The article suggested that “Selling yourself in today’s market is about ensuring the hiring manager reviewing your CV can identify relevant experience to the role straight away.”

Surely there is more to ‘selling yourself’ to get a job than just matching experience to the role!

This got me thinking about what it really does mean to ‘sell yourself’ regardless of whether you’re selling yourself to win a new job role, or maybe it’s selling yourself and you’re in sales and selling a product or service, or whether you’re selling your ideas to a Board or to your peers or even a spouse.

Does my definition of ‘selling’ apply to all of these situations?

Let’s test it out…at least for when someone is selling themself to win a new job role…..

Selling is a process, of building trust relationships, with the aim to create reciprocal value, on a continual basis.

The first part of the definition is that Selling is a process. It is not a project. The process of ‘selling’ continues so long as value is being delivered and received. In ‘selling myself’ for a job role this certainly applies. The selling doesn’t stop once I’ve secured or won the job role as the successful candidate. The selling of myself continues into the first day on the role and then on a continual basis after that…..if I don’t deliver value in my role, and my manager and peers and internal or external customers don’t believe value is being received, then in not continuing to sell myself, I may lose my job role.

So far the definition of selling holds.

Selling is a process of building trust relationships. When applying for a new job role and in ‘selling myself’ for that job role, surely it is about building trust relationships with all whom I come into contact. That can mean the recruitment consultant where applicable, the company manager or personnel who interview me, and then when the job role is won, it’s about continuing to build trust relationships with my peers, colleagues, internal and external customers.

Again the definition of selling holds.

Selling is a process of building trust relationships, with the aim to create reciprocal value. The universal principle of reciprocity suggests that what we give out we get back. That is the reciprocal nature of value. When I give value out, value will be returned. If I stop giving value, value stops being returned. When I am applying for a new job role, the trust building strategy of delivering value early certainly can apply. When applying for any new role, part of ‘selling myself’ is to be able to ask, answer and act on the question ‘what can I deliver of value to the recruitment consultant, to the company manager or personnel who interview me, that sends loud and clear intention about who I am, what I stand for and the value I can deliver in this new role?’

Again the definition of selling holds.

The final piece of the definition also holds. Selling is a process of building trust relationships, with the aim to create reciprocal value on a continual basis. The idea of just ‘selling yourself’ once and stopping is ludicrous. Selling ourselves is a continual task of stepping up and into our value.

So our definition of selling seems to hold well for when we are ‘selling ourselves’ to win a new job role, and I am confident that the definition of selling holds true, regardless of what we are selling, and especially when we are selling ourselves.

What also holds true is the process of selling. In my BASICS of selling process, if we apply it to someone ‘selling themselves’ for a new job role, surely the process of Building rapport, Asking questions, Showing value, Identifying obstacles, and Confirming the sale are still valid. And once the new job role is won, then the final step in the process becomes equally important….Stay in touch with all of the relationships you have developed along the way to secure the role.

It’s interesting when we hear common language like “you’ve got to sell yourself”, and I wonder how many people really know what it means, why you need to, and how to really go about doing it?

Not surprisingly almost everyone raised their hand.

I then asked how many were hoping to learn or relearn some tips and strategies on how to win more referral sales and most if not all in the room raised their hands.

Here’s what’s really interesting and challenging for me – what I know is that most if not all of the audience at that time, have the intention of learning, relearning and ultimately implementing strategies to help them win more new, repeat and referral sales.

But when the majority of the audience leaves the conference, I also know that despite their intention at the time of the conference, the majority of those salespeople will return to their comfort zones, past habits, and routine.

Now, if they’re achieving their sales targets, then that’s fine.

But if they’re struggling, the question is why isn’t their intention to win more new, repeat and referral sales enough to transfer the learning and strategies covered during the conference into new actions and strategies?

The management guru Peter Drucker once said something like (and I’m paraphrasing here) “every failure of an employee is a failure of their manager”.

