TED Magazine - May 2017

IT HAPPENS EVERY DAY: A TALENTED PERSON IN ANOTHER DEPARTMENT IS offered a job in sales. There’s logic to this move. This person already knows the company and has proven his or her abilities with customers. And because this person is “home grown,” the transition will be faster than finding some- one from outside the company—and there will be a greater chance things will work out. It sounds perfect, but many times it just doesn’t work out. Intentions were good, but a few months or even weeks later, that person is back at his or her old
64 the ELECTRICAL DIS TRIBUTOR • May 17 www.tEDmag.com
SELLING / MANAGEMENT
SMOOTH MOVES
With the right information, moving a person into sales from
another role within a company can be nearly seamless. by Ken Wax
job. What went wrong? In a word: assumptions. We humans tend to think that others know almost as much as we do. Not exactly as much, but almost. Selling, however, is very different from other jobs. To help these em- ployees land comfortably and pro- ductively, here are five things every person who transfers into sales needs to hear: 1. You make your world, and that’s the fun. Say to the new transfer, “Creating customers is a great feeling and can be very re- warding. A hardworking, smart- working salesperson can be very suc- cessful. I see in you the attributes that will help you do well and en- joy it. I’ll be working with you, of course, to help make you successful. “It’s important to realize that selling is different in some ways from working in customer service [or whatever his or her old job was]. In that position, situations came to you and your job was to bring cus- tomers satisfaction. Those custom- ers stick with you because you can get them what they want. “Here in selling, you seek out opportunities and then guide them as you see fit. Leads may come your way, or you may proactively identify and go after potential customers. You have the power to make things happen.” 2. Listening is a big part of the job. This can be explained like this: “The best salespeople are often the ones who know when to stop talking. Listening is surprisingly important; that’s how to find out what’s most important to that other person. Also, when people talk with you, they’re developing trust in you. The more you can get a prospect to open up—and it’s really not hard if one asks the right questions—the more likely he or she will choose to do business with you.” 3. You are the company. Tell the transfer: “When you contact a © I S T O C K