About the First 90 Days Blog

I have been in outside sales for over 10 years and recently changed companies, this blog details the challenges and accolades of the first 90 days of a new outside sales job.

New readers may want to start here and move forward from there, when you get caught up it would be best to subscribe via RSS!

If You do Everything Right… Things Can Still Go Wrong

 

If you do everything to the best of your ability and follow best practices for a new sales person you can still have;

• A territory that will never perform
• A market or product dramaticly shift
• Ownership or Management change
• Fundamental changes in commission structure
• Oppressive micro management
• A dysfunctional sales force

In each case you will need to determine if you can overcome the situation or if you need to get out all-together.

The Fog of Being New

At the end of my last post I used the term ‘fog’ as in “The Fog of War” a term used to describe being in a situation that does not allow for perspective.  I often don’t know what I should be doing or if I’m doing things correctly… I’ve been trained and I’m following my training but I don’t know that what I’m doing is correct or best practice.

Being new in an office is very different to being new in outside sales. In an office one can observe and mimic others as well ask quick simple questions anytime… I played phone tag with my manager for most of the day today. In outside sales you are alone for most of your first 90 days and being alone with everything new the fog can envelop you.

The good thing is when a fog lifts it was like it was never there, you don’t remember it and the day can seem more clear then ever.

Traded to a Better Team

I was listening to a sports radio show in the car, they were talking about a player who was a franchise player in a small market who was then traded and didn’t do as well with his new team at first.  I was quickly seeing parallels with my situation, I was a key person in a small company and didn’t like where I was going and  didn’t see a ‘championship’ in the future. I asked for the ‘trade’ as did this player and I feel that I’m struggling a bit in my new role.

The radio guys then talked about how the player had turned his play around in the last few weeks and how there is an adjustment period with a new roll, new team and ultimately remembering who you were. Right now I’m buried in paperwork, e-mails, meeing new people and making mistakes… so much is happening that I cannot remember who I was… I’m looking forward to being out of the ‘fog‘ of beign new.

Please Start Smoking Again!

I traveled with my Manager last week visiting accounts in my territory that I had setup.  I don’t think my manager likes me that much and this week she quit smoking… her attitude towards everything was less than encouraging. Her tone of voice was negative or condescending with everything she said… I’ve seen this before however this week was bad.

I think she has several reasons to not like me… she’s not known as a friendly person and may not like others, she didn’t have much to do with hiring me, I’m a man… she gloats about the other women in the company and really focuses on the female contacts in my territory, being a man I’ve quickly entered the ‘boys club’ that makes up our upper management… that can’t be good from her point of view.

I hope that she either starts smoking again or I can improve our relationship over time… I don’t like where it’s going.

Another Piece of Advice… from Another Source

The SalesMachine blog is great, Geoffrey James has perceptive insight into sales and posts almost daily.  Recently he linked to a Body/Mind presentation that I agree with and would like to share with you.  I recently installed a chin-up bar above the door in my home office, it has allowed me to get quick upper body workouts in just minutes a day… I need a healthy body to keep up with the new position.

One Piece of Advice for Sales Success

I have been thinking of the recent advice I’ve received along with all the sales training and knowledge I have collected over the last 12 years and I’ve come to a conclusion.

Appointments are the key to success.

Book appointments… it’s that simple, if you can book appointments you will be successful and I have math to prove it.

Unintelligent slob + few appointments = unsuccessful

Unintelligent slob + most appointments in the organization = successful for an unintelligent slob

Polished and persuasive + few appointments = unsuccessful

Polished and persuasive + most appointments in the organization = highly successful

Quitting Your Current Job

Before you start your new, better outside sale job you need to quit your current one. When you give your notice you will either be walked out or asked to work your two weeks.

You should prepare for both scenarios no matter what relationship you have or think you have with your employer. The key to both scenarios is to be professional and keep from burning bridges.

