By Laura Krauss
Everyone is in sales. Yes, you heard me right. I’ll say it again. Everyone is in sales.
Think about it. We are all selling ourselves on a daily basis with whom we interact. Regardless of the fancy corporate title or non-descript nomenclature tied to describing just a small part of who we really are, we are all selling something to someone else.
Reflecting on this, I recall being 12, yearning for a job. Though too young to work legally, I ventured into babysitting for local families for some cold hard cash. What was I selling? A fun time for their kids.
In college I gave tours to prospective students and their parents. We’d walk around campus for an hour, I’d tell a few funny stories, and answer questions on the fly. What was I selling? A $40k/year tuition at a 4 year institution. A $160k sale was entrusted to a 20 year old. Wow. After my college years, my journey in ‘sales’ took an international turn.
An after college internship found me living in a London flat in the St. John’s Woods area with other recent grads “working for free”. I didn’t know anything about the hospitality industry where I landed an internship with Marriott International. What was I selling? My attitude, effort, and skills (some of which I learned at that $160k, 4 year institution).
You get my point.
It wasn’t until years later when I truly understood the more concrete lessons in sales.
I learned sales professionals often get a bad rap. They’re pushy, talk too much, and have an unbecoming commission breath you can smell a mile away. If that’s the experience you’ve had working with salespeople over your lifetime, I feel sorry for you. But mostly I feel sorry for them.
Sales is the best profession in the world. And that’s a good thing since we’re all in sales, remember?
After spending 25 years in various roles across Sales Operations, owning a DirectBuy franchise, being an accomplished Account Executive and most recently a Regional Vice President of Sales, I would love to share some best practices that all of us can use as we sell ourselves in our chosen professions and in life.
Believe in your Untapped Potential
Untapped potential is the difference between where a person is now and where he or she can be. The delta, no matter how big or how small, is up to YOU and is your unique superpower. No one can take it away from you, no matter where you work.
There are millions, dare I say billions of people walking this earth who have yet to realise their untapped potential. Sometimes it takes another person believing in them before they will believe in themselves. If that describes you, please let me be your number one fan. There is no other like you. No one else has had your exact life experiences. Your hopes and your dreams belong to you alone. That sets you apart from everyone else and is the greatest differentiator this world needs. Believe in your untapped potential.
Attitude, effort, and skill is the Sales Trifecta that will determine your success
My first “real” sales job as a quota carrying Account Executive was at SAP Concur. I was “a bull in a china shop”, telling instead of listening. Not having much success, I tied my self-worth to my low sales performance and was not in a good place mentally. Anyone who has been in sales long enough knows the crippling, spiralling feeling of telling yourself you’ll never be successful at anything ever again.
I sold $82k of software on a $450k quota in 2016.
I sold $1.2M of software and was Rep of the Year in 2017.
Same quota. Same territory. Different attitude, effort, and skills.
I took this same best practice of maximising my attitude, effort and skills set at my next two companies where I achieved my annual quotas in less than 9 months. Everyone wants to know the secret sauce or magic bullet of success in sales. Whenever I was struggling, all I needed to do was adjust one or more of those three things and results changed for the better. Attitude, effort, and skills will determine your success every single time.
Take a TEAMS based approach to leadership and life
You can’t be married to the mission for success without these first three characteristics applied: trust, empathy, and authenticity.
Trust your Talent
Empathy for Everyone
Authenticity before Accountability
Married to the Mission for…
Success in Sales
I’ve had 20 bosses in 25 years in Corporate America. My best managers throughout my career gave me autonomy to do what I do best, asked where they could best support me, and believed I was a valuable asset to their team by regularly sharing feedback with me.
We live in a world where trust, empathy, and authenticity comes at a price. I’m here to tell you those characteristics are priceless. Find ways to build trust, empathy, and authenticity in your everyday routines. They won’t go unnoticed by everyone you meet.
We are all in sales. We are all leaders.
Everybody’s following somebody. Be that somebody, today!
MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laura Krauss
Laura Krauss is an accomplished sales professional who spent the last 25 years honing her sales and leadership skills at Marriott International, Wolters Kluwer Health, MedImmune/AstraZeneca, DirectBuy, Stallergenes Greer, SAP Concur, Unanet, and Coupa. After a recent layoff in the tech world, Laura is building out her sales advisory consultancy, founding Ripple Effect Sales Advisory LLC in 2024.
Laura loves working 1:1 with sales reps and first line sales leaders helping them achieve more than they ever imagined. She seeks to bring some fun back to one’s sales career and guides sales reps and leaders on how their ripple can be the positive change this great profession needs. She posts daily on LI—on topics surrounding sales, leadership, and self-improvement.
Laura can be followed here: http://linkedin.com/in/laura-krauss-sales-advisory
Contact Laura—and quote FOUNDERX—for 10% off bespoke sales advisory packages and services.
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