Business-to-Business SalesA Look At Best Practices

Scott Butler

Table of Contents

PART I: The Project

Introduction.......1My Story, and Why It Matters Here...........1Meet the Mentors...........3

PART II: Why Meaningful Relationships Are Everything

The Most Fundamental Concept in Sales..........8Building the Relationship...............9Knowing Your Clients and Their Needs..........11Knowing Your Products or Services............12Knowing the Industry and Staying Current............13Building a Partnership through Effective Communication................15Sales: A Relationship of Integrity.................16

PART III: Overcoming Challenges

Rejection...............20Objections.................21Office Politics.............................22Lack of Integrity in Competitors or Buyers.....................22Motivation.................23Pressure.................24Policies and Regulations...............24

PART IV: Pursuing a Career in Sales

Preparing for a Career in Sales.....................28Networking and Interviewing......................30Building Toward Success..............31

Conclusion: Lessons for a Lifetime..................33

About The Author.......................Back Inside Cover

Part IThe Project

In our modern world, businesses compete with one another to provide organizations and individual consumers with the products and services they need in order to function. One could not go to the store and pick up a bag of potato chips without the proper supply chain logistics being in place for that bag of chips to arrive at its final location. The military could not defend our country without being sup-plied with the proper defense equipment. How could patients of serious medical conditions receive the proper medical equipment or medication if there was no one supplying it? Every day we benefit from products and services that have been provided by large and small businesses. On the front line of these businesses are found the professionals that serve as the face of these companies to their customers. Meet the sales team. Sales is an important aspect of every industry. These are not just the guys that appear on your front porch asking you to sign for pest control, nor is it just the man at the used car lot hoping to get you to sign over a chunk of your budget to him. Most companies could not function at all without a dedicated team of sales professionals. Most agree that there are a few different branches of sales, but the two most important are business-to-business (also referred to as B2B) and business-to-consumer (also known as B2C). I will use each of these terms in this book. While business-to-consumer sales are perhaps the most widely recognized category of sales, business-to-business is a crucial aspect of sales to which this project is entirely devoted. Business-to-business sales could be described as the art of creat-ing relationships between companies and individuals in order for one business to fulfill the needs of the other. These needs are met by the company providing the solution (the product or service), hopefully in exchange for the continued patronage of the receiving company. In the course of executing this project, I have learned some things that have been game-changers for me. Things that I now have come to treasure as golden nuggets of wisdom. Ten very generous indi-viduals were willing to come forth and share some of their hard-earned experience with me. To them I am very grateful and indebted. They have provided me with the gift of mentorship, and from their words I have drawn a lot of what will be presented in this book. I have taken what they have taught me, over the course of hours of interviews and transcriptions of recordings, and now present it here. I will be discussing several fundamentals of best practices in business-to-business sales, as well as why they are so indispensable in a achieving success as a salesperson. As this has been an enormously valuable learning experience for me, I am excited to share what I have learned.

My Story, and Why it Matters Here

It would be remiss of me to not share a bit as to why this project is so important to me, and why I feel it should be important to other people contemplating a career in sales. Ever since I was a young child, I have loved interacting with people. I have enjoyed meeting people with different personalities and from different backgrounds, and creating friendships with them. I was always told by my parents that I had a gift for persuasion. As I grew older, my dad would often tell me, Scott, you really ought to look into sales. To be honest, the idea of a career in sales (as I misperceived it then) sounded boring and unful-filling. I wanted to do something in which I could really help people, create relationships, negotiate, and make an impact on peoples lives. In other words, I was looking for a sales career without knowing it. I worked at a Chicago-area carwash after high school in the role of a sales advisor, in which I would try to educate customers as to the benefits of the products and services my company provided. I would stand outside in summer, autumn, and the brutal Chicago winter as long lines of cars waited to wash the dirt, bugs, or road salt off of their vehicles. I would convince them to buy better washes and detailing services. Making a commission, I would sell, the cashier (sometimes also me) would ring them up, and the customer would receive what they had bought. I would try to remember the names of the

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people who had come in more than once, chat with them and make them feel important. Many of them remembered my name too, and often they would buy services simply at my recommendation. Having studied Spanish and practiced it extensively with my Mexican coworkers (some of whom didnt speak English), I was utilized to sell in Spanish as well. I would try to make small talk with Spanish-speaking customers. I just thought it was a good opportunity to sharpen my skill. I became one of the high-est-earning salespeople there. I thought that sales still wasnt for me, even if I was good at it. I wanted to be able to really create relationships with people, and I thought that my doing that in this job was really just me being me rather than me performing the job. As I began a mission for the LDS Church at the age of 20, serving for two years in a country I had never been to, to teach people in a language I had yet to learn at that point, I didnt see it as a sales role. In many ways it was. For the sake of not coming off as offensive or disrespectful, I will add that the missionary service is not typically seen as a sales role to the people involved and the people influenced by it, because of its spiritual significance to them. What I mean to point out is that it requires all the best skills of a salesman and an equal portion of the work. For two years, I met strangers in Portugal and taught them my beliefs in their language without pay. Because what I was presenting to them was something I was passionate about, and because I believed I was really helping those people, I had no problem putting in the 12 hours a day every day of the week. It wasnt workit was service, and it was important and often enjoyable to me. I didnt mind sweating it out, pounding the pavement, knocking doors, teaching in peoples living rooms and in the streets to small crowds. I loved meeting and learning about the Portuguese, African, Brazilian, Hispanic, Eastern European, Romani (Gypsy), and other peo-ple I encountered. I loved hearing their stories and sharing mine with them. I loved promoting some-thing that was important to me and what I felt would be life-changing to them. I literally met thousands upon thousands of people. My hand has shaken countless strangers hands, and I have been in several hundred strangers homes across Portugal. I was often rejected, as one can imagine, but I made lifelong friendships with complete strangers. I was successful in achieving goals and filled several leadership roles. Yet I still didnt see it as having a whole lot to do with sales skills, even if I could recognize several parallels. Since then, I have started a small door-to-door sales operation, selling ties to BYU-I students. It has been very successful. I have had other roles requiring those skills, and as I learned more about B2B sales, I began to realize that it was a great fit for me. I enjoy the rush, the satisfaction of achievement, the friendships gained, and the needs met. As I learned more about B2B, I realized that my B2C experience could really help me excel in a business-to-business setting. The aspects I loved most about relation-ship-building were much more present in B2B than B2C. I liked the idea of networking with other in-dividuals within the same industry but in different roles from my own. Ultimately, the choice to go into B2B was one that replaced an earlier decision to go into public relations. Although it means building more connections and finding new leads in terms of finding a job out of college, I feel it is a worthwhile shift and that it really will be a great fit for my public relations experience and training. I came to realize that sales is more than trying to simply push a product on a customer or a business. It is the process of creating relationships with people who need what you have (whether they realize it at first or not) and bringing it to them with integrity and genuine care. It is the process of being a partner and a mentor. It is the process of negotiating and serving your team well while still looking out for the needs of the buyer or potential buyer. It is about helping people. It is about learning and listen-ing and participating and positively impacting people. It is about all those things I had placed value on throughout the years. That is not the whole story, though. When I was a young boy, my mother passed away as a result of ovarian cancer. Nearly three years ago, I underwent open-heart surgery to correct a heart condition

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I had only just learned I had. These experiences left a mark on me, and in many ways helped me grow. Because of these experiences, I decided to shift my career focus toward sales within the healthcare industry. Because I love building relationships, because I love to win, because I love to persuade, and because, above all, I want to help individuals who have been in situations similar to my own, this project matters to me. I hope it will also matter to other students contemplating a career in sales. All that being said, when I took on the task of executing a senior project, I knew it had to be on B2B sales. I spoke with my instructor, Dr. Lee Warnick, to seek his advice, and he was immensely help-ful in guiding my initial steps. He suggested interviewing B2B professionals and creating an e-book. He even shared a few contacts with me from his own professional network that proved extremely valuable in creating the final product. This gave me a great excuse to network and meet some extraordinary men-tors. I was able to interview three of these individuals, and find an additional seven people willing to speak with me through my own contacts and networking efforts through personal contacts, on Linke-dIn, and the BYU-Idaho alumni website. Again, it is with great gratitude that I share the insights they offered me in this project. Meet the Mentors