Have Lunch With a Founder

Every industry has its founders… they know everything and everyone, have nothing to gain and everything to offer. After you have gained some industry knowledge, book a lunch or coffee with a few of the founders. Be sure to listen… and do whatever you can to keep them talking.

Surfs UP! Two Days With… The Dude

I am now in a pattern of shadowing others… I know that it’s good for my training and overall preparedness… however I don’t need to have anyone questioning me about being scared to venture on my own.  I shadowed for my final time with ‘The Dude’ who is a easy-going guy with very natural people skills, comfortable to be around and likes to surf.

The Dude has the credentials and knows the product from a user and rep point of view. His sales approach is one of buying coffee’s and answering questions when asked.  The couple of ‘business’ situations I did observe he took them with serious yet relaxed attitude… like trying to catch the next wave.  He wants to be a friend and give everyone the biggest discount or extended warranties without negotiation… he wasn’t looking for confrontation or angles.

More Shadowing to Build Confidence

I spent 3 Days shadowing other reps and 4 days with the VP, now I’m off to shadow another rep with a more specific task.  I have found that the varied approach to shadowing has built my confidence knowing what to expect in different situations.

With my previous sales position I had a high level of confidence and competence… with this new job both have been hit hard. Without confidence everything else starts to fall apart… so my recent goals have been around building competence and exceeding expectations.

Baby Steps… How I Stumbled Through my First 35 Days

Like a child… you need to walk before you run.  I have done my share of stumbling in the past six weeks and learned that falling is part of the program.

I’ve learned that having a micro manager for a boss is not easy to get used to when you have never had one.  I know what it’s like to be quickly accepted into the ‘boys club’ that makes up a portion of the staff. I have found that for most things I am on my own with just enough rope to choke but not hang myself.  I understand that being an expert in one industry makes me nothing in another.  I have found that what should be a 10 minute task can take days.  I have been able to destroy and repair client relationships in less than a week. I know who I can trust and who I cannot.  I know dark secrets about co-workers and clients. I have found a product launch to be my savior. I now know how little I knew 35 days ago.

Day 26 – Help me Seth Godin… you’re my only hope!

This week I’m traveling with the VP again and then I’ll be one third of the way through my first 90 days… next week I will summarize my experience and look to the next 60.

Right now I see myself going into a learning curve dip, Seth Godin wrote The Dip for occasions just like this… I think I’ll read it again this weekend.

I Was Wrong… and it’s not the First Time!

I learn by example… hands on… by making mistakes… this is why I had suggested that some of my training should be with clients in real situations. My suggestion was turned down by my manager, then when I had some difficulty with a live demonstration I figured I would take what I needed into my own hands… I asked the manager of an account (and someone I could trust) if I could Shadow with some of their people.

It was politely suggested that I not do this… I need to be the expert… the manager didn’t see the staff one day teaching me the ropes and the next learning from me.

It all makes sense now… I had come from a less professional industry where admitting you are new is fine with everyone and they are more than happy to help. The new job is a profession that requires higher credentials and a more professional business attitude.

Our resolution was for me to work with the manager in real situations where he can keep my secret of being a total noob.

After working two days with the manager I now have the basics to learn on my own and soon be the expert I need to be.

2 Days of Shadowing With ‘The One’

Neo in The Matrix is called The Legend, “The One”… the one to bring balance to the force?.. no that was Anakin Skywalker… I’ll digress.

I traveled two days with the VP of Sales who is an absolute professional sales person, and in my company he is seen as “The One”.  He probably wouldn’t consider himself as a sales person on first thought however he is the quintessential sales professional.

What makes him a professional is;

Credentials – He has a doctorate and extensive field experience

Knowledge – His depth of knowledge gives him the ability to challenge the most academic expert and daily users

Adaptation – He is able to be a chameleon in any situation and quickly adapt to his surroundings and audience

Network – There are not many people he doesn’t know and if they are important or influential… he knows them well.

From my two days traveling with him I learned how to act and talk with CEO’s and how to stay connected with all levels of the industry.

