultant to the post press industry. He is the author of Binding, Finishing & Mailing: The Final Word, and Win Top-of-Mind Positioning, both published by GATFPress and available at Amazon.com. T.J. can be reached at (301) 294-9900 or tj@growsales.com.