As I mentioned, much of this project is founded upon the wisdom garnered from hours of interviews with business-to-business mentors. They have worked in a wide range of industries, from selling mis-siles to the government, to providing logistics in moving products, to college merchandise, to medi-cal supplies. As I spoke with these business-to-business professionals, I tried to be brief and mindful of their valuable time. I planned to limit the timeframe of the interview to 20 minutes, but often, the mentors were so generous with their advice, and the conversation became so interesting, that it often reached the half hour mark. Most of the interviews were over the phone, with the exception of the one that took place with Jason Averill of Avercast, who invited me to meet him in his office in Rigby, Idaho. He devoted nearly two hours to mentoring me on various aspects of B2B, starting a business, and a myr-iad of things those two topics entail. I did not expect to spend that amount of my or, much less, his time in that conversation. But, oh boy, was it worth it. All of these mentors were willing to go the extra mile to accommodate me. Without further ado, allow me to introduce the mentors, in chronological order of the interviews:

Kyle Poll

Kyle leads a team of relationship managers with LinkedIn in New York City. His team nurtures rela-tionships and helps influential companies gain value while acquiring the right talent through the use of LinkedIns services. He has experience in the finance sector and is a BYU-Idaho alumni who has hosted BYU-Idaho communications students on internship expeditions to New York.

Jessica Black

Jessica is a marketing manager at Contently in New York City, where she worked her way up from an internship to helping to lead the charge where B2B marketing is concerned. Contently is a software platform that connects brands to talent. Jessica helps businesses maximize the quality and effectiveness of their visual and digital content. While she is not specifically part of the sales team, she is responsible for some of the interactions between client companies and Contently and marketing to other businesses in a way similar to a sales role. Clients of Contently include companies such as Coca-Cola, JP Morgan Chase, Walmart, Squarespace, and others.

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Jason Averill

Jason is an executive vice president and salesman (among other hats he wears) at Avercast, the company he started in Rigby, Idaho. Avercast is at the top of its game in terms of providing quality supply chain logistics to many clients, including Fortune 500 companies. The son of a man who revolutionized sup-ply chain technology, Jason has been working in the field for decades, and founded Avercast seven years ago after splitting off from the company his father founded. Avercast has become a successful and highly respected company in the supply chain management field.

Mike Lawton

Mike Lawton is the sales manager with Sierra Wholesale Supply in Salt Lake City, Utah. Among other items, Mike sells collegiate merchandise representing four universities in Utah, including the University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Utah State University, and Weber State University. Mike sells these items to and local retails stores of various types.

Cameron Hodges

Cameron is an account executive with InsideSales.com, and is based in Salt Lake City. Inside Sales provides a sales-acceleration software platform aimed at enhancing sales rep performance, forecasting, engagement-tracking, and other features. Cameron also has extensive experience selling in the mortgage industry.

Barry Hansen

Barry has done B2B sales in various industries for over 30 years, from the energy sector with Shell, to Hercules Aerospace, to the medical field, information technology, and commercial transportation. He is currently with Universal Technical Services in the Salt Lake City area.

Rachel Allen

Rachel is an account manager at Ulbrich Stainless Steel out of Dallas, Texas and Algonquin, Illinois. She has been working with Ulbrich for over 12 years, where she started in a temporary position right out of college, was quickly offered a full-time position, and then shifted into sales. Rachel mainly supplies steel and titanium for medical, automotive, and other industries.

Travis Beebe

Travis is a sales executive with MTX Medical Solutions in the Idaho Falls area. He provides imaging and radiology equipment to image centers, chiropractors, and hospitals. He has been in inside and outside sales for over a decade. Most of his experience prior to joining MTX was in the construction and build-ing supply industry.

Jay

After interviewing Jay, he asked me not to include his full name or company name in this document for reasons of avoiding disclosure of sensitive information about his company. Jay works for a leading

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pharmaceutical company and has years of pharmaceutical sales experience.

James Hudgens

James is a field sales manager for the Salt Lake City and Denver areas within Quintiles. Quintiles is a contract service organization which has partnered up with Takeda in order to help sell their product and conduct research on their behalf. James oversees the Quintile sales representatives and his partner manages the Takeda reps within his territory. James has extensive experience in pharmaceutical sales, providing solutions for various medical conditions, as well as possessing other extensive sales experi-ence.

With the combined years of acquired wisdom and knowledge across many industries, these individu-als are a valuable source of information. They truly have helped me to gain a greater understanding of business-to-business sales, including its challenges, rewards, best practices, and what it takes to succeed. Although they have different experiences in their respective sectors, the field of B2B creates a common experience among them that bridges gaps. I quickly learned that there are several common themes that run throughout B2B, be in what industry it may. I will discuss several of these hereafter.

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Part IIWhy Meaningful Relationships are

Everything

The Most Fundamental Concept in Sales

I have heard it said that in any interaction in which you engage with another human being or human organization, you establish a relationship, whether the other party is your spouse or the guy at the McDonalds Drive-thru. The nature of those relationships may be vastly different, but both constitute a relationship. With ones spouse, a persons relationship might include deep trust, years of treasured memories, intimate knowledge of the partners dreams, hopes, fears, personality flaws and strengths, and so on. It might include ups and downs and shared experiences, like the rearing of children. Between a customer and the employee at the McDonalds Drive-Thru, the relationship is one of strang-ers engaged in a mutually beneficial commercial transaction. It is hopefully cordial and pleasant, al-though probably impersonal and lacking much depth. You will notice that in the heading for this section, I included the word meaningful. Many types of relationships can be meaningful, such as that between spouses, with family members, between long-time friends, and perhaps even that which one has with a trusted doctor or teacher. They have depth. There is respect and trust. There is willingness to seek the interest of the partner. There is concern and care. The relationship with the fast-food employee is less likely to be a meaningful one, and if you were to ask a customer and the employee if their relationship was meaningful, they would probably think that a strange concept. In sales, both ends of the spectrum can exist between the provider and the purchaser. In a busi-ness-to-customer context, you might find that relationships tend to more often (though certainly not always) lean towards the less meaningful end of the scale, since it may only be a one-time transaction. In a business-to-business setting, however, best practices dictate that relationships be as meaningful as can reasonably and appropriately be achieved in a professional business setting. So what is a meaningful relationship in business-to-business sales, and why does it matter? Kyle Poll puts it simply by stating, At the end of the day, people buy from people. Its really im-portant that there is a relationship therethat they view you as someone who cares about their chal-lenges and their objectives, and that what you are providing them with is something that can help them. There is an important theme stated here: being engaged and caring about your client, and letting them feel that. Cameron Hodges similarly explains, People buy from people who they trust and in whom they have confidence. Its about building those relationships of trust. They look at you and they trust you because youve done the work, you know their business, you know the issues theyre facing, youve had those conversations, and youve provided sound solutions for them. Youre not just someone whos try-ing to pitch and sell them something and move on, but youre someone who wants to actually help them succeed and be better. The fact is that, in B2B, sales are normally not a one-time deal. They are usually prolonged cycles, and if a sales representative is doing the job correctly, there should be continued purchases from buyers beyond the first cycle. Those buyers need to feel like a sales representative will be a reliable part-ner for them in future interactions. Buying decisions are not always entirely analytical or simply based on the numbers and facts. As human beings, we generally choose to associate with people we like and trust. Creating relationships is the backbone of the business-to-business field, and hereafter, nearly ev-erything I present in this project will have something to do with establishing meaningful relationships. James Hudgens helps us understand further the importance of such relationships: Ninety five percent of what we do is relationships. My best friend is a nurse practitioner. His staff tells me that they have some pharmaceutical reps that come in, and his staff wont even let a rep see my buddy because they dont like him. All the physician or nurse practitioner has to do is tell the receptionist, That rep