Most sales conferences and sales training never live up to the ‘intended’ results.

Why?

Because the intended results lack the required level of intentional pre, during and post conference behavioural change strategies.

Real intention is demonstrated and observable in the actions and support that is provided by management to create the necessary on-going success environment that will inspire, motivate and energise their salespeople into incrementally, comfortably, and confidently implementing the learning, tips and strategies from the conference.

Sure….this requires a commitment to invest in their people above and beyond just at the conference…..but surely, without an intention to commit to a level of investment that will achieve the desired outcome, throwing money at a conference and hoping that the learning will stick is a waste.

Fortunately I’m currently working with a number of organisations who have made the commitment to create a successful sales culture that the management team, salespeople, clients and their suppliers can all be proud of.

The sales management team are inspiring – they really want to create a sales culture to be proud of.  The salespeople can see that this is not some passing ‘fad’ and that there really is a genuine commitment to build a bigger purpose and story around their clients’ buying experiences.

The steps they’re taking include:

1. Completing a series of sales culture interviews with the sales managers to determine current and desired sales culture and strategies to find, win and keep clients. 
2. Establishing regular mastermind accountability sessions with the sales managers to plan, review and develop their sales coaching success 
3. Providing the salespeople with targeted and regular learning and development opportunities (with a mix of online, one-on-one and small group) to build their skills and confidence to win more new, repeat and referral sales 
4. Continual review and measurement of the sales culture and the success that it is creating.

Creating sustainable and successful behavioural changes to the sales skills and confidence and strategies of salespeople is not rocket science. It is in fact quite simple…..just not easy.

Whether you’re a business owner, salesperson, or sales manager, if your intention is to win more new, repeat and referral sales, and you’re serious about creating a sales culture to be proud of……..check that your commitment and actions are aligned with your intention. ..

This is a fascinating discussion on a blog I recently visited. I highly recommend you check it out here…

For my part, most, not all, but most of the time, I believe 100% commission based sales is for entrepreneurs who are looking to build and or run their own business. All the risk and ‘skin in the game’ is with the entrepreneur/business owner…..who is also the salesperson.

That’s what my own business model is….and it’s pretty motivating!

But when you’re an employee salesperson……I’m wondering where the ‘shared risk’ is if a business owner, sales manager, or HR manager decides that they only want to remunerate the salesperson with 100% commission based sales.

Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t pay by 100% commission. What I am saying is you need to understand the potential consequence of that.

For many salespeople if the biggest issue they’re thinking about all of the time is how can they pay their basic bills (food, mortgage/rent, utilities and getting from a to b) then they’re probably not focusing on how they can create value for prospects and existing clients when they sell what they sell.

Sure……you might increase their ‘hunger’ for the sale…..but at what cost?

On the other hand, if you pay a ‘wage’ that is easily covering the ‘basics’ for the salesperson, and there is no consequence for under-performance, then this too just breads apathetic salespeople.

I found the comments by the many contributors to the blog great reading……I hope you do too……you can check it out here if you haven’t already and would value your thoughts here on this blog as well.

This wonderful program invites high school students in years 11 and 12 as well as first year university students to form small teams and create a company, finance the development of a product, market the product, sell the product, with the aim to make as much profit as possible, then at the end of a 3 month period, to close the company down.

Fascinating!

Each student is allocated a company position including, general manager, finance, human resources, marketing, sales, production/distribution etc. I get to present to the sales people. And what an energetic bunch they always are…..keen to learn….lots of questions they want answers to….and mostly, looking for ways to ‘close’ as many sales as possible.

While many of them have been put in the sales role because they are good talkers and confident, some have ‘landed’ the role because all of the others were taken.

What has been most inspiring for me, is that in each of the three years now that I’ve been invited to present my sales workshop for the program, there have been a number of students who believe that even when they close the business down as part of the program, that they have a future in sales…..and that their business idea that they have been part of creating, just might be the business that they continue with when they complete their education.

