New eBook , Surviving and Prospering in Your Sales Career by Greg Hill

First, what this book is not. It is not a sales book. Also, this book is not a “self-help” book. If you use what you learn here in your personal life, you are responsible for the results. Second, as a sales manager and trainer it is not my job to kiss your butt and tell you how great you are. Having a big ego and over-estimating one’s abilities go hand in hand with sales, so no one really needs to be artificially pumped up. What this book does do is to explore the idea that salespeople are looking for validation anywhere they can get it. The only validation that counts is what is up on the sales board. Sales managers and owners will always give their new sales people well scripted impressions of what to expect, and what they need to do to succeed. The author will expound upon the reasons behind hiring practices, pay plans, and reveal the reality of what your job is in the eyes of the sales manager. The reader will be exposed to an unabashed version of the love/hate relationship that companies have with sales people. Most sales people think that there is only one financial reality they have to deal with, the more they sell, the more important they are to the company. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Read the rest only if you want an honest and logical guide on how to survive in the sales environment.

My first sales job was selling insulation in the home in Martinez, California in 1978 (if you don’t count when I was selling kumquats door to door in my neighborhood at seven years old). I have been in one form of sales or sales management ever since. I have succeeded at some jobs and failed at many. It is my opinion that being a good sales person is the easy part. Being able to maneuver through the hostile and competitive mine field that every sales person experiences when he is hired is more difficult. If you believe, like most, that all you have to do is show up, work hard, and good results will follow, then why is turnover so high in the sales departments of companies that otherwise have a stable workforce? Unfortunately there is more to the average sales job than sales. There are sales managers to deal with that have an array of agendas that, many times, do not include your success. There are company structures that are fair and unfair. Lots of things will affect your success in the sales field, not just how good a pitch person you are. Many a career has been lost or a sought after promotion has been unattained because of factors other than sales results.

The chapter titled “On Stage and Off Stage Behavior” and numerous references throughout the book give you permission to be the person that you need to be to succeed. You are not hired to be true to yourself and grow emotionally. Your job is to get results, live through the process and maybe even be happy.

If you are not currently employed as a sales person, or if you are unsatisfied with the sales job you have, you must first contend with finding a job. This is a huge challenge. It is my goal to reveal little talked about insights that will help you with your decision and analyze your true potential once you take a new sales job.

What are the characteristics of a successful and unsuccessful sales person? Why do some thrive while others self-destruct? I have created four different profiles for salespeople. Which one are you? All types can thrive. What are the emotional pitfalls you will be faced with and what is the best way to handle them? How about your colleagues? I believe in what Simon Cowell said when he talked about the so-called “tight relationship” between the contestants on American Idol, “They all act sad when someone leaves the show, but truly they are happy that it was not them.” Sales people have to live with people with whom they are competing. What is the best way to handle this situation?

How to manage a sales manger? If a sales manager is giving a salesperson a hard time, it is probably the sales person’s fault because he or she is not managing the manager properly. There are several types of sales mangers from good to awful. I have categorized them in the chapter on “How to Manage Your Sales Manager.” The suggestions will surprise you.

Here is the bottom line – sales is as Darwinian an environment as any in the civilized world, if you don’t count the Penitentiary, and the rules for survival are just as complex. Sales reps come in all hyped with success seminars pumping through their heads, ready to do great. Reality then kicks them in the butt, or worse, they are promoted to your boss. Here is the deal. Success training does work, but the main purpose of this book is to show you the unsavory realities that exist within the sales world. By reading this, you can prevent yourself from being a little bunny running through the forest about to get snared by a trap.

Most sales people do not take the time to analyze the business model of the company for which they are working. The reader will be extensively educated in why companies do what they do and what the motivation is for that behavior. Understand the purpose and history of pay plans and sales department structures. This will make it easier for you to determine whether an organization deserves your hard work and loyalty and, above all, if there is a future for those who choose to become a true sales professional.