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really ticked me off and I dont ever want him in this office again. And that rep will never see the eye-balls of that doctor ever again. And the rep may not ever know why. And it works the other way too. If they like you as a rep, theyll let you come back and do whatever you want. You pretty much have an open ticket whenever you walk in the door. To truly convey the massive weight that the relationship of two individuals can have, allow me to share a story that Barry Hansen shared with me. Barry had what you could call a missile crisis on his hands. Barrys company was building strategic weapons and nuclear missiles. He led a sales team that was tasked with providing these to a government agency. During the bidding process, a clerical error was made on a particular item in contract documentation. The government agency Barry was selling to had issued initial requirements and specifications, which were then revised. Buried deep in the docu-mentation they provided, the agency had changed the required quantity of an item from two to one. Someone on Barrys team missed that alteration and when they made their final bid, it was turned in with a quantity of two for that item. Barrys team won the contract. After the deal was finalized, the gov-ernment agency came back to Barry and told him that his company had delivered two of the item when they only needed one. Based on an individual unit value of $998,000, they requested that Barrys compa-ny refund that amount to them. Barry explained to me, So it was a million-dollar mistake. We knew it was a clerical error. We knew that the cost of materials and labor and everything was not in there. They didnt care. They asked for a million-dollar credit. In other words, the government was telling Barry they had been charged for two items when they only needed one, whereas everything else in the contract reflected that they were only receiving the parts and labor for one item. Barrys company had understood it as them wanting a quantity of one and charged them thus. And now, based on a slight error that did not affect them fi-nancially, the government representatives were asking for a refund. After walking through a process of pulling up bills for materials, quotes from vendors, and labor hours, Barrys team put everything on the table and showed the agency that there were not materials included for two of that item, but one. The quantity had simply been incorrectly written as two in one place in the documentation. Barrys compa-ny was not delivering two of that item, and so would be losing a substantial amount of money by hand-ing over the million dollars. Barry continued, Youre dealing with a machine and government bureaucracy. We fought that for almost ten months. Finally it got to the point where I just took one of the contracting officers out of the meeting and out into the hall. I said, Look, we have a good relationship. But you know that stuff s not in the papers and I know its not in there. Weve proven to you that its not there. There was a clerical error made on there and it was nothing more than that. Between you and me, cant we get this fixed? He looked at me and said, Ill take care of it. It got down to the point where it was only the relationship that I had established with this individual who was in a position to say, This was just a mistake and we need to correct this. And the problem vanished, just like that, after we had spent thousands of man-hours to research and show in all the right ways that this was a mistake. It all came down to the relationship that I had with one specific individual. Talk about crisis management! Barry was able to avert a potential million-dollar loss to his com-pany by simply calling on his relationship with a decision-maker on the other side of the dispute. His relationship with that individual literally saved his company from a million-dollar mistake.

Building the Relationship

I understood that relationships are important in sales, so my next question to the mentors was how one9

can go about building that relationship. At some point representatives must engage with a stranger. This stranger will potentially have interests and concerns that are quite different from those of the salesman. This individual and his or her company may or may not have dealt with the reps company before. Most representatives I interviewed indicated that the key was creating a personal relationship between the rep and the buyer on an individual basis. Travis Beebe points out: The company I was hired on with hadnt done sales in Idaho before and they tasked me with opening Idaho and a couple other territories. Part of that was seeking out well-established companies that have been here for thir-ty-plus years, and building relationships of trust with them in order for them to give me the opportunity to sell. So really, you are selling yourself first, and the company second. Its challenging, but fun at the same time. Its the bit toward the end of that thought that stuck out to me the most: So really, you are sell-ing yourself first, and the company second. I dont think Travis meant that the relationship his company had with those decision-makers wasnt important. Of course that is vital, but the face of the company for that buyer is the sales representative. That representative is the point of contact. The buyer must be able to relate to the salesperson and be comfortable with that individual. And most reps, as Travis seems to indicate, enjoy building those friendships. Kyle sheds additional light on the path to the buyers heart: Our clients have dozens of ven-dors or salespeople who are constantly reaching out to them and trying to get a piece of their budget. Even though we do have a great name and an amazing product, our clients are very busy and they dont always make the time for us. So its our job to, as quickly as we can, build a relationship by proving value and by providing them with something thats helpful to them. That could be sending them information, introducing them to someone in the industry, showing them something their company could be doing better, and other things. By doing things like that, we prove value. Youre putting deposits into the bank account before asking for a withdrawal. And you may need to prove youre adding value to them two or three times before you ask them to spend anything with you. James echoes this in the context of pharmaceutical sales: You get to know the account, see if they have any questions or needs, and try to create a relationship of trust. I think the best way to do that is to follow up with things they need as quickly as possible, whether thats a question about your product or a resource they may need for the patient, in order to show that youre a resource to them. During that process, as they get more comfortable with you, and they know that youre responsible and youre going to follow through, you become more of a resource to them. Then they can lean on you when they have questions or when they wonder if this is the patient that is appropriate for the indication. The relation-ship evolves over time. Rachel Allen also brilliantly illustrates this, and perhaps takes it even further. Says she, It has required a lot of talking to them, and I dont just talk to them about business. I actually learn about their lives. A lot of my customers are like my family in some ways. They ask for pictures of my newborn baby and that kind of thing. But if I dont have that relationship, I cant continue the sales because, at times, I may have higher pricing. But they come to us because they feel comfortable. Its just been breaking through barriers. These four reps teach us that building a relationship requires a few things. In order to build a re-lationship with a buyer, a salesperson needs to provide value and create trust by going above and beyond the sales transaction. He or she needs to provide support, whether that takes the form of answering questions, providing helpful information, sending a link to an article, helping the buyer make valuable networking connections, mentoring the buyer, following up regularly, or becoming a buyers trusted friend. This could be revolutionary information to someone with a business-to-consumer background like me. As I explained earlier, I have always sought to build relationships with my targets in my various

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sales and sales-related roles. I had mostly thought of that as me being myself and not necessarily as me performing an essential function of sales. It was obvious that it contributed to my success in those roles, but I didnt realize how inseparably integral it was to success in sales, especially in B2B. Now that these representatives have outlined the importance of relationships and some of the process for building them, I want to discuss some of what we as sales representatives or future sales representatives can do to prepare ourselves to construct these relationships. There principles are tools in our tool belt and keys that open doors of opportunity and success.

Knowing Your Clients and Their Needs

Nearly all of the ten individuals I interviewed were quick to address the importance of knowing ones buyers and assessing their needs. Almost everyone who has any sales experience knows that sales people discover and fill needs. They provide solutions to those needs. Salespeople are solution-providers. In order to build a relationship with a buyer, a salesperson needs to know the buyer before stepping foot in their office. Then, the rep should come out of the contacts office with an even greater knowledge of the company. It is his or her responsibility to know the company, know its needs, and communicate that need to the client. Kyle points out, You should research your client and know everything you can about them before you meet them. In the case of most companies, if they are a publicly traded company, all of their objectives, goals, and vision, should be out there publicly available. And even when that information is not public, there is still a lot of information you can read and learn about their products, their mission, and about the challenges theyre facing in their industry. There are always things you can learn before you go in there. Then you can go in already knowing things about their company and their industry, and be able to ask questions that are specific to some of the challenges theyre dealing with. That allows you to have a robust conversation about how you may be able to help them. Researching the customer before going into the interaction puts sales reps above competition who fails to do this. It makes a difference in creating a bond with the customer. Says Travis, Theres a lot of salesmen my boss refers to as brochure salesmen. You know the fundamentals about your prod-uct, and you can recite your brochure from A to Z perfectly. A lot of purchasers and decision-makers hear that all day long. They can go online and look at the brochure. Know your product, but research your customers before you go in. You can find out a lot about a person online these days. I like to find out some information about the individual and add that into my spiel. So Im setting myself apart from other salesmen by making myself more personable. It puts them off guard a little bit. Other sales people do it, but I like to the extra mile to really know the customer. In order to truly be motivated to research and understand the needs of a company, a sales rep needs to care about the company and the individuals he or she is interacting with in that company. Mike Lawton explains how having the companys best interest in mind is invaluable to succeeding in accom-plishing that: Whats made me successful is appealing to my customers interest and having his best interest in mind. I uncover the need. I show him what he really wants and needs, and that I can help fill those needs. I have learned that you really need to ask questions and listen. Let that person tell you what he wants, then question him intelligently and let him tell you what he wants. I then demonstrate specific benefits, like whats in it for him. Mike has also highlighted another important skill in sales. After researching a customer prior to meeting with him or her, a rep must truly seek to uncover needs while speaking with the customer. This is done by asking questions and listening, whether in person or over the phone. This can take place while a rep is not meeting with a potential buyer, and most of the mentors advised using the phone

