Tuesday May 15, 2007

Lead or Fail

by Dave Jimenez in Business

1 comment

As an Account Executive, aka Salesperson, probably the most important part of your job is to be sure to always be in the driver’s seat on every pursuit that you engage in. Letting someone else take the wheel is rarely a good idea, especially early in the sales process. Using the CEO to help you close the deal is one thing, but letting someone else drive your sales cycle and account strategy is a whole different ball o’ wax. Here’s why:

1. The people on your sales team will lose respect for you. They are the people putting in long hours during the days and nights. If they have to make the pitch too, they will absolutely feel as if you are pawning off your work. You must at least pull your own weight, sometimes more.
2. The pitch will become someone else’s. If you are not participating in the process, then the pitch itself will be created by someone else, right? Of course. That said, they will likely need to make the pitch. It will also be close to impossible for you to offer criticism. If you are not engaged enough to be critical along the way, when your critiques are crucial, you cannot be critical at the end, just before the pitch, because:
   • The people that just completed all that work don’t really want to hear it.
   • There is likely not enough time to make wholesale changes to the pitch. There is no Monday morning quarterback in sales. If you are playing Monday morning QB, it means that you have already lost the deal and you are likely on your way to losing a bit more.
3. The account strategy will be someone else’s. Early in a relationship with a new account, you have to begin to formalize an overall account strategy. What are we shooting for with an account in the next 3 months, 6 months, year? If you allow others to formalize that strategy for you, it will not be one that you are 100% comfortable with or confident in. It’s also important because any change is difficult, especially changes in account strategy.
4. You will appear, and will likely be, incredibly uninformed on what you are proposing to the prospect and the longer term vision for what you are proposing.
5. Eventually, you will be looking for another place to work. There will invariably come a time where the person that is driving all your deals becomes the owner of those accounts and your boss will begin to question why you are there.

Happy selling! Go close something!

Comments on “Lead or Fail”

1. dagobert renouf said:

   Good article about keeping good habits as a salesperson.
   The best way to stay the leader is to keep in mind the basics of a great employee.

   MOVE ON DO YOUR JOB !

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