Thrown Into the Fire

This week was a mixed bag of events, my head was swimming with new thoughts and ideas of what to do next and it was past noon on a Friday… what could go wrong… then the phone rang.

When I answered the phone… it was a client who I was planning to see at the end of the month and train one of his new employees.  He told me that he was going to use our new software today and wanted to know if I could come down to assist… I told him that I had only just been trained myself and with little experience I didn’t know what help I would be however I would be happy to come down.

My thought was that this would be a nice introduction to him, his business and where I could get some more experience.

When I arrived the introductions were quick and I was introduced to his customer who needed our products and wanted a live demonstration. I was introduced as the Supplier Rep and ‘expert’ then the owner left saying “okay (looking at me) if you can give them the demo I’ll be back shortly”

To backup the story… I had been trained on the software quickly and intended to practice this week on my own however the hardware module that is needed for a live demo never arrived at my house so the practice never happened.

I didn’t know what to do, after I quickly realizing I would loose all creditability by faking it I asked that we take a quick break (only a minute into the demo) and I found my client.  I told him that I was in way over my head and did not feel comfortable with the demo.  He was fine with that and walked into the room and did the demo with only a few hiccups. He was appreciative that I came at such short notice and helped him with one or two new features in the software.

Afterwards I thought about a suggestion I had made for my training, I had suggested that I spend a week shadowing the employees at a key account so I could get real experiences.  The shadowing would have given me the comfort to know what a real demo looks like and what their customer expects… and it would have helped me for today.  I don’t know why my manager thought the suggestion wasn’t valid however I do know that I’ll be asking some accounts if I can shadow them next week.

It’s the Little Things That Are Frustrating

I had some trouble figuring out our org chart today, we have 5-7 people in advanced technical support and I didn’t know how they supported my clients… it’s the simple things like this that are frustrating and take way too long to answer.

The First Few Days Without an Agenda

It’s funny how things are… new job, looking for a new car for the new job, blog posts, kids going to school, back in the chaos/rhythm… I have been multi-tasking dozens of activities for two days now and it’s mentally draining.

I went to the gym tonight to get a mental break, after a short weight workout I rode the exercise bike while watching sports highlights and… I flipped through 5 business/tech magazines… what a break from multi-tasking!

First Impressions… They Can Only Hurt You

A good first impression is expected when you are new… and because it’s expected you get nothing for it.  A bad first impression will be memorable (not the kind you want) and carry forward with others.

We all have faults… we just don’t want them to be seen immediately, to avoid this you can make a list of what you know your faults are and remind yourself before each of your first 21 days. (I don’t know how many days it takes to break a habit however Google seems to want to tell me it’s 21)

My ‘work place’ faults would be;

• Speaking before thinking – I do this because I like to work through a thought or idea by talking… I’m not worried about being right or wrong, I like the conversation it creates… this is not good when you are new… I’ll be holding back before I talk.
• Mumble when I talk – I know I can mumble when in some situations, this is something I need to work on more then the first 21 days.
• Yin Yang – I like to be the yin of other peoples yang (or devil’s advocate)… like the first point, I like to work through conversation right or wrong… being new I’ll tow the line for a bit.

My objective is to not try too hard… keep the first impression low key and idiot proof… and if I can work on my bad habits for 21 days maybe I can break them for good.

My First Client Visit Flying Solo

Today I was busy with getting software running, sync’d with Head Office and trying to find a presentation that I had to give at 4PM.

My first appointment was an account that does not currently use our products, they did in the past and were very slow to pay.  They owe us a small amount of money and are on COD… which is unusual for this industry.

My objective was to understand why they were COD and see if I could turn them into a productive account.  My contact wanted us to move to 65 day terms, my thought is that he might owe other suppliers and he’s looking to bring us on and get some sales to pay the other suppliers.  I am planning to see if we can get him to commit to a small amount to get started and reevaluate from there. I need to buy time to see how he is going to pay… and for me to get my feet wet.

I knew he wasn’t a strong account going in however that was perfect for my first appointment alone… if I screwed this one up no one would care.