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before using email. Often, the client might have some general idea of how to fill a need but need some specific direction. A rep should be prepared to provide that direction and answer questions. Says Jessica Black, Many people in our industry dont really know what they want until you give it to them. Maybe clients think that all they want is a bunch of listicles, for example, or a handbook for credit card ownership. But there are lots and lots of creative things they can be doing. Maybe they need to be doing infographics or motiongraphics or maybe they could do a long-form piece about what its like to own a small business and what the tax incentives are for that. There are tons of different things. Jessica knows the services that Contently can provide for clients. She knows the various ways she can help them. Because she knows the client and her own service, she is able to really fill that need. She demonstrates an exceptional effort to understand what will be in the best interest of her client.Another dimension of knowing your customer is knowing how your competition has been serving them. Travis also shared with me that he actively seeks to find out what the other companies are lack-ing and what you can do to be the better company in that aspect. Obviously, the other companies have done something right, which is why the client has stuck with them for so long. Learning about your competitions service and seeing where their strengths and weaknesses lie in terms of how able they are to address the specific needs of the client can be helpful. By looking at what they have done, with a sound knowledge of the needs of the client, sales reps can show the client how their product or service would better fulfill those needs. By thoroughly researching her clients, uncovering needs and gaining understanding by asking the right questions and listening, and by educating her clients on their needs, a salesperson can come know her clients well. This is crucial in being able to properly help provide solutions, coming off as credible, and in building a relationship of trust between a salesperson and her client.

Knowing Your Products or Services

Its hard to sell something you dont know about. Its hard to sell something for which you cant explain the benefits, function, and relevance to a potential purchaser. Most companies expect and rely on their salespeople to know their product or service backward and forward. Not only does it help you to sell it, it helps you to know to whom, when, how, and for what reasons it should be sold. This is especially true if the company provides an assortment of goods or services or if the products or services are very complex. Jay illustrates it for us thus: Being credible is important. You really have to know your product well. Thats a part of pharmaceutical sales that took me by surprisehow in depth the training is. Every time you get a new product, you get extensive training on the disease state and also training on your medication. You have to take a test to certify your competence in that product. When you are convers-ing with doctors, they have a much higher level knowledge of the disease state than you typically do, so getting all the education that you can and really being sharp on that helps you with your credibility when youre talking to those physicians. When they have a high level question for you, you really need to understand the context of the disease and know your product well so you can answer that question. The more prepared you are, the better resource youll be and the better relationship youll have. Some industries require more in-depth training and knowledge than others where B2B is con-cerned. Jay sells pharmaceuticals, which is one such industry. Regardless of the industry, however, knowing your product or services well really seems to serve the same function. It shows you are pre-pared and reliable. It shows you are a good resource when questions arise. It helps you market your product much better. Jay explained to me that, in pharmaceuticals, physicians usually have a greater

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knowledge of diseases and conditions that his products treat. Even so, knowing the product and as much as possible about the diseases themselves helps him communicate to care-providers just how his products can effectively treat a variety of patients. It also helps him answer questions when he is dealing with someone who knows more, medically, than he does. He does not need to know everything, but knowing what he does makes him effective. Barry shared with me that sometimes its helpful to know his product for another reason. He says, You will sometimes get people in a position to make decisions who do not have the technical skills or dont have an understanding of the product and the situation, and yet they are the person tasked with making the decision. It happens in small businesses because they dont have the depth of skills. It happens in large corporations because of the roll-down effect where the decision rolls down to someone else to make and if it doesnt work it gives them someone to hang later. It is important to know your product or service not only when you are at risk of not appearing credible before a qualified professional such as a physician who knows more than you, also when the decision-maker has a pretty weak grasp on whats going on. Barry explained that in this context, he is able to step in and educate the decision-maker on the full situation and also his product. He acts as an educator and a mentor to the buyer. What good is an educator who doesnt know his subject? Because Barry stays on top of his game and his product, he is in a situations where he is always a credible re-source, even if he faces the challenge of negotiating with someone who has a difficult time understand-ing initially. It is, of course, impossible to know every little thing out there. Human limitations are under-standable within reason. It seems there will be instances for every sales representative in which he or she will not have a clear answer for a customers query. Rachel offers a transparent, honest solution: Espe-cially in my field, there are times when theyre asking me about something I have no clue about. I go and find out what it is and then Im able to educate the customer. Sometimes I have to tell them I dont have the answer right now but that I will get back to them. And then you need to have good follow-through. Then they trust you. It is imperative to the success of ones relationship to the buyer that she know her product or service well. But in the limited number of instances in which she doesnt have a clear answer, Rachel suggests being honest about it. Telling a buyer she doesnt know the answer to a question and that she will get back to the individual with a complete response shows she cares about furnishing correct and accurate information. Her quick follow-through shows she is reliable when she commits to something and that the customers needs and concerns are a priority for her. By knowing his products or services to the greatest possible degree, being honest and forthright when he doesnt have all the answers, and going the extra mile to provide correct and accurate informa-tion, a salesperson can show credibility and be prepared to foster a meaningful relationship with buyers.

Knowing the Industry and Staying Current

The famous and respected management consultant Peter Drucker once said, Knowledge has to be im-proved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes. This man, known commonly as the found-er of modern management, seemed to believe that true knowledge was a shifting and changing thing. A mental muscle that must be exercised and flexed and improved upon in order to maintain and increase its strength. A muscle that could be a powerful tool when used well. Just as it is vital to a salespersons relationships with her contacts to know them as well as her products and services, it is perhaps equally important to stay in the know as to the industry in which they all reside. As can be inferred from Mr. Druckers quote, industries change, develop, and evolve.

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Some faster than others maybe, but they all are doing it right now. No industry will be exactly the same in ten years. Few people I have met know this better than Jason Averill. Jason has been working in the supply chain industry since he was a teenager. Many years later, he is now a business-owner within the industry his father revolutionized half a century ago, and is easily one of the most experienced and knowledge-able people in that industry that you could ever hope to find. Jason shared with me one of the activities with which he expends a great deal of his valuable and scarce time. Jason reads. Jason researches. He knows his industry backwards and forwards. He ensures that Avercast is on top of its game. Says Jason, Every day I spend a lot of time reading. Every day Im spending time staying on top of my industry. What are my competitors doing? What are the thought leaders in my industry saying? And how do I internalize that? How do I take even a great idea that has nothing to do with what I do and make it have something to do with what we do? Im passionate about it, and therefore, it keeps us on top of our game. When customers in the boardroom ask me how the industry is trending I can tell them. Jason comments that he is often much younger than these grey-haired corporate executives in the boardroom. They often question how much experience and knowledge he has in the industry. He looks young for his late thirties, and some of his competitors are men who appear older than him. To equate his younger age with less experience in supply chain would be a mistake. Jason can present what his relatives, who are leaders in the industry, are saying and share his own story and experience. And because he stays on top of everything in his industry, it quickly becomes apparent that he knows what hes talking about. He knows how the system he developed can address companies needs and how it compares to that of his competitors. Because these seasoned executives quickly can see how much he cares about the industry and how current he is, they trust him. Jason continues, And Ill get all these people in the room a lot older than I am saying, Okay, well go with you. Youre on top of it. These are executives. They cant be on top of everything. Supply chain is just one thing they are over. Theyve got a lot on their plates and they cant be the experts. So they look to me to be somebody whos on top of my game. It becomes transparent that you enjoy what you do and that you have experience and that youre good at it. You dont have to tell them directly. It comes through. You have to spend some time everyday staying on top of what it is that you are on top of.me everyday staying on top of what it is that you are on top of. Jessica expresses a similar sentiment. She feels that knowing the industry really helps her know what steps to take to keep her on top of the competition. She explains, In order to make the right sug-gestions to clients, we have to have our ear to the ground on whats going on in the industry and know what the smartest people in the industry are doing, and be able to create content around that and inspire our clients. A lot of it is about being creative and innovative and forward-thinking. In an even wider scope than just her industry, Jessica continues, Being aware of whats going on in the world is super important. That isnt just whats going on in the Middle East type of thing, but also what Coke is doing, what GE is doing, or who is writing for which publication. I read a lot. I wake up in the morning, and I check Twitter and Facebook. I check my email, and I talk to people about whats going on. Im on the internet all day long. I read Contently, because this is a place where everyone is informed and up-to-the minute. I try to stay informed. Both Jason and Jessica not only stress the importance of staying on top of the industry, but they use that knowledge as a tool to innovate, to adapt, and to succeed. Jason mentioned using concepts that perhaps have not been applied to what he does. He then innovatively weaves them into the work he does. Jessica knows that to stay relevant and to be able to consistently provide creative and up-to-date content, she has to be in the know. Both are thus able to innovate and provide the highest quality service possible to their companies and clients. 14

