Donna
Siegel

An Open Letter To My Sales Manager

Today's sales managers have more pressure than ever: more sales reps to manage, less corporate support and intensified competitive pressure. So it is easy for sales managers to lose perspective on the challenges their reps face. Let's look at the relationship from the salesperson's point of view, as a sales rep writes An Open Letter To My Sales Manager.

But those aren't the reasons why I decided this was the company for me. You are. I've heard about what a great salesperson you are and I want to learn from you. You know techniques and have insights about our customers that would help me be one of our best. So I want you to be my personal coach and my mentor. You invest the time in me, and I'll pay back you and the company with numbers that far exceed my quota.

I hope you don't mind but I have a few suggestions that will help you help me.

One Thing At A Time

I have a lot to learn about our products, our services and our customers. And I have to learn all of these points as they fit into our selling process. But I find that I can only absorb one new idea at a time. I like to find out how to do something and then focus my attention on trying out this new idea in many situations.

When I get a new idea, I start by practicing it when I'm alone. Then I try to use it in live situations when I'm talking to prospects. Each time I do this, I learn a little more. Sometimes I try a new approach and it falls flat. I stumble around and just miss getting all the words out in the right order. Or I think I'm using the new idea just right and I can tell by watching my prospect that he just didn't get it. But eventually, I get it and it becomes part of how I go about selling. By this point, I know it works well almost every time. It's my way of selling now.

Help Me Understand

Here's another thing you can do for me. We've spent time talking about selling, and I know you have a lot of great ideas. Some of them are easy. When I hear the words, I know just what to do. Others are much harder for me to implement because I don't know exactly how to go abut it. The other day you suggested that I could improve my selling by asking more open-ended questions. I know what an open-ended question is, but I'm not sure of the best way to phrase them. I know this is a great technique, but I need to know a lot more if it's going to work for me.

So this is what I suggest. Sit down with me for a half hour and let's talk about these details. Let me try a few examples out on you. I'll even bring along some information about some new companies I'm targeting so we can talk through how to use the technique in specific situations. Then I'll go out and try it and report back to you on what happened.

Make Me Feel Like A Success

I'm a good salesperson who is committed to doing a good job. I promise you I'm going to be trying my best. But I know that I make mistakes. So when you go out on a call with me and then we sit down to talk about what happened, don't point out all of my faults. Some of them I just can't help.

I had a buddy I worked with at my last job who really had a hard time being coached by his manager. This manager would start any coaching session by saying "Let me tell you all the things you did wrong." My buddy just got more and more depressed from these discussions, and he found that his selling wasn't getting any better. If anything it was getting worse. Eventually my friend quit and now he's working at an entirely different job. It will take him a while to recover his self esteem.

Now I'm not saying you should take it easy on me. Just think about how to help me focus on the positive aspects of what I can do better. I promise you I'll be open to your suggestions.

Give Me Time To Get Used To A New Idea

Like I said before, when I get a suggestion on a new idea, I have to spend time trying it out. I know exactly what to say when I'm practicing a new technique on my own. Like our discussion yesterday on handling objections. I know you're right when you tell me to find out what's behind the objection before I open my mouth with an answer. But when I get in front of a prospect and they tell me that our customer service and support isn't as good as our competitor's, I just get angry and start telling that person why we're the best. (Sometimes, those guys get me so mad!)

I know I should do better, and I'm working on it. I've built myself a little crib sheet to remind me what to do before answering this type of objection. And I've got it right here in my notebook, so I can see it when I get into one of those situations.

But, like I said, this one is tough for me. I want to just react. But I'm working on it and I'll keep working on it until I get it right.

Give Me Ideas I Can Use Right Now

I know you have lots of great ideas on how I can sell more, and I want to hear each and every one of them. But I'd like to suggest that you concentrate on ideas I can use right now. Most of my time is being spent on opening up my territory, since I'm our first salesperson to focus on prospects in Colorado. So, the ideas I need right now are on how to be better at cold calling and warming the situation up. What do you know about getting past the secretary. I always feel like she's suspicious of me and what I might say to her boss. How do you do this? Give me some ideas and I'll try one right away.

Later, I'll need help with other parts of selling - like what I can do at that trade show in Denver coming up at the end of the year. Or what types of discounts or other things I can give the prospect when I'm closing him.

Thanks for reading this letter. I have a couple of appointments set up for next week. Can you schedule to come with me? Afterwards we can talk about what happened and what I can do to get better. I'd really appreciate your feedback.

SeaBird Associates Inc
3011 NE 7th Drive
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone: 561-750-9233
E-mail: Donna Siegel

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