Shadowing Day 3 – The Robot

Shadowing Day 3 – The Robot

My last day of shadowing was with a rep that is known by others as being the benchmark for any activity, her business plan is always the longest and most comprehensive… her presentations are the most polished… she is The Robot.

We had two appointments booked for the day, one was a casual ‘is-everthing-okay’ appointment were a pointless discussion over minor repairs was had at length… maybe she wasn’t programmed to avoid pointless conversations. The second was a business review and product presentation.

Watching her present and question was like watching a scripted sales video, as I watched the prospect I wondered if he was playing the part of the customer in this and if his answers were real. She was the benchmark… the Robot.

I know she is a good rep but not the best, I’m thinking that maybe acting like a perfect sales rep and being a perfect rep might not be the same thing. I look to learn from her professionalism and preparedness… I think I will be more natural and less scripted in my approach.

Shadowing Day 2 – The Talker

Today I traveled with my manager who talks loud, at a fast pace and often. Her expertise is product knowledge with some good selling skills.

Our first appointment was and hour and half long and we needed about 4 hours to get everything done. The problem is the account had cut us off as a supplier for a year or so and now that we are back in they have missed 4-5 training appointments.  We were able to get some information, train them on one product and secure another meeting.

The second appointment was with a former employee that has opened her own clinic, we had lunch and talked about getting more of her business.

The third appointment was uneventful.

The last appointment of the day was booked just to have me view what our new product training looked like.  The prospect had not bought from us for years and we had no plan to ‘sell’ them… however our presence opened them up to telling us they are looking for a new supplier, gave us competitive information and was a great appointment.  I learned that no matter how much an account buys you should always keep in touch.

Another good day, one more then I get pushed out of the nest.

Shadowing Day 1 – The Closer

Day one of shadowing had me traveling with a traditional sales guy, by traditional I mean a smooth talker, good with people, able to shift gears at any moment.  He is not the strongest on product knowledge and admits this quickly letting the client be the expert on product… he is all about the deal.

The first appointment was with one of his best clients, not a big client but very loyal.  The key discussions were about increasing their current discount. The rep told her that we could not move the discount on some products however on premium products we had some flexibility. He offered an additional 5% on the premium products and ‘would see’ if he could get any for the rest of the line, knowing it wouldn’t be a problem to move all products 5%.

The rep had the ability to go with an additional 25% discount on the premium but %5 seemed to make them happy. I’ve seen this with other accounts where the price is dropped quickly for non-loyal accounts to bring them on board and not so quickly for loyal accounts… just enough to keep them happy.

The second appointment had no loyalty to any supplier, for her it was all about getting her clients needs met with a high value product.  No matter what a sales rep did right you would only ever get a small percentage of her business.

The last appointment for the day was the most interesting for two reasons, one it was not what we expected and second it was a challenge. This is an account that hasn’t used us as a supplier much (if any) and the rep was prepared to wow them with up to 50% discounts on two product lines to bring some of their business in. Early in our discussions with the client we heard that sales were down and today was a terrible sales day. The client was not in a good mood and the setting was not to talk product or discount in fact when discount was mentioned she flatly said “I don’t care what the discount is I need people coming in the door”. The rep quickly adjusted and talked about marketing and advertising, the client was more receptive to this and a date was set for the client to attend an upcoming advertising seminar sponsored by our company.

Tomorrow I’m traveling with my manager.

Hit the Ground Running….

…Fast and Furious… In like a Lion… Baby bird pushed from the nest…

Call it what you will I am quickly getting overwhelmed with the influx of calls looking for Training. This is different than most sales jobs… they come looking for me.  It sounds good however it can be very intimidating to a new rep.

Traditional sales where people don’t want to see you and you have to fight to get an appointment seem difficult… from my point of view it’s what I want.

I knew this was how it would be… however I did think there would be this magical easy period of soft introductions and small talk. It has been said that “talk is cheap” and I’m quickly learning that lesson.