Successful salespeople have a passion for learning about their industry. They exert great effort and invest time into staying informed. They do as Peter Drucker suggests by improving, challenging, and increasing their knowledge constantly. By staying informed, current, and well-versed in the go-ings-on of the industry (and perhaps even a scope wider than their industry), they become credible experts. They become a valuable asset to their customers. Because they are valuable and helpful, they are trusted. They improve their relationships with their clients, and because of this, they close deals.

Building a Partnership through Effective Communication

The salesman who doesnt care about his buyer is salesman who doesnt sell. That would be the theme of this section. People who interact with vendors daily are sometimes calloused by people who just want their money and can become cynical of salespeople. They are harder to reach and harder to convince. It is especially hard when a sales rep does not know how to communicate his care and concern.On the other hand, a salesman who really cares about his customers, who knows about them and their needs, who knows his own products and services like the back of his hand, and who is an expert in his industry, is in a prime situation to be able to create a meaningful relationship with potential buyers. He is prepared to succeed. He is prepared to become not only a salesman, but a partner with the buyer. Each of the mentors I interviewed shared their valuable experience of how they have been able to incor-porate these elements into the practicing of their trade and how it has led them to success in creating partnerships with their clients. Much of the important elements of creating a partnership with a client have already been dis-cussed. Knowing your clients and their needs, demonstrating genuine concern for their well-being, and trying to provide the best possible solution for their unique situations are key examples. Partnership extends beyond that though. If theres one common theme in what these mentors shared with me where a partnership with a client is concerned, its communication. Effective communication is king. Commu-nicating the right thing, at the right time, and with the right tone can pay back in spades. Mike Lawton suggests frequent communication: Calls must be regular and creative. Its import-ant to have the follow-up. Its important that you dont forget about the buyer and that you continue to arouse interest within the people you are selling to. Be enthusiastic about your product and the value it will have to the people your selling to. If you show enthusiasm, it will breed enthusiasm in the buyer. But the enthusiasm must start with the sales representative. Youve got to put a smile on your face and really have a positive attitude. Its important that you keep good records on the calls that you make. I always have a clean page every day so I can record the results of each visit. I ask when I can follow up with the business and then I make sure I follow up when I say I will. Mike is constantly reaching out to his clients and ensuring their needs are met. He is concerned with how they feel toward him and actively tries to positively influence that. They can feel his genuine enthusiasm. While some salespeople are of the hit-and-run variety, that isnt the case for Mike. Unlike the Shirelles, his clients dont have to wonder Will you still love me tomorrow? Mike makes them feel like he cares. He takes meticulous notes so that he always knows what interactions he has had with clients and when he needs to reach out to clients. He is organized. He is punctual. He is reliable. And he plans his interactions so that his partnerships will continue beyond the first sales cycle. Jessica is comparable in her approach: Sometimes Ill do calls with clients in which Ill talk to them and make sure they know that we appreciate them and that we think theyre doing cool stuff. Were a partner for them, so we want to empower them as much as possible. They would not have used Con-tently if we hadnt built a relationship with them in the first place. And that relationship can be with our brand as well as with people within our company. 15

Jessica highlights, as Rachel did earlier, the importance of the individual relationship between a salesperson and a decision-maker. This is not just business-to-business sales. It is, at its core, hu-man-to-human sales. Individual-to-individual. It just so happens that each of the individuals involved is representing a great company as well. People need to feel individually appreciated and respected. Jessica said that she seeks to empower her clients by showing appreciation and letting them know they are on her mind. What a great word. The art of effective and meaningful communication is imperative to the success of a sales repre-sentative. How these reps communicate speaks volumes about them. Says Barry, Nowadays, there is a lot of electronic communication you can hide behind. For example, an email is easy to fire off. You can do it when you are ready, and when you feel like it and when you have the information you need, but it doesnt generally build a relationship. You need to be able to use those tools, but you need to be able to read people. A call or face-to-face interaction will always be more powerful in influencing a relationship than an email. Email is frequently used, and is often good and acceptable, but often follow-up really can be enhanced by a phone call or personal visit. Barry alludes to the need to read peoples nonverbal commu-nication. In person, this clearly has a lot of components, but over the phone vocal tone alone can speak volumes. Sales reps can get a message of enthusiasm and concern across by mastering their own body language (there are numerous books available that discuss this). They can also read the room, determine moods, and know how to approach contacts in this way. By being able to be on the same page as cus-tomers, read their moods, and adjust their communication accordingly, salespeople can create stronger partneships. As other mentors have previously stated, adding value consistently and faithfully can contrib-ute to a strong relationship between the salesperson and the customer. Learning how to read peoples communication effectively and mastering ones own body language is also paramount. Continuous and effective communication can help the two parties truly form a mutually beneficial partnership.

Sales: A Relationship of Integrity

An important part of a partnership, or any meaningful relationship for that matter, is trust. I have men-tioned this before, and have alluded to the importance of honesty. Along with honesty, we could include fairness and amicable interactions, even between competitors. This attitude of integrity seems to be very apparent within short order to potential or recurring customers. People in the B2B field make a name for themselves. Several of the mentors commented to me that often, the same people pop up over and over within the same industry. Lack of integrity or playing dirty seems to be sure to bubble up to the surface eventually. The truth is, a quick and dishonest sale by a rep is unlikely to generate future sales, while honesty and integrity are bound to create strong relationships and opportunities. Cameron says it this way: Overcommunicating with people, being completely open and trans-parent, and not trying to sugarcoat anything with them goes a long way because youre laying out those expectations for them. An old clich in sales is Underpromise and overdeliver. One of the worst things that can happen is they get blindsided by something that you could have easily communicated early on, but you may have been nervous to do that because it may be a flaw in your system. If you communicate that early on, it may not be as big of an issue as if you try to hide it and then it comes out later on. From what Cameron shared, it seems apparent that customers appreciate honesty, as anyone does. Being honest about expectations and then exceeding them is a long-term recipe for success. Since B2B focuses on long-term relationships and recurring transactions, covering up negative details of a product or service or creating unrealistic expectations in order to get an easier sale will only hinder

