Will You Do the Work?

Credit: Bill Gillespie

Are you willing to have hard conversations? Are you willing to do the gritty work? Are you prepared to put on your servant cap and set aside being an executive?

If you want to succeed in sales and especially sales leadership your answer has to be yes. If it's no, the best you can be is a score keeper. You can never be a leader and you won't sell as much as you might have.

Years ago, I took a hiatus from printing. I got Real Estate Licensed and Insurance Licensed on subsequent days. It remains the most difficult thing I've ever done. I also developed a video distance learning company.

I enjoyed these ventures but each reminded me that I belonged in print. I got back into the business in 2002. It was a turnaround assignment for a former employer. Sales had fallen from $8 to $2 million.

The sales team was lost and dejected. Self-esteem was low and sales were lower. What we did manage to book was sold below our burdened cost. We were headed out of business in a hurry.

We managed to save the company but that's a different story. Today I want to talk about rediscovering our sales swagger. It's critical to sales success and high margins.

I met with the reps and asked about obstacles. We segregated internal and external hurdles. We talked about each and acknowledged they were real.

I asked the reps to focus on external stuff. "Bring me the opportunities and I'll help you with actions. I'll go after the internal stuff. Leave those conversations to me."

It wasn't instant or universal but it did work. They went after prospects and tossed their scheduling, quality, credit and pricing issues to me. Anytime they couldn't get what they needed from the company I got a call.

I ended every conversation the same way. "I never expected to wind up as so and so's customer service rep at this stage of my career." The rep would laugh, I would laugh and I'd go do battle on their behalf.

I was harder to say no to than the reps so most obstacles got managed. If it was legit, I went back to sales. It's amazing how easy it is to say yes if you want to. Reps also learned how to manage legitimate issues.

Guess what. Coming through for customers makes reps feel better. Being able to say yes grows confidence and sells more stuff. Confident reps make more calls and sell at higher prices. They also give your company a good reputation.

When your team is having fun clients can tell. So can your competitors. Recruiting is easier. Ideas come to life and growth is more likely. Fun is better for business.

Selling = Customers First. Sales Leadership = Sales Reps First.

As I shared, we saved that company. Sales quadrupled in three years. We added a rep but most of the growth was organic.

The team asked me out for my birthday. I was treated to lunch and they presented me with this award. It is my most prized career keepsake.

The gang hit me with my own words. "Bill Gillespie...The Best Customer Service Rep Ever." That's what being a sales leader requires.

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions. Artificial Intelligence may have been used in part to create or edit this content.