Training Complete

My formal training is complete and I will be on vacation next week, then I am traveling with two other reps and shadowing them on meetings.

I am fearing the first appointment on my own… there is no way of knowing the depth of information for me to be effective and only one way to get started.  I have booked my first appointment alone and it is with an account that is not high profile and if I completely screw things up will not make a difference to my sales. I don’t think I will screw it up… but that’s my fear.

I’ll post again in 9 days!

Another Day of Training and Some Relationship Building

Today was good, I had my plant tour and did some hands on with products… I sat with customer service, received my computer and phone… basic new-guy stuff.

I did have an odd conversation with my manager at lunch, she asked me what my expectations of her were… I hesitated and said I didn’t have any to which she made a puzzled look on her face… I then answered that I didn’t have any other than for her to support me with my needs and challenges. That’s when she said “Well what I expect from you is….” I cut her off with “.. oh that’s why you asked me first… you just wanted to tell me your expectations”.  It was odd because it seemed like a question out of a movie or in a training video… she laughed a little then told me her expectations.

After work I had mentioned the hotel gym was the typical crap you get in most basic hotels (I am at a Holiday Inn) and my manager suggested I join her at her local gym then go for dinner after.

She had suggested dinner the night before despite not being hungry… she must have been feeling the need to spend some time away from work and get to know me however it was weird yesterday the way it seemed like dinner was part of her training schedule task and needed to complete it. I brushed it off last night and ate alone.

At the gym we worked out separately with a little chit chat… normal gym stuff.  At dinner we were both more comfortable and had some good conversations about family, spouses cooking skills and work.  This dinner was important to her and will be an important part of building trust and respect for each other.

10 Hours, 2 Starbuck’s Runs and 200 Slides… Day 6 is Done

Today was my first day of training which encompassed 10 hours and about 200 Power Point slides. My morning training was from a theoretical point of view and consisted of my trainer reading Power Point slides and talking about the subject.  I made sure to stop the trainer and ask her anything I didn’t understand and she was more then willing to help.

My problem with the morning session was the number of slides and the all the theory of sales and product design over practical knowledge. I kept asking practical questions that I will need the answer to in the field and couldn’t get the answer for many of them.

After the morning session my manager came in and asked how it was going,,, then asked me to explain a technical feature…. I had no idea… I was sure it was one of the 100 slides however it was obvious that I missed it.  My manager wasn’t testing me, she was testing the trainer and we talked about some of the key features without slides, we used the white board and talked about practical applications for the end users.

The first 100 slides of theory were not a waste they were good to get the basics of the terminology and I did get some questions answered however the expectations were higher then they should have been.

I will look for more practical information tomorrow and I’ll make sure to look to understand any of the foundation principals.

Next Week I’m in Training

My training schedule for next week is comprised of;

• Industry Knowledge/Technical
• Product specific training
• Plant tour
• Photo session for my business card
• Marketing support
• Competition
• Hands on in Manufacturing
• Software training
• Policies and Procedures

The week after next I’m on Vacation, then the week after that I travel with one rep each day for 3 days.

Day 5: Listening to Others

I was listening to the VP on the phone with prospects yesterday and I made note of some phrases he was using to better understand how to talk with them.  The one phrase I picked up was ‘we’d like to have some of your business… would that be possible?’. I keyed in on the word some seeing that we are not a 100% supplier with even our best accounts and realized that new business will come slow with incremental increases.

I also picked up the opening question of ‘What has been your experience with company name‘ as a good opening question for me as a new rep. The word experience will lend itsef to being answered with how they feel about the company and past relationships.

The Account Review is Complete, Here are the Results.

I have about 160 active accounts and we ended up discussing/making notes on half of them.  The first year of this position will be about seeing as many people and as often as possible. I can easily see 3 appointments a day with about 180 days a year available would mean I could book 500+ appointments.  I would break the appointments down like this;

• My top 20 accounts 6 times a year
• The next 60 accounts 4 times a year
• The remaining 80 accounts twice a year

My top 20 accounts would represent Pareto’s 80% sales revenue, the next 60 are full of growth potential and the final 80 are prospects that may enter the funnel.