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a salespersons success. Travis touches on the subject by explaining the fate of those who choose not to take the path of integrity: There are a lot of salesmen who arent honest. And they get caught one way or another. Some-where down the road, theyll get a name for themselves. Ive seen it a hundred times. Its a small market, and people talk. He goes on to explain how taking the high road pays off: One thing I do that catches people off-guard is when a customer is looking for something with all the bells and whistles, and that might not suit them well. It may be more than they need. They wont be happy in the end, so a lot of it is selling them something that fits their need. And one time of selling them something less, and maybe its a down-sell from what you could have sold them, and theyll be a customer for life. I see a lot of salesmen who just want to go push the most expensive thing on their customer, get one sale, and theyre done. But I try to be a partner and not just a salesman. Dont look at yourself as a salesman. Look at yourself as a partner. Go out there and really do whats best for your customer. They will look to you for advice. I get calls all the time from people looking for my opinion. I might not sell them something immediately, but maybe later on Ill make a huge sale with them. Never take the low road and lie your way through to get a better sale. Be upfront and be honest. Youll get a lot farther that way. Being honest, as I alluded to, goes hand in hand with amicable relations and fairness toward both the client and competitors. Jason recounted to me stories about competitors who have used an approach thats known as scorched earth. Essentially, this is a tactic some sales people use when they lose in the bidding process with a potential buyer. Once they are out of the race, instead of trying to persuade the buyer to choose them, they focus their attention on bringing down the remaining compet-itors. Jason related a story to me in which the company he founded, Avercast, was bidding for a supply chain management contract with Kowasaki. A competitor won the initial bid. One of the decision-mak-ers for Kowasaki commented that Jasons company was a class act and that if he had had it his way, Avercast would have been selected over the competitor. After a short time, Kowasaki decided that the company that had won the bid was treating them poorly, and they decided to give Avercast a shot at taking their place. The dejected competitors response was, All is lost. Lets go kill the deal for the guys that won it. Using this scorched earth approach, they began to try to throw dirt on Avercast. They told Kowasaki why they were making a bad choice and so forth, in order to get the process delayed as much as possible to decrease the likelihood of Avercast suc-ceeding in closing a deal with Kowasaki. Jason added, I can tell you that no one at Kowasaki will ever do business with any of those peo-ple that said those nasty things. No one wants to do business with someone who acts like that. Jasons approach is different: Do good things and good things happen to you. I dont believe in coincidences. I believe you make your own luck. If you have the same attitude where you are helping everyonecustomers, students, whoeverit can come back to help you. The more you network, the greater your chances are of being successful. And sometimes its the people you never thought network-ing with would ever make a difference who make all the difference. Youve got to have a big network. Even if there are people out there who dont treat you so nicely, youre nice to everybody in the business world, because you never know when youre going to run into people again. Ive seen it time and time again. Weve got one customer weve sold software to about seven times as hes changed companies. And he always brings us along because he knows we do a great job. Likewise if you make an enemy at one company, all of a sudden when you get a hot lead with a company, guess whos going to show up? Its a small world. Regardless of the industry youre selling in, youre going to see the same cast of players over and over. Relationships are everything in business. Because Jason is honest and strives to be amicable with everyone he encounters, he is much

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more likely to open doors of future opportunity. He echoes the same thing Travis stated: its a small market, and people talk. People remember the ones who were nice and happy to help as well as the ones who played dirty and were less than honest. And as Jason says, you never know what could happen or who you could run into down the road. Its best to have a policy of integrity and amicable relations, because in sales, what goes around comes around. Rachel is a good example of this. She says, When I talk to competitors, sometimes theyll say, Ive heard your name, and Im like, Good! And being off on maternity leave, Ive gotten lots of texts from my boss saying my customers are waiting for me to come back.Because Rachel is amicable, practices integrity, and knows how to build a meaningful relationship with others in her industry, she has earned a good reputation. She is well-known, respected, and trusted in her industry as a result. Because these individuals practice integrity by doing good toward others, they are able to not only create better relationships with their customers, but they also open doors to future opportunities. They understand that success in sales is largely contingent upon this. And by doing this, they are more able to foster meaningful relationships.

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Part IIIOvercoming Challenges

One of the greatest challenges of the last century was that which the Allies faced when fighting Nazi Germany in World War II. For years, our countries fought to dismantle Hitlers chokehold on Europe. Many Allied countries were ravaged and enormous sacrifices were made, but the Allies refused to stop short of complete victory. And eventually it was accomplished. During that time, one of the most famous American military leaders of the war, George S. Patton, led the Third US Army as they forged their way into Germany. Patton was known for his temper and other shortcomings, but among his strengths was his indomitable will to succeed in the cause. And victory was achieved in part because of his efforts. Before achieving victory, General Patton is known to have said to his troops of the challenges they faced, Accept the challenges so you can feel the exhilaration of victory. Challenges are like a stairway to success. In any profession, or any worthwhile endeavor, success could not be reached without passing over those challenges. Without them, growth would not be pos-sible. It is by accepting challenges that we also embrace the possibility of success. I could not report on what I have learned about business-to-business sales without touching on the challenges that sales rep-resentatives face. They come in various shapes and sizes, but dealing with them effectively is a big part of the job of a salesperson. There are some challenges that appear to be universal in B2B across different industries. There are, of course, a myriad of other challenges, many unique to specific sectors. I will focus here on a few that I heard about commonly during interviews.

Rejection

The most feared aspect of sales, and perhaps one of the most unpleasant, be it in B2C or B2B is rejec-tion. The feeling of someone pushing back when you are trying so hard to move forward and the feeling of being pushed aside is one that deters many would-be sales professionals. I have, on many occasions, heard people say they would not go into sales because of the high amount of rejection associated with it. I am very, very familiar with rejection from personal experience in my past sales and sales-related roles. When I would knock doors as a missionary in Portugal, my companions and I would frequent-ly knock door-to-door in tenement buildings for hours on end. At the time this was considered one of the more effective approaches, and I did achieve considerable success at it, all told. Most tenements had four floors. Often, so many people would be rude or ignore us that we developed a saying as we would knock: Fourth floor, last door, as in it would be only after we had knocked every other door that we would get somewhere with someone. Even when we didnt we would start over on a new building. Rejection is inevitable in sales at some point, including in B2B. If you read the Sales: A Relation-ship of Integrity section, you will be familiar with the story of Jason Averill and his struggle to close a deal with Kowasaki. Youll recall that he was rejected initially, but his subsequent actions are what speak loudest. He was very classy and tasteful about it. In addition to what I shared about the conversation in that section, Jasons team said, Im sorry to hear that. Do you mind sharing some of why you chose them over us? We like to learn from our losses and well try to do better for the next customer. In other words, Avercast was respectful and still wanted to keep doors open. When Kowasaki had issues with Jasons competitor, they came back to Jason. How Jason dealt with the rejection paved the way to having future opportunities. Instead of giving into the temptation to act with bitterness after all the time and resources that were expended in the bidding process, Jason chose to be kind. And his kindness paid off. Rejection is not the end for a sales representative. It is a reality that occurs. It is, of course, min-imized by creating a meaningful relationship with a customers; but rejection happens to everyone at times. I will discuss some of those reasons further along. The important thing is to keep knocking.

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Good things happen to those who do good things.

Objections There are many reasons why someone might offer objections in a sales transaction. It may be the result of confusion, concerns about cost, concerns about implementation or compatibility of a product or ser-vice, or a host of other things. While engaging in an interaction with a client, objections are common. Objections are not the end of the road for a salesperson, however. Its quite the opposite. Mike Lawton explains, The job of a sales person doesnt really start until the customer starts to object. So I anticipate objections. I try to anticipate those objections and answer them before he states them. And then I am persuasive in presenting the plans that I have, which is the name of the game: dont just explain. Persuade. When I asked Mike what he meant by persuading rather than simply explaining, he said, If you have numbers to support your conversation, its more persuasive. If you can give them real numbers to compare prices and show them the benefits of buying with you, thats persuasion. The first thing I want to address here is that Mike anticipates objections. He doesnt fear them. He doesnt pray they wont happen. He anticipates them. He expects them and prepares for them. He re-searches and gets to know the potential buyer and her needs, he knows his products, and he knows the market. He listens to the buyer and based on her cues and his knowledge of the situation is able to for-mulate in his mind many of the objections she will have before she states them. A salesman who is able to assuage a customers doubts or reservations before she speaks them is at an advantage. She will have little to object to. She may have thought it, but she will have little to verbally object to, because before it comes out of her mouth, the salesman has caught it and addressed it. Objections still occur, even with fairly effective attempts to mitigate them. Most salespeople are equipped with techniques to overcome them once they have been stated. Cameron Hodges explains, It really comes down to asking more questions. One of the old sales clichs is that when they say no, it its not really no, but know. They dont know fully or understand what youre offering. Youve got to dive in deeper and get to the root of what the objections might be. Especially in the case of cold calls, you also need to understand that these people are getting approached regularly by sales people, so they get into a habit of not really listening and saying theyre not really interested. One technique is to act like you didnt hear the no, and sort of brush it to the side. You could say, Okay, I understand that, and try to make it into a conversation and not a pitch. That way you come across as an advisor. You want to have your research ready so you dont go in blind. That way you can ask questions that show that youve looked into them and you know whats going on internally from a high level overview. Cameron and other sales reps know that objections are not final. I explained earlier that even complete rejections are not always final, so objections, even when the customer says, You know, I dont think this is what were looking for, is not necessarily the end. Cameron is able to make the interaction feel like a conversation in which he is addressing concerns rather than a pitch in which he is being told to take a hike. He does this by, again, knowing his contact, knowing how is service can benefit them, and knowing the market. He is able to ask contacts questions, listen and address them. He discovers needs. He educates the contact. According to Cameron, if the contact is well-educated as to what he has to offer, she is much less likely to reject him, and is likely to have her concerns resolved. Often that process is easier said than done. James Hudgens explains, The one fight we have every day is to prove to the doctors that there is a good reason for them to buy our product versus the competitions. And we could prove it to them till were blue in the face, but because theyre so busy with everything they do, they might hear it but not listen to it. So we might have to remind them of the

