Sales Professionals or Paid Amateurs

When asked what makes someone a professional, most responses land along the lines of being paid to do a particular activity. Holding sales & sales leadership in such a high regard, every atom in my body tremors at the thought of calling some of my peers in sales “professionals!” Now that I have your attention, I would like to de-ass-ify myself and elaborate on my definition between the two because the line may not be clear, and it has more to do with your daily activities than it does your immediate results.

When we’re winning:

Perhaps this quarter your team is crushing their key performance indicators, the energy on the team is palpable, and everything with the world is right. There are few feelings as nice for sales managers as your team vibing, commissions being made, and atta-boys from owners. Even writing this, my heart is thumping with excitement for the sales teams currently enjoying this high, however when working with sales leaders I probe the question, “was it our inputs or time that manufactured our success?” The answer to this question is one way to identify a sales professional vs. a paid amateur. A Professional Sales Leader will not hesitate to share the foresight in performance plans, their training & development schedule, and they will often take little to no credit for themselves… They know the exact input activities that put their team in the position to win! The paid amateur will answer in more of a freestyle format, often giving themselves and one or two teammates the accolades. Rest with worry if the latter is your Sales Manager’s response because the eb and flow of time is coming, and they do not have a recipe for success!

When we’re losing:

So we’ve established that even a broken clock can get it right, however there is no better measure of professionalism than when our teams are losing. The energy levels plummet, prospecting calls show it, the vigor becomes lackluster, and sales managers are more critical now than ever! Early in my career these were tense times, knowing we operate in a performance based industry, time for corrective measures is finite, however you will see repeatable behavior in your Professional Sales Leaders. 1) I found that these leaders never stop training & developing their teams. By training our people daily or near daily(I frequently make the argument for daily development regardless of your industries excuses) we create a backstop that prevents our teams from sliding too far left on the loss to win spectrum. Your Sales Pro’s carry a sense of calm through these lows because they trust their training backstop and the process of continuous improvement to minimize the severity and duration of a struggling time.

Paid Amateurs on the other hand become frantic. There is no back stop, no plan to right the ship, and everyone can feel it. Sales Managers often become agitated and bark at the team over minor inconveniences or missteps. Sales People who previously enjoyed the high of success become disgruntled, share in negative conversations, and begin looking for greener pastures. To be clear, while I do not believe these Sales People’s actions are appropriate, I do understand them. Who wants to believe in, or stay on a team that has no recipe for success when times challenge us? When questioned by owners these Amateur Leaders frequently point fingers, shift blame, lack a plan, and often opt for harsh management practices to pull their teams back on track. Who wants to work for that person?

How to manufacture more wins:

Professionals know that losing some games is inevitable, so they have a repeatable recipe for how to manage their emotions, their team’s emotions, and instill confidence in ownership teams.

There is slightly more nuance, however the single most important thing is to train and/or develop your team every single day!

  • Whether your team is currently riding a high or experiencing a low, professionals have bare minimums for training

    • IMO training is a daily activity, but it pays to be flexible at times so my minimum was to never miss more than two days in a row

  • Both group and one on ones increase accountability conversations in a positive manner, rather than the harsh management practices

  • Training activities give your team confidence that the current low is temporary

  • One on One development lets your team know you care about their individual contribution and success

    • You’re actively pouring into them and the impact can be massive

  • Group training activities raise the energy level and “pull your team in,” rather than the wedge of harsh management

    • In ecological training based activities we laugh together and win together, and there is no better way to start a day of selling

  • Training and developing provides a reason for confidence and reassurance to owners

  • Even if all of these reasons are not enough… Your sales people should not be testing new sales theories, principals, or word tracks with actual customers

    • I will die on this hill. Customers are a finite resource and should be treated as such!

    • Furthermore to bring this brain dump full circle… PROFESSIONALS HAVE PRACTICED AND PREPARED TO DELIVER EXCELLENCE ON GAME DAY!