You're not a "Guru" or "Expert" so stop saying that

I recently attended a trade show (seems all my good stories are coming from trade shows lately) and there was a self proclaimed "Guru" of sales and success there. He was one of the Key sponsors so he was given some time to address the crowd that gathered that day. Now, I have no problem with him speaking to the crowd for a few minutes but considering how many people paid good money for a trade show table that day, I felt it inappropriate for him to speak for close to 20 minutes, when all the other sponsors only took 5 minutes. My next problem, this guy spent his entire time pitching us on how wonderful he is, how great his radio show is and etc.... One of the first things they teach you in most sales programs is the concept of "don't sell the steak, sell the sizzle." Put in simpler terms you need to sell the reasons why people should buy from you as opposed to why they should buy your product. Teddy Roosevelt is famous for saying "speak quietly and carry a big stick." In other words let your actions speak to your capabilities.

I don't know about you but every time I have sat in a presentation and the person doing the presenting called themselves some kind of "Guru" or "Expert" it made me skeptical and left me feeling guarded. What's worse is these people rarely say anything innovative or compelling. Many times I get the feeling that they are simply reading out of the same sales books I have read over the years and just putting their own stamp on it.

Don't get me wrong.... that is exactly what I am doing with this blog. I didn't create any ground breaking sales techniques or closing techniques. I didn't start a school for sales and sales management. Most importantly I DON'T call myself a "Guru" or an "Expert." I like to describe myself as someone who "gets it." That is in fact the highest compliment I can pay someone. Because frankly, there are a lot of people out there that just don't "get it." Now "It" can mean many things. For the most part, I am usually talking about people in the sales world who don't take any time to try and learn effective selling or intelligent prospecting. They generally think networking is a waste of time and once they get the sale they don't care about the customer. They don't get it.

A few years ago I was in the position to take a promotion to sales manager. During the conversation of duties and compensation and etc the "consultant" suggested my new title be "Director of Business Development." I told him that I thought the title made me sound like a pompous windbag. He told me that was his title at his last company for over 12 years. And that just proved my point.

So here are my thought about titles. When was the last time you saw a business card and the titles said "sales person?" you don't, were all "account managers" or some variation thereof. We're sales people! Stop it! We don't manage anything! We can barely manage ourselves. Our primary job (read that 95% of what is expected of us) is to find new customers to grow company revenue. That's it, end of list. Now many companies will tell you that they want you to take care of the customers and handle their problems and keep them happy. But ultimately, they don't pay you that way, they pay you to sell. I had a sales manager who would not lift one finger to help a customer unless one of his reps had directly sold it because, otherwise it didn't effect his bottom line. I personally felt he could not be more WRONG about that, but we disagreed on a great many things when it came to sales and the customer.

 On the flip side of this one, I meet people in sales roles all the time who tell me "well, I'm not a sales person." I have a little surprise for you. If your primary role in your job is to get someone sitting on the other side of the table to write you a check, sign a contract or do both, your a sales person. And YES, that includes small business owners. If you are a one person shop then sales is part of what you do and you are indeed a sales person. For some reason there is a negative connotation to the term "sales person." Forget about the fact that just about EVERY company on the planet has at least one sales person and without that sales person the company would almost come to a screeching halt. To be clear, I don't think sales people are any more important than any other position within the company but  like all other positions we are necessary. Just like a car engine, every moving part is essential to the engine running smoothly. Lose a part and eventually the engine will lock up.

Now, I will never tell you I am an expert of anything, but when people I know tell others I am, that is a win. That means I am doing something right. That is what you want. Even better, get someone to write an article about you and call you an expert, because that builds credibility and credibility is the foundation of all long term sales relationships.

So here's the summary: don't label yourself awesome. If you truly are, others will do it for you.

Thanks for reading today,

Mike S.

BTW, follow me on twitter   @mistertelecom