The Strategic Sell: What It Takes To Be A True Sales Professional

Over the years I have met hundreds of distributor sales reps, as well as some great people in sales for manufacturers and rep companies. To say our industry takes professionalism from one extreme to the other is an understatement. I’ve seen folks embarrassingly casually dressed for the workplace and shockingly undertrained.

I’ve seen many salesmen who show up in three-piece suits, great hair and shined shoes, but then are not knowledgeable on the customers or their vertical market.

And then there are those reps who are the gold standard. These are the people who take their jobs, customers and careers seriously. They make that seriousness apparent in how they walk, talk and aspire to reach their goals. Like any professional athlete, they’ve trained for their performance. Yes, regardless of the industry, a professional trains for the job, not for two weeks while shadowing a manager or a co-worker, but for the lifetime of his or her professional career.

Truly, there is no dearth of “how to clean” training. No issues with a lack of in-service options on how to put down floor finish. No lack of “Restroom Cleaning 101.” But who is responsible for training on the true basics of business professionalism and consultative sales expertise? Yes, there are some consultants that do this. But in general they are not deployed consistently or their teachings reinforced after leaving. I get it … in our economy every manager is wearing five hats and one must prioritize. But consistency is key, and sooner or later, I believe it becomes as much a part of on-boarding new sales team members as the key vendor introductions.

I would like to draw an interesting parallel for you to think about. Over the last few years in the healthcare industry, in order to improve Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores, consultants have begun teaching everyone from environmental services teams to nurses about AIDET. A trademark of The Studer Group, AIDET is an acronym that stands for Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation and Thank You. These are the very basic human interactions that make a patient and family (or a client and team) feel that they are cared about.

However, if we were to have an “AIDET” for our sales teams, what would it be? I suggest APITS: Awareness, Preparation, Image, Tools, Service.

One way to reinforce your position within your current accounts is to continuously be Aware of their major challenges. For example in healthcare it could be HCAHPS or healthcare acquired infections; with building service contractors, it is both staffing and margins; in food processing, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) and certifications.

Preparation means doing your homework before the first meeting. Who are the players, who are the company’s competitors, who is your competitor in the account, etc.

Image is not everything, but it is important. When you’re in the field working with customers, I personally don’t think a suit is an everyday requirement. Know the plan for the day and dress to fit the audience. Image goes further than attire. With new hires especially, we should train our teams on details like proper eye contact, body language, grammar, email etiquette, etc.

Use the Tools of the trade. Every sales rep in our industry should have and use a computer to help them stay Aware and Prepared. Have and use a calendar to plan meetings, set agendas and confirm locations. Have and use supply chain partners to team sell. Have access to and utilize industry apps to track activities, learn about products and target prospects. The list goes on and on.

Finally, as sales professionals, our teams must provide above-and-beyond Service. We need to continuously provide customers and even prospective accounts with our out-of-the-box solutions. Proactive distributors and manufacturers realize that time is the new currency and especially the time to manage a large facility or campus. Keep customers aware of emerging solutions, provide them with recommendations and contacts, and if you have the expertise, provide the solution itself. The bottom line is that this level of professionalism allows our sales teams to become an indispensible resource, and that helps your organization’s profitability.

Tina Serio Saunders, I.C.E., MBA, is president of SonicTrain, LLC, creators of The Arena gamification platform, owner of xSell360 Consulting, and strategic innovation leader at Nichols. She is an industry leader in marketing technologies and has led development on numerous sales tools. She provides training, strategic management consulting and marketing implementation around the country. Her insight comes from over 17 years industry management experience. You may contact her at 419-297-0822 or tina@sonictrain.com.