Sales Jobs Are Secure

I watched a television news show that featured a man who lost his job as a salesman and is having problems making ends meet. In the spirit of kind understanding, I still have a tough time comprehending why salespeople are unemployed. I understand that the economy is soft and there are a lot of factors in play, but there is always opportunity for salespeople who can sell. America hasn’t shut down and people are still buying and selling.

Selling During The Good Times

In the 1980’s and early 1990’s I was a partner in a technology company that sold patient and insurance billing systems to physicians. The market was strong. There was a real need and we were the leading provider in the space.

Growing My Company

I followed a simple plan to grow the company. I hired a new salesperson every ninety days. They received a guaranteed salary and expenses for a 90 day period. At the end of 90 days, the guarantee became a draw versus commission pay plan, freeing up the guarantee budget for the next hire’s ramp-up. Salespeople who sold systems at my company made a lot of money under this program. There was no cap on earnings. The sky was the limit. Because of the open ended earnings opportunity, I attracted hard working, ambitious men and women. Our sales force was the best in the business, hands down.

Hands on Sales Management

As a Sales Manager, I stayed very close to my sales team. We were in constant communication. Everyone was a required to attend a weekly sales meeting followed by a short private meeting with me to go over their sales report. The report was a simple pipeline report that gave me the information I needed to evaluate the person’s performance. Of course, the ultimate metric was a sales contract and deposit check.

Ramping–up a Newbie

One of my new sales hires was inexperienced. He had never sold before I hired him. It didn’t bother me because he was well educated, a good communicator and presented well. When I hired him it was understood that he was inexperienced in sales, but was very interested in learning and would give it his best shot. I did not think it was too much of a risk because of his background and the straightforward nature of our products and services.

Extra Attention

New sales hires were required to meet with me every day, in addition to the weekly meetings. I wanted to make sure that the person succeeded and was determined to do whatever it took to make that happen.

Sales is a Hard Job

OK, not everyone is cut out to sell. Remember, selling is hard work, it’s competitive, you mostly get rejected, things are always changing and there isn’t job security for those who don’t perform.

Code Red Alert

It took about eight weeks for me to question if I was getting the kind of effort I needed out of this fellow. He was saying the right things and produced all required reports and information on time. Early in his tenure he reported a handful of doctors who will be placing their orders anytime. That’s was great news. What eventually got my attention, and put me on alert, as the weeks went by, was that these same names continued to show up on reports with no movement. There were no new names. Red flag!

Check the Facts

As the ninety day ramp-up started to wind down, it was clear that if he didn’t close one of the deals on his report he would fail. He didn’t have anything else in his pipeline. I decided to find out the truth for myself. I called each prospect on the list. I introduced myself as the salesman’s supervisor and inquired about their pending purchase. “I there anything I can do to help your purchase decision along?” Very sadly none of them intended to buy a computer system from us, at least not anytime soon.

Tough Love

I had to fire him. It was tough love. He squandered his opportunity either by not working or not working smart. Either way, he had to go. He cried, I cried and then I walked him out. I wasted time and money, but moved on to the next hire and continued to build my sales staff and my company.

Lack of Work

A few weeks later, I opened a letter from our local unemployment office. This fellow had applied for unemployment insurance. The reason was lack of work. Lack of work? That upset me. Salespeople make work. Incredibly, I fought the claim and won.

Sales Jobs Are Secure

The lesson for aspiring salespeople is that you are measured, and will always be measured, by your production. If you sell your products and services and earn money for yourself and your employer you are very, very secure.