The tough part for many of the students as ‘salespeople’ is that they really are focused on just getting the sale and making a profit…..and for many, because the start up and close down reality of the business is so short, there’s a danger that almost anything goes. Each year, I’ve been impressed that the winning company that makes the most profit, has been a company that has really identified a problem that they can fix for people, and have focused on fixing the problem with the best service they can provide in the short time that the program is in operation.

In Our World

In the current economic environment, I sense that for many salespeople, there is pressure for them to have a short term focus and that this can cause some internal conflict with their values – especially when most if not all of us understand that selling is about building long term trust.

The reality is that in sales, having a short term focus IS important.

That doesn’t mean do things that will jeopardise the long term relationship. However, it is incumbent on us all in sales to keep up the sales and marketing activity levels to ensure that we are creating sufficient revenue and cash flow for our businesses to remain healthy.

I was recently reminded of a great question that all of us in sales needs to be constantly asking.

The question is…. “What am I doing to make some cash today?”

It’s a really good question.

It’s even a better question when you ask

“What can I do to create value for my existing or potential clients today that will result in me increasing my sales?”

Who haven’t you been in contact with for a while?

Whose situation might have changed recently that could put you and your product or service offerings in a different light?

Who have you been meaning to contact, but just haven’t got around to it?

 What value can you discover for your potential and existing clients, other than your products and services, that they would be interested in?

Where’s Your Low Hanging Fruit Of Opportunity?

Sometimes the low hanging fruits of opportunity are so close to us that we don’t see them. So just a gentle reminder for all of us in sales, that there’s nothing wrong with a short term focus as long as it’s building on long term trust relationships.

Ambitious:  The article talked about a balance between ambition and arrogance.  In the majority of highly effective sales leaders and the most successful sales professionals I have met, interviewed or coached, I have seen an air of “humble arrogance”.  Their enthusiasm or ambition to work with their prospects and clients is balanced by this incredible belief that they have in the value they can create for their clients when they sell what they sell.

Decisive: The article talks about the confidence to take action on an operational, tactical and strategic level.  In sales, these three levels also require confidence and decisive action.  At a strategic selling level it’s about charting the types of long term outcomes, relationships, and value propositions.  At the tactical level it’s about clearly defining the sales and marketing activities required for success.  And at the operational level, it’s about completing the sales and marketing activities.  The decision for sales leaders and sales professionals on whether their operational level sales and marketing activities are aligned with the intended tactical strategies that will achieve the longer term success that has been defined.

Brave: The article talks about being able to stand up and be counted.  For sales leaders and sales professionals, today more than ever, the ability to be able to step up and into their value and never having to defend it not only takes bravery, but also a clear understanding and belief in what their value propositions (plural) are.

Empowering: In the article it highlights the importance of being able to empower others.  In sales, sales leaders need to empower their sales people – trust them – support them.  Sales professionals also need to be able to empower their customers – help their customers feel empowered, comfortable and confident to make a wise buying decision.

Entrepreneurial: In the article, the young leaders look outside to see what’s going on in the marketplace.  In sales, probably more than any other discipline, knowing what’s happening in your own marketplace, and also watching and learning from what’s happening outside of your own marketplace builds creative opportunities and ideas to compete in ways and differentiate in ways other than from your products and services.

Visionary: Young leaders step outside the box.  O.K., this is probably an overused cliché, but the reality is, constantly looking at their market place, their clients, their prospects, and how they can create value above and beyond what their products and services do, is what separates the great sales leaders and sales professionals who are still living in the eighties and nineties and selling products and services.  People don’t buy products and services – they buy what the products and services will do for them…..and most importantly, customers today (business to business and business to consumer) are buying the ‘buying experience’ as well.  Visionary sales leaders and sales professionals are constantly working on creating better and more valuable buying experiences and have long left the more traditional product and service sale.

So there you have it……as a sales leader or sales professional, how do you stack up against the DNA of young leaders?