Sales person

As you grow or want to grow you’ll be dealing with a few sales people…quite a few. Especially if you’re good at what you do. After awhile it can be annoying, and you can start to get rude with the people calling you every day. DON’T!

There’s a stat floating around that 80% of the workforce is in sales in one way shape or form. I’m a believer that we’re all in sales, after all how did you sell yourself in the interview to get the job you have today? Or how did you get the public to consume your product no matter what it is?

I understand you can’t give everyone a piece of your time. As a small business owner, you’re extremely strapped for time. Here are some things to keep in mind from a guy who’s been, and continues to be, on both sides of the coin:

1) Sales people are people too. This is how they support themselves and / or their family. Remember when you were starting out, and you wished people would give you a speckle of their time? That’s the same thing with sales folks. They just want a bit of your time to prove they are worthy of yours. Some sales people are better at it then others, but don’t let the bad ones sour your mood.

2) Get a gatekeeper, but ensure everything gets filtered to you. Your gatekeeper is probably not REALLY invested in your business. They are there to get a pay check, and at the end of the day, if they’re passing up amazing opportunities on your behalf, they’re only hurting you, and your profits (I’ve seen this on numerous occasions due to the gatekeeper being lazy). Not to mention – if your business fails, no sweat off their back – they’ll be able to do the same thing somewhere else while you’re left holding the bag.

3) Sales people are consumers, and there’s lots of sales people, so there’s plenty of opportunities for you to impress. When a sales person gets through to you think of it in two ways A) It’s an opportunity for you to grow your business. B) It’s an opportunity to SELL your business to that sales person. I can’t tell you how many rude people I’ve encountered who are business owners. And guess what – their businesses aren’t doing so well. The most successful owners I’ve seen are almost always willing to hear a pitch. Even if it’s only for 5 minutes over the phone. These owners are also respectful of the sales person, and THEIR time.

Let me elaborate some more on the last point. If you piss off a sales person, think about how connected they are. They know other business owners, they have family, friends, etc… It’s been said that one person can influence 150, so effectively if you’ve pissed off 10 sales people in a day – you’ve effectively soured 1500 people on your business. Not a very smart business plan if you ask me.

All in all, don’t be rude. It looks bad on you, your business, and your employees. I’m always willing to give someone trying to hock something a bit of their time because you never know. Think about how many people Mark Zuckerberg tried to get in front of, and how many times he was rejected because he was trying to sell something. I bet the people who wouldn’t even give him their time are kicking themselves now.

Is every sales person going to come at you with an amazing idea? In one word, “No,” but the WORST thing you can do is come off as an arrogant ass who doesn’t think the sales person is worthy of your time. I can’t predict the future, but I know what’s happened in the past. If you’re an ass to the sales people who call you day in and day out – you’re probably an ass to your customers, and your employees. When you’re an ass to all of these people, you’ll be one lonely ass out on the street looking for work.

Love you,

Jordan ‘The Guy with the Bow Tie’ Rycroft