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message that we told them ten times before which they still havent heard. I think James is saying that overcoming objections is not always easy and its not always quick. It requires patience and persistence. Losing patience would jeopardize the relationship that he has with his buyer. But somehow, he manages to get past many objections and close sales many times. He leads a team of very successful pharmaceutical representatives. They face objections every day. Still, they make sales happen. Knowing how to deal with objections, and that it is a huge part of the job, helps salespeople overcome that challenge. It helps them get past the no, get to the know, and then the close.

Office Politics

For all the advantages that knowing the right people in the right places and creating the right relation-ships can have for a sales representative, relationships can create a challenge for salespeople. I am refer-ring to the complex relationships that potential buyers have among themselves, and competitors, that pose a barrier to the sales rep. Lets say you are selling medical equipment to a hospital. The hospital already has a vendor that its decision-makers have established a relationship with. Well suppose that this vendor is much more well-established than your company. It is a safe choice for these decision-makers, because a majority of hospitals in the region buy from this vendor. If something goes wrong with the equipment or the vendor doesnt treat the hospital administration well, perhaps no one is blamed because this vendor is a leader in the industry. If decision-makers decide to purchase from a small company, they face a greater risk to their job, because if something goes wrong it looks like a bad call on their part. Furthermore, if one decision-maker has ties to that vendor, it is possible they will be chosen over another vendor without those connections, even if they provide better products or services. Politics can be a big challenge to overcome. Jason explains, Theres always politics going on. Just because you have the best product doesnt always mean you can win a political battle. Sometimes we have 20 people involved in the decision-mak-ing process, and some of those people may have used our competitors over the years. Its kind of like how you have some guys who like to drive Fords and some guys who like to drive Chevys. Its pretty hard to make a Chevy guy like a Ford and vice versa sometimes. Thats just how it is. And weve got kind of the same thing going on. Weve got people that have used our competitors products and theyre al-ready comfortable with that. They dont want to be retrained. People are creatures of habit. Its political. If somebody makes a $300,000 investment in Avercast, and we dont deliver, all of those other people that wanted the other solutions and want the job of whoever is in charge will go after him for making a bad decision. Sometimes it might be difficult to understand the complicated reasoning behind why competi-tors are chosen in the bidding process. We might not have the whole story, and often there are political reasons behind it. Trying to continue to build relationships, be amicable, and continue to show that one has the best service or product may help. Politically-motivated decisions are certainly a challenge that sales representatives face.

Lack of Integrity in Competitors or Buyers

If you recall, I spoke previously on problems involving a lack of integrity on the part of competitors in my Sales: A Relationship of Integrity section. It included a concept that apparently is common within

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Government regulations and policies do affect the work of a salesperson. My purpose in discuss-ing this is certainly not to say that government regulation of industries is a bad thing. I do want some sectors of sales known as scorched earth. This tactic involves a company who has lost the bidding process with a company saying nasty things about the company who has been chosen in order to try to ruin the deal for that company. The company that has lost is essentially trying to destroy the deal for its competitor. I also spoke earlier on the fact that some sales representatives will take the low road as opposed to the high road in terms of honesty in order to make a sale. Travis Beebe indicated that such individu-als earn a reputation because people talk. That being said, both mentors indicated that acting with integ-rity pays off long-term, because the honest representative earns an honest reputation. Jason teaches that doing good and being nice to everyone is always repaid eventually. I am a firm believer that everything bubbles to the surface eventually, be it good or bad. If people talk, and you run into people you know in surprising places, it pays to act amicably and fairly. In the mean time, competitors who do take the low road can pose a challenge to the honest salesperson. Another potential struggle is a buyer who chooses to take the low road. Jason shared another interesting story of an executive at a Fortune 500 company to whom he had sold his services. In the contract that the executive had signed, his company had agreed to pay Avercast for the time Jasons em-ployees spent training the buyers employees in the use of their software. Jason had sent his employees to carry out the training. The executive then said he would not pay. Jason asked if there was something he didnt like about the service. The executive said the training and the service and the software were all great, but he simply did not want to pay. Jason pointed out that the hourly rate was stated in the con-tract. The executive acknowledged this, and still said he didnt want to pay. Perhaps because this com-pany was so prestigious and large, the executive thought he could get away with treating Jason poorly. After all, Jason was getting brand recognition out of this. The executive thought wrong. Jason had been very professional and polite. His solution was to simply turn off the software. The company suddenly had an emergency on its hands, and suddenly agreed to pay what it had promised. Jason says, You kind of have to call peoples bluff sometimes. You cant let people walk all over you. It is evident that there are people out there who will try to take advantage of sales representatives in the same way that some sales representatives will take advantage of buyers. Integrity, cordiality, and as Jason illustrated, firmness, are important in dealing with such challenges. A sales rep can be friendly and professional without allowing herself to be taken advantage of.

Motivation

Business-to-business sales is a profession that necessitates will power and motivation. Without motiva-tion and self-discipline, it can be hard to accomplish anything. The difficulty sometimes lies in the fact that many representatives have a considerable amount of autonomy. Regulating and abiding by a strict schedule is essential. James Hudgens, who manages a team of pharmaceutical reps, relates, One of the challeng-ing parts about what we do is staying motivated. I am only with my reps about once every four weeks, depending on their schedule. Theyre by themselves every day. It would be easy for them to sleep in and go to work at ten and be home at two and have a long afternoon. But thats not what successful reps do. I have no doubt that the reps Im with today would be up at 7:30 in the morning and have no problem getting home at 5:30 in the afternoon. But when you dont have to report to anyone, its easy to become pretty lazy. And thats an issue that we do have, and as managers we have to monitor that. James has full faith in his representatives, and some are nationally ranked. He is confident in

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their dedication and desire to achieve. This is one thing that truly sets successful reps apart from un-successful ones. Several of the mentors I interviewed shared with me the absolute importance of a rep being passionate about what he does. Without that passion, it is difficult to communicate enthusiasm or go the extra mile in order to succeed. Its not enough to have experience and be good at it. One must feel motivated to perform.

