A sales rep called his manager's bluff

Published: Wed, 04/26/23

April 26, 2023

TOGETHER WITH

Believe it or not, today is actually National Pretzel Day! Let’s celebrate by twisting ourselves into a pretzel trying to explain to our managers why we’re not on track to hit quota. In this week’s newsletter, we continue our interview series, share a Sales Fail about a spooky video call, and give some advice to a rep who can’t stand the braggart they’re seated next to. Bon apetit.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

73 percent of buyers prefer to work with sales professionals referred by someone they know

Source: Salesmate

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week:

A reddit thread by a salesman recently went viral after his new manager tried to take away his work-from-home privileges and force him back into the office. The sales rep was a top performer and had been left to his own devices, allowed to work remotely from his suburban home, an hour away from the office. But when a new manager came in and told him he needed to be in the office at least three days a week, he called her bluff and put in his letter of resignation. You can read the whole story here.
Remember Sleepless in Seattle, the 90’s rom-com starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan? Well, the child actor from the movie, Ross Malinger, went on to become a salesman, selling cars in the greater LA area. Malinger had a few other roles after Sleepless, including Kindergarten Cop (it’s not a tuma) and the TV show Party of Five, but he eventually followed his father’s footsteps into the car business. You can read more about Ross here.

FEATURE

An interview with Jessica Menden, Senior Sales Director at a Customer Engagement Platform

(note: this interview is part of our new series where we profile sales reps and sales leaders across industries. If you’d like to be considered for an interview, click here).

You’ve been selling your entire career (over a decade). How did you get your start in sales? When did you know it would be your career?

I graduated high school in 2008, at the beginning of the banking collapse. Coming out of school with a degree in marketing and entrepreneurship in 2012, and having been focused on volleyball versus internships throughout my school experience, the job market was extremely tough. Most companies had cut their marketing budgets and teams as an outcome of the recession, and the potential to make a salary that would even cover my debt seemed impossible.

I was constantly interviewing against people who had decades of marketing experience and masters degrees for entry-level positions. It wasn't long before I decided to look at alternatives. I started working with a career coach who gave me my first shot selling copiers. Yes, people used to print things! I'll never forget her saying, “This will be the hardest thing you’ll ever do. If you can hack copiers, you can do anything.” I knew this would be my career there and then.

You’re a senior sales director. What advice would you give to somebody who wants to reach the director level?

Be transparent with your goals. Talk about them frequently, both internally and externally, quantify them (make them SMART). Be realistic, be coachable, and understand that things don’t just happen overnight.

The biggest mistake I see younger people make is just not asking for what they want or need. This is not just in their own careers, but in the sales cycle too. If your company won’t take a chance on you, someone else will. Know your worth and understand what you want from your career.

What does a typical work day look like for you? Walk us through it.

7-7:45 Pilates
7:45-8:30 coffee and Arnie (cute dog) walk
8:30-12 meetings
12-1 - Arnie walk and lunch
1-5 meetings
5-7 break
7+ emails / catch-up

Meetings range from customer calls, to internal forecast meetings, all depending on what that week brings!

While it doesn’t sound very exciting, the benefit to working in sales is that you really do own your calendar. Some weeks you’ll be working 60+ hours, while others will be more like 30, (with a few rounds of golf). Both types of weeks are important if you want to have success and longevity in this field.

What's the one thing you’ve found that helps you be successful in sales?

I’ll give you 3:

1) Attention to detail. As a woman in sales, I’ve learned that not only do I have to be better than my peers, but I also need to be more thorough and knowledgeable than my customers at times. Do your homework, and when you think you’re done, do some more. I guarantee that one of the tidbits you pick up will be the game-changer between you and the competition.

2) Understanding. The sales process is not about you, and it’s not really about the product. The sales process is about your customer. What are their goals? What are their ambitions? How does your solution improve their lives not just professionally, but personally? Transactional deals are done by filling IT requirements, transformational deals are done by building a plan and relationship that does more than fill RFP check-boxes.

3) Confidence. Nobody knows if you’re lying if you say something confidently enough :)

What are your long term career goals? Early retirement or future CRO?

I kind of live by the mantra “if you’re not making money, you’re spending it.” I really can’t see myself ever retiring. However, eventually, I hope you’ll be able to find me in a small beach town where I own the local margarita joint!

Until then, I have a few ventures that I’m looking to expand, including doing some sales consulting and coaching on the side. So, maybe CEO, not CRO! :)

Life is an amazing adventure full of ebbs and flows. Take opportunities when they present themselves. If you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not growing!

Do you have any advice for people who are just starting out in sales?

Be unapologetically yourself.

85% of selling is based on trust, so if you’re going to be successful, you need to be authentic with who you are, and that’s going to look different for every one of us. Bringing your unique value proposition to the table can be just as valuable as any amount of expertise. Additionally, don’t be afraid to ask what you don’t know.

Sales can be intimidating, especially if you're new. But know there are no stupid questions. When you have more information, you’ll be able to better understand how to fit yourself and the product into the puzzle.

