The deal makers

Getting a new customer to sign up is only part of the salesperson’s job, says Peter Bell

What do I do for a living? I work in sales. I guess you may now have an image in mind - a Del Boy-type possibly, a sales rep most likely: a sharp suit, flash car and a lack of morals.

Unfortunately, salespeople tend to have a slight image problem. But rest assured, not all of them live down to the reputation. Sales is a profession, just like purchasing. I have spent time developing myself to improve my performance and career.

And these days, sales is no longer the preserve of the salesperson - everyone from the chief executive to the receptionist is involved. Ultimately, without new business, few companies would survive so, love us or hate us, salespeople are here to stay.

To succeed in the marketplace, the sales professional must wear many hats: planner, researcher, effective consultant, trusted adviser, influencer, project manager and more. The modern professional needs to be able to identify, understand and focus on their clients’ needs to compete in today’s world of growing choices and change.

My first job in sales was as a relationship manager for small and medium-sized companies. It was immensely challenging but just as rewarding. I enjoyed meeting new people each day, building strong relationships with others and watching their businesses succeed and grow. I got a buzz from hitting targets and proving that I could achieve and contribute to the overall success of my employer’s business.

I then moved on to become a sales manager. Again, it was a huge challenge initially but also immensely rewarding because I could now contribute to the growth and development of others.

These rewards and successes kept me in sales. I now work as a senior manager for Company Barclaycard, focusing on delivering solutions to major corporate clients, and specialising in a number of different market sectors. So what do I actually do?

In any sales role, there is a public and private side. The public side is the one you will be most familiar with. The new business that I develop comes from a number of sources: general incoming enquiries, networking, events, cold calling and so on.

Within the corporate market, a significant number of businesses are using requests for information, requests for proposals or tenders to gather information and make purchasing decisions. Responding to these documents is a great opportunity for the sales professional. We will invest a significant amount of time - perhaps a week or two - in a concerted effort to formulate and shape a response. We should never forget that every customer is unique, so our responses should be too.

Global deals

Sales and buying cycles in the corporate market generally range from three to 12 months or beyond from first contact to implemented solution. They can range from relatively simple to extremely complex, and from UK only to global deals.

Before even crossing the threshold of a potential client’s premises, the sales professional will have spent time researching and understanding the client’s business and likely requirements.

Typically, the first meeting will be a fact-finding effort to ascertain the specific needs of the client and the various influencers and decision-makers. Every customer is different and you cannot meet their needs unless you have effectively questioned them and understood their requirements.

The next stage is to give a presentation, outlining how we will solve their issues. This is an opportunity to differentiate our business and solutions from those of our competitors and, vitally, to build trust with our client. Part of this process is also about motivating clients by helping them to see some of the issues in their business and help them to promote potential solutions.

The submission of a formal proposal normally follows, which fleshes out the proposal offered at the presentation, followed by negotiation, which calls on another set of skills. It’s a cliché, but an effective negotiator will reach a position where both sides win. This is better than “I win”, which actually means someone else - usually the customer - has lost out.

At the end of the sales cycle… great news! The client makes your day by choosing you as their provider. Game over? Think again.

Once the initial stages of the sale are complete, the salesperson must manage the delivery process. This has varied in each business I have worked for.

At Company Barclaycard, I am fortunate to be able to remain close to my clients from day one to the implementation of their purchasing or corporate card solution. In terms of the different skills required, I have to act as salesperson, relationship manager and project team member.

Project teams will vary, often involving representatives from procurement, finance, administration and human resources. This private or unseen side of the sales role is just as challenging.

For the salesperson to be successful, time must be invested in learning about the market, gaining and maintaining industry knowledge, keeping track of market trends and attending networking events and exhibitions. This requires a significant investment of time, with the ability to “work smart”. Technology has had a significant impact on this, with such innovations as online news websites and industry updates by e-mail.

As with any role, a range of administrative tasks accompanies sales work: research and preparation for meetings; chasing responses or information; managing post-meeting analysis and actions; maintaining up-to-date sales monitoring information and reporting; and liaising with colleagues on internal projects and meetings. Then multiply all these activities across a range of clients, all at different stages of the sales and buying process.

Don’t forget to add the constant need to develop new business to build and maintain the sales pipeline to replace those deals that you’ve won or lost.

Ultimately, in terms of all the skills required by the sales professional, organisation and time management are perhaps the most important. The ability to juggle tasks is one that I have also picked up in sales.

So it is not an easy job, but sales is an immensely enjoyable and rewarding one. This career offers the opportunity to work and build relationships with a range of people in different roles, with different experiences and skills and challenge yourself.

Peter Bell is senior manager, new business at Company Barclaycard

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