Pressure

Sales is a high-pressure career path. Results are expected of sales reps. To quote Jason, In sales, its all about what youve done lately. They dont care about how much of a rock star you were last year. You could be leading the company for three years in a row and if all the sudden youre at the bottom of the list, they might fire you. Its super high stress. But theres a huge reward for that stress. If you cant take pressure, dont do sales. Perhaps this is why motivation is so important. A sales rep absolutely is depended upon by her company to generate sales. If she doesnt sell, the company doesnt succeed. If she does, the company prospers. That is why it is important to be like these mentorsconstantly on their grind, as the phrase goes. Sales reps are expected to use all the techniques in their power to network, make meaningful inter-actions happen, and close deals with integrity. It also seems to be crucial to constantly be planning ahead. Jason continues, When youre in sales, how are you filling your pipeline? When I close a deal today, Im already worried about what were going to close in six months from now. Ive been working on some deals for two years, some for a year, some for six months, and Im closing a bunch right now. But Im worried about whats down the road.A sales rep is not only concerned with the here-and-now. She is concerned with tomorrow. She is plan-ning ahead and actively working to make sure the right opportunities are available to be able to create relationships and close sales. Many people seem to want to work in sales because of the money. And generally speaking, the earning potential of a B2B salesperson can be very high. I truly believe there is a reason for that though. It is a high-pressure job. It requires motivation, resolve, planning, creativity and fortitude, and not just a desire to earn a high salary. With these attributes, a salesperson can overcome this challenge and produce fantastic results.

Policies and Regulations

Although some industries run into the challenge of changes in or the need for strict adherence to gov-ernment regulations more than others, few perhaps find themselves in this situation as much as medical supply and pharmaceutical sales reps. It is often required that such reps engage in extensive training in order to be qualified to sell to medical institutions and physicians. Travis says, Sales is sales. Youre doing the same thing with a different product or service, deal-ing with different people and personalities. But one struggle in medical sales is government policies. Ive had to take a lot of different courses. Ive had to become HIPPA certified and do a lot of things to be qualified to sell to a contact. Once youve jumped through all the hoops, youre still not guaranteed to sell them anything really. Obamacare has changed the field dramatically, especially in medical sales. Honestly it has hurt things, because hospitals arent spending the money they used to spend. Theyre trying to make their equipment last a little longer. A lot of government regulations. Jay spoke on the extensive training he was required to undertake in order to be qualified to per 24

form his work. I quoted him on this earlier in the section entitled Knowing Your Products or Services. He explained that he took many courses in order to be qualified for his job, and that there was a steep learning curve associated with that. Sales reps have an important responsibility to be educated and up-to-date on policies and regulations both of local and the federal government, as well as those of their company. They also have the responsibility to abide by those policies and regulations.

Challenges are what make the job interesting. Without them, it is hard to grow. I feel Travis had the right attitude when he told me, I just enjoy the challenges. Ive been told I couldnt sell this to them and so forth. I thrive on overcoming that and be able to achieve the sales. Knowing these challenges helps in the process of overcoming them. This is certainly not an ex-haustive list of all the challenges a B2B rep can face in her job, but they were frequently discussed by the mentors I interviewed and are relevant to any potential salesperson. Overcoming barriers and difficul-ties is part of being victorious in any pursuit. So, as General Patton suggested, Accept the challenges so you can feel the exhilaration of victory.

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Part IVPursuing a Career in Sales

Preparing for a Career in Sales

Any great endeavor demands preparation in order for it to be accomplished successfully. I would re-fer to myself as an avid outdoorsman. To me, there is nothing like the thrill of an outdoor adventure, treading through alpine meadows, ascending mountains, and trudging through scenic canyons. I love to hike and backpack and camp. I even have a blog about it. And if there is one thing that my years of outdoor experience have taught me, its preparation. Believe me, Ive spent nights shivering in rain and frigid cold because I did not bring the proper equipment or clothing for the elements. It took me time to learn to read the signs, to know what I needed to do, and to know the proper gear to have for different situations. Likewise, embarking on a career in sales demands attention and preparation. It demands the development of skills. It demands that a rep network and build connections. It demands that one ac-quire experience. It demands that one bring along, to refer back to my analogy, the right gear along on the trail to the summit of success. Up in the mountains, when people dont know what they are doing, how to get where they are going, do not understand the terrain, and are not properly equipped, they dont succeed in their journeys. They succeed in getting lost and giving Search and Rescue job security. Luckily, I have ten wonderful mentors who have helped me prepare by giving me some of the gear and knowledge I need to start a career in B2B sales. Jason Averill suggests, There are three criteria for being successful. Youve got to do something that you enjoy doing, because even if you have experience but hate it, youre never going to do well. And you have to do something you know. And you have to be doing something you are good at. Going back to the first criteria, he adds, If you do something youre passionate about, you are going to be success-ful. I dont care what industry it is. In every industry there are wealthy people. Because theyre the best at what they do. Why are they the best at what they do? Because theyre passionate about it and theyre good at it and they have experience in it. The first step is to be passionate about it. I know why I want to get into sales. I love befriend-ing people and helping them and persuading them. I like to overcome challenges and win. And more specific to the industry Im interested in, healthcare is very important to me for very personal reasons. I have a story, as do all of my mentors. A story can be made. You arent born into experience. You build it. I believe that any college student can start right now and build the experience they need to succeed in what they want to do. But they need to have a reason why. Once you have that passion, you will spend time getting that experience and getting good at it. I think I have some innate talents that would make me a good sales rep. But I need to develop those talents. I develop them because I am passionate about them. I am likewise passionate about hiking, but I have been through some miserable experiences and learned a great deal. It was worth it to me to go through those experiences, because I knew the payoff would be valuable to me. I had a why, and I gained experience, and I became good at it. Jay shares with us a similar piece of advice: Any sales experience you can get is going to help. If you can show you were able to grow revenue, depending on how youre measured, to show some linear change in your role. Its not totally vital, but any sales experience is good. Also, within pharmaceuticals, they like if you have a bit more of a science background. When I went to BYU-Idaho, they had clusters, so if somebody did a biology or chemistry cluster, that would be good. That just helps you with the ini-tial training too. I didnt have much of a science background so it was a pretty steep learning curve for me on the science background. Jay suggests experience in sales. How can one know they want to pursue a career in sales if he has not experienced success in sales? Jay indicated to me that he had not acquired a background in science before joining the pharmaceutical industry. He ended up having to learn a lot more in a short period than a biology major (for example) would. Luckily, he had the experience elsewhere in sales to

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prove that he had what it took to succeed. There is certainly not one path to being prepared, but know-ing what recruiters are looking for is paramount. There are all kinds of opportunities to grow and gain experience and skills that will help someone prepare to commence on the path to success in sales. Another theme these mentors highlighted was flexibility and the ability to recognize different opportu-nities. Jason teaches, I see a lot of kids coming right out of college and theyre looking for the perfect setup. The perfect scenario. And what truly successful people in business realize early on, is that there is no such thing as a perfect opportunity. There are opportunities. There are some good opportunities and maybe some that arent quite as good, but every opportunity is a stepping stone to your next step. If you keep the big picture in mind, there are all sorts of opportunities out there. Ive gotten over 60 interns over the past two years. And I dont pay my interns. I cant pay to train these interns for three months and then have them leave. But these kids realize that I am providing them with experience. They recog-nize that we work with these big, giant companies and that it gets their foot in the door at these compa-nies. These guys are all doing supply chain in these giant companies, and theyll all say the reason they got job offers is because they interned here. It puts them head and shoulders above everyone else. Most of Jasons interns are not sales interns. They are programmers or any other assortment of people gaining experience under his tutelage. But his advice applies to anyone. Seeking opportunities to become better at and prepare for what you wish to do is key. Jason teaches that there is not only one path to success. Those who broaden their mind to alternative possibilities and strike when good oppor-tunities arise end up being successful. Other mentors recommend developing specific skills while in college. Says Kyle Poll, If you can take a class or a few classes that teach you Microsoft Excel, do that. Learn how to run a spreadsheet. I would definitely do that while youre in school. No matter what job you do, whether its in sales or anything else, Im amazed at how ignorant people sometimes are when a spreadsheet is placed in from of them. Almost any role you fill will require you to use that at some point. I would also take classes in personal finance. Everyone has to learn the quadratic equation or Pythagorean theorem in college and it seems like there are very few times you actually use those things but you eventually need to know what a 401K is and the difference between a stock and a bond. When you get your first job, all of a sudden youre presented with all these options and you might not know what to do. So I would definitely take a personal finance class. Cameron Hodges echoes some of Kyles advice: Its important to know the basic tools in Mic-rosoft like Excel. Be able to properly format an email. Use correct grammar. These things can make or break your effectiveness as a sales rep. If you send out an email with poor grammar, it will reflect