Finally, build your tribe early. Find people you admire in the industry, and find a mentor. The more people that will give you true, unbiased feedback on your approach, the better you’ll do in the long run.

SALES PROPOSALS THAT ARE PROVEN TO CONVERT

How much time do you ~~waste~~ spend building sales proposals? Do you put in the time and effort to send over something compelling, or do you wing it and send them as an afterthought?

Either way, our friends at Qwilr are here to help. They’re offering 8 brand new proposal templates that align with popular sales methodologies, absolutely free. Choose from:

Enterprise Sales
GAP Selling
MEDDIC
MEDDPICC
BANT
SPIN Selling
Sandler Sales
Proof of Concept

Or browse Qwilr’s extensive library of 100+ sales templates here.

All templates can be customized with your own brand colors on Qwilr’s free 14-day trial. Check them out today and make sure you don’t waste an opportunity to close more deals.

Grab the free templates here

MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

QUIZ

Which company established the first ever sales training school?

A. IBM (International Business Machines)
B. Pennsylvania Railroad
C. National Cash Register Corporation
D. General Motors

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

This actually happened to my wife, not to me, but it's still one of my favorite stories. She's a director at a public relations company and has been in that industry for close to twenty years. She pretty much runs the place at this point, the only ones above her are the company owners, and they rely on her to do a lot of the day-to-day operations.

During the end of the first year of the pandemic, she was looking to switch project management software providers, so she had one of her employees set up a few demos. She (my wife) was going to personally sit in on the demos since a big part of what she does at work is make sure all accounts and projects are being managed correctly.

The demo was with a young sales rep at this software company, and it was taking place over Zoom. If I’m remembering correctly, the rep was working from home – from her bedroom or something like that. She introduced herself to my wife and her two employees, then started asking them some questions, going through discovery.

Well, she had only been on the call for less than ten minutes when she paused in the middle of speaking, looked at something in the corner of the screen and let out a blood-curdling scream. Then she jumped out of her seat, and the next thing my wife knew, the sales rep’s computer tumbled over a bunch of times while she screamed like a maniac in the background, then the video disconnected.

My wife and her employees were horrified and were discussing whether they should call the cops when they got an email from the rep who apologized profusely and said there was a giant spider that had landed on her keyboard in the middle of the presentation. The poor sales rep was so embarrassed about what happened that she actually suggested that she pass my wife’s account to somebody else. Her company ended up buying from another vendor, but not because of the spider incident. It's still one of my favorite stories to tell.

Anonymous Location withheld

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: LinkedIn Poll -- April 2023

WORTH A PEEK

Can't get enough sales books? We’ve actually published a few books of our own. But this post isn’t about those books, it’s about a new list from HubSpot of the 44 most highly-rated sales books of all time. From Spin Selling to Think and Grow Rich, the list has all the greats and a few we’ve never heard of before. Check it out here.

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team,

I’m a long-time sales rep and work on a busy sales floor with about sixty other reps, and probably another hundred or so customer service reps. We work in a big facility with a call center and a cafeteria and the whole nine.

I’m writing in because I have a very annoying problem, which is the person who sits next to me and has been there for close to six months now. At first, I thought he was kind of entertaining. He is in his late twenties and has a ton of energy. He’s really into motivational content and always posting Grant Cardone quotes and stuff like that, if that gives you any idea.

The main problem I have with him is how incredibly cocky he is despite the fact that he’s one of the most inconsistent reps I’ve ever worked with. This is basically what happens: he has a great month and then goes around bragging about how great at sales he is, and offers unsolicited advice to everybody else, telling us if we just did this one thing, we would close more deals.

Then, the following month, he’ll completely blank, and will quiet down a bit, or make excuses for why he’s not closing any deals. During these “down” months, he’ll start to sandbag deals for the following month, then will have a really good performance because he socked those deals away intentionally, knowing that he wasn’t going to hit his goal.

I don’t know why, but his behavior infuriates me, especially his cockiness. Should I call this guy out and tell him he’s not God’s gift to the sales universe, or should I just stay quiet and laugh at him (which is what I’ve been doing) until either he or I end up getting moved? Honestly, it can’t happen soon enough.

Annoyed in Texas

Dear Annoyed,

Every sales floor has one. Well, maybe not every sales floor, but close. They brag, they annoy, they throw their success in everybody’s face, but when they’re having a bad month, they won’t make a peep.

Your best bet is to ignore him and worry about yourself. Why let this guy live rent free in your head? It’s giving him exactly what he wants. Plus, this can be a good exercise in developing better focus – focusing on the things you need to do rather than on what he’s up to.

At the end of the day, we all have to deal with people we can’t stand, whether it’s at work, with our neighbors, or people in our personal lives. Use this as an opportunity to gain mastery over yourself. He’ll probably never change, so you can expect to see those motivational lion memes for the foreseeable future. Good luck!

Quiz Answer: C – National Cash Register Corporation (you can read the source article here)

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Today's email was written by Ken Kupchik, Erica Furgiuele, Steve Rado, and Emily Hill.

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