If I can come close to the appointment numbers I have predicted it would be a vast improvement over the past 2 reps, and I will look like a star.

Can You Know Too Much About Your Accounts?

Today the VP gave me the skinny on all the accounts including all the dirt… who got caught sleeping with the staff, who drinks too much and who doesn’t drink.  It was an introduction that I don’t think many people would get when starting an new Sales position. The only reason I was privy to this information is that I’m from within the organization and I have a friendship with the VP.

I am wondering if I would benefit more knowing what I now know vs. finding out on my own. When you discover the details of a client first hand you build a deeper memory… however with my current knowledge I can target better and sooner… or…. will I avoid the account the VP told me ‘will have nothing to do with us’ or will I be better off going into a meeting with this account knowing it may be hostile?

What I do know is that that this is the hand I’ve been delt… an it looks like a good one so I wont worry about ‘what would be best’.

The common theme of today is that the past two reps did not have the number of visits (or any visits) that they should have.  Lucky for me the territory has slipped and all accounts have lower sales numbers over the past 2 years.  Sales is about seeing people and then adjusting to what happens in that meeting… the first step is seeing people.

Part of my plan is to determine who are my A, B and C accounts then figure out how often I should see each. For now it looks like I would be best to see my A accounts twice per quarter or 6-8 times a year, B once a quarter or 3-4 times a year and C 2-3 times a year.

Business Plan Review OMG

Tonight I reviewed the 2008 Business Plan by the former territory manager.  Right from the beginning I couldn’t get past the smile emoticon after her professional designation. My two thoughts were ‘my god what am I about to read’ and secondly ‘this should be easy to top’.

Terms like ‘crazy deals’ are used to describe how aggressive the competition is as well as phrases like ‘big players’ and ‘getting into the game’ are used to describe other competitors… yikes.

The percentage of market share is described as ‘I would say, approximately 22-25%’ without any facts or history or data.

The previous rep was a Technical specialist and not a professional sales person, I plan to have excellent product knowledge as well as the skills of a professional sales person to set a path of success.

Day 2; I’m Quickly Becoming a Distraction

I first want to explain my geographic and managerial situation… I live in a city 3000 Miles from our company head office which includes my direct Manager, customer service and admin… the VP of Sales lives in the the same city as me and was the Territory Manager for my area from about 2000 to 2005.

The VP is the obvious person to introduce me to key clients and to run through the territory with me as he knows all the accounts inside and out… what I am getting from him is that the longer my ‘training’ is the more of a distraction I am to his day. This is especially true this week as he has 2009 budgets to form and is under pressure.

I’m quickly learning that despite the great relationship we have, the sooner I’m on my own the better… I couldn’t agree more… I just didn’t think it would be so tangible.

80/20 Rule – Who Should I Target First

I met with the VP of Sales today and after some banter we started to look at specific key accounts as well as; competition, industry terms, margins, discounts and all the basics.  In my territory it looks like the 80/20 rule (The Pareto principle) will hold true, however the 20% that brings in the 80% of the business could be maxed out and it doesn’t look like I can significantly grow that portion of the business.

The VP’s recommendation was to attack the 80% that has been ignored for the past 4 years if I am to look for growth.

The 80/20 rule is so simple to understand that when it’s challenged as Chris Anderson did in The Long Tail “The 80/20 rule is one of those phrases that means pretty much whatever you want it to mean” it can open a much bigger discussion. He has a great chapter on it… be sure to read the book.

Chris goes on to talk about how the 80 and the 20 don’t have to add up to 100 because they are talking about two different values however the 80/20 looks and sounds nice and it’s what we know.  In reality your business might get 80% of it’s revenue from 40% of your clients or 90/10… 80/20 has just stuck with us.

Tim Ferris talks about how he has a 95/5 rule and focused only on the 5% of customers that brought him business and ignoring the rest.

