Loving Sales People

I hate when sales people call me at work.

I hate the emails, I hate the LinkedIn messages, I hate the swag and the koozies and mugs, I hate the conversations at conferences... all of it.

But at the same time, I love it. And so should you.

Ok, let me explain.

Yes, they interrupt your day. Yes, they are probably selling something you don't want or at a price you can't afford or something it's not the right time for. Yes, they call/email/message over and over again, never getting the hint. Darn them!

And I have been guilty of ignoring them. I truly have. To all of you (because I know all of you guys are following me on LinkedIn, because that's what you do :) -- I AM SORRY.

If you are more shy, or prefer doing things consistently, or low Openness on the OCEAN personality scale, then sales people probably REALLY bug the crap out of you.

But here's the deal with sales people: they are just like us non-sales-y folks. They just want to help.

They have information that can help us. They can show us a new way of doing things. They can connect us with other professionals in our field. They have tools and services which might be useful in the future, even if we aren't ready for those things yet. All of this is good!

I have generally tried to be up front with sales folks. If I can't afford something, if it's not the right time, I let them know. And when I do, THEY LOVE IT. They are so used to getting ignored or brushed off, that the honesty is so refreshing. And I imagine it means they can stop calling/messaging for a few months and set their CRM or whatever to bug me at a later date.

So, my strong advice for dealing with sales is:

• answer the phone, return the call, return the message
• say "we don't have the budget" or "try me back in 6 months"
• schedule one to four product/service demos each month, just to stay aware of what's our there in your industry
• refer sales folks to someone who might be interested
• realize that they have a skill set you don't, which is persistence and confidence -- and you can learn from this
• know that sales folks can help you later in your career when you DO have money, time, or a budget -- or when you are in a job search

I have met some really awesome people who worked sales for various HR vendors and these folks are important people in your success. As a professional, you cannot do it alone. We need inside help and outside help. So be kind to the sales folks.

#HR #leadership #career #sales

Further Reading: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-important-nice-salespeople-b-j-olson/

Mike Lyons is an HR professional and consultant in the Austin, TX area. He can be found on LinkedIn.