The more I thought about what the percentages are and who to target… the more I lost focus.  I now see the 80/20 rule not as absolutes I need to follow but as a guideline that a minority of customers will represent a majority of sales. What I do need to do it make sure I know how to manage the minority and the majority.

My First Objective

The sales division I am leaving is more relaxed, more casual business, smaller and more personable… this has given some at the division of the company that I am moving to an image of softness, under-achieving and generally more slack.

My first objective is to change that image, I have started it somewhat by pushing a start date when I could have enjoyed the summer more with my ‘in transition’ status.

This week I don’t have a lot to do other then get my phone and computer up and running, I’ll be meeting with the VP of sales who is familiar with my territory and going over the accounts as well as our CRM software… I’ll need to change his image first and this could be a good start.

Need an Ego Boost? Move to a New Division!

Tomorrow is my first day at the new position and over the past few weeks I’ve been letting client and co-workers know of my change and have had many nice compliments e-mailed to me.  Many of my co-workers sent a basic ‘congratulations’ and depending if they were on the old side or new side I would get ‘we’re going to miss you’ to ‘glad to have you on the new team’.  My client responses were filled with warm messages regarding my relationship with them and how they enjoyed working with me.

My most interesting comments came from the phone calls I made to the independent channel owners that I managed.  Some were very upset and one was on the edge of tears (I could hear her voice crack holding back emotion) then others were very to the point with ‘this is not unexpected… you seemed too driven to continue in the same position’ and then the fear of who will replace me was a common theme.

Wow what an Ego Boost! I hope it doesn’t all go to my head.

Out like a Lamb

I’m in the last throws of my current position… I don’t have a plan at this point… I have some ideas however I’m hoping this blog will help me discover the plan.

Was this my Exit Meeting? Should You Have an Exit Meeting When you’re Moving Divisions?

I had my meeting with my manager today regarding my territory and business that would close for 2008 as well as planning for 2009. It went really well and it was one of the most comfortable and easy flowing strategy sessions we’ve ever had… maybe every strategy session, the sales manager should act like the rep is leaving.

Afterwords,  I was trying to think what the fundamental difference in attitude was between this type of session and a real strategy session that I then had to carry out. The differences I saw were;

1. I was more honest and my manager was more accepting of my answers – an account that wasn’t going to close in 2008 was not suddenly a reason for me to make it look like I did everything I could to defend my position and for my manager to focus on why… some don’t close and this was one of them… next.
2. The session was all about the territory – I want the territory to do well as opposed to my pay check looking good and my manager wanted the territory to finish strong in general terms as opposed to on monthly, quarterly and yearly targets.
3. The session felt big picture – we talked openly and ideas connected quicker, it was more like two managers discussing the positives of a third person.

How could you create this environment for your strategy session without actually leaving?

1. You would need a very high level of trust and honesty between the rep and manager
2. The session should focus only on the positives, record the losses or other tasks for the rep to review on their own time
3. Don’t talk about specific quotas or time lines
4. Talk about the territory in third person, this session should be about it and not the rep

Getting ready to leave

I am leaving my current position and moving into a new sales position with a sister company, in two days I meet with my outgoing manager (this is the first meeting since I told her I was leaving… we are a four hour flight from each other) to hand over any business I’m currently working on and to tie everything off.

Because I’m leaving on relatively ‘good terms’ and staying within the organization it’s a different process… my current state of mind is to pass off all accounts and activities as healthy as possible.  I don’t want my image to be tarnished by a sloppy transfer or to burn any bridges that I might need in the future.  I have a few relationships with clients that are not 100% and I don’t like leaving them, however it must be done.

Here is a list of tasks I’ve been doing for the transfer

• Delete any personal or ‘other’ emails (sent items, deleted and inbox), files, pictures, contacts
• Made notes in contact files that only I would know and may be helpful to the next rep
• Compiled all my business and marketing plans
• Planned a communication to clients and vendors for approval

August 11th is my start date

I have been given the start date of August 11th.