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Get Discovered - Sales Career Advice

Written by Jeb Blount

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Change Sales Jobs While You Are On Top

What is important to understand is that today’s mountain is tomorrow’s valley. All salespeople, and I don’t care who you are, are going to have a slump from time to time. When your time comes, in today’s business environment, it is unlikely that your company is going to cut you a break. Soon you will find yourself searching job boards, sending out resumes, calling recruiters, and begging your friends for help.

{mosimage}As a Sales Professional if you are on top, exceeding your quota, making President’s Club, and basking in the glow of your own brilliance, now may be the very best time for you to look for a new sales job. I realize for some the idea of changing jobs when you are doing well in your current position may seem counter intuitive. But consider this for a moment. When is the best time to close your next deal? Immediately after you just closed your last one. Why? Because you feel confident, you feel great, and you are a much better negotiator. Since you don’t need the sale it is more likely that you will get it.

The same thing is true with your career. While you are on top it is likely that you are getting more calls than ever from executive recruiters, that you have old managers calling you, or that you have people you worked with before talking to you about opportunities in their companies. Juxtapose that against what happens when you are out of work and searching – nobody is calling.

The brutal fact is if you are in sales, sooner or later you are going to be looking for a job. So why not look for your next job when you don’t need it – when you are on top? If you do you will find several things that are in your favor:

• More time and more to choices. You will have much more variety to choose from. More companies, more territories, more industries. You will have more time to explore and choose the very best path for your next move.

• People will talk to you. Because you are on top and you are employed you will be surprised at how open companies, managers, and recruiters will be to sitting down and discussing your next career step with you.

• Make more money. Since you don’t need a job and you are performing at a high level, you will be in a powerful negotiating position. You can demand and expect to receive more salary, better perks, and a bigger signing bonus. You will be handsomely rewarded for being a top performer.

{sidebar id=1}I once heard a wise Sales Vice President say that most salespeople are either just starting a new job or thinking about their next one. That may or may not be true however; if you are in sales you can be absolutely certain that sooner or later you will be looking for a new job. In fact the vast majority of Sales Professionals are changing companies every 24 to 36 months.

Sales is brutal. Companies are demanding more of their sales professionals and have less patience for slips in performance. If you are having a tough month or quarter, it will be harder than ever before to recover and keep your job. Add to this reorganizations, reconfigurations, commission policy adjustments, and management changes (recent studies indicate that the average tenure for sales management and leadership positions is only 18 months), and you have a recipe for sales turnover unlike anything we have ever experienced before. Some companies are facing turnover in excess of 100% annually. In today’s business environment, if you are a Sales Professional, you can be virtually certain that sometime in the next few years you will be looking for a job.

So given this information what is your best move now? Here are some tips:

{sidebar id=10 align=left}Accept the fact that you will someday be looking for a job. Don’t hide from it. This is truly the most important thing you can do. Once you accept that you will be changing jobs at some point in the future you will more apt to prepare yourself in advance for that eventuality.

Keep your resume up to date at all times. This is surprisingly easy. Of course you must first create a resume. But once you have it on file schedule 15-20 minutes each month to review it, add any new accomplishments, trainings etc… Sadly, most people don’t think about their resume until they really need it and that is the worst time to develop a resume.

Get discovered. Here is the great news: there are not enough talented salespeople to fill the millions of sales jobs available across the globe. Recent surveys have indicated that sales is the most in demand profession worldwide and companies are sparing no expense to find you. The trick is, instead of looking for your next job, to get your next job looking for you. Here is what you do:

• Post your resume on Job Boards (of course we recommend Sales Gravy Jobs) and keep it updated. Most job boards will allow you to hide your personal data which will keep your current employer from spying on you. What is important to understand is that Executive and Corporate Sales recruiters use resume searches as their primary method for finding candidates.

• When an Executive Recruiter calls, call back. I’ve always been appalled at salespeople who ignore the voice mail messages and calls from executive recruiters. It doesn’t cost anything to listen to what they have to say and in the process you have an opportunity to connect with someone who may save your ass in the future when you find yourself on the street. Make sure to keep a file or database of every recruiter who calls, send them updated resumes, and whenever possible help them with candidates who fit their needs. Making a friend of an executive recruiter is one of the best moves you can make.

• Stay in touch. Obviously if you are in sales you know other salespeople. With turnover levels as they are many of the salespeople you know have probably changed jobs several times. Most of the salespeople you work with today won’t be at your company next year. However, most will still be in sales – just somewhere else. Stay in touch with the Sales Professionals you know. Keep up with their names and phone numbers, send them a holiday card, and call them from time to time. Why? Companies are always looking for salespeople and do you know who they ask first? Their current salespeople. You never know when your name might come up.

You can post your resume and GET DISCOVERED for free at http://www.salesgravyjobs.com

If you are a member of the Sales Gravy Community you can upload and update your resume from your private Sales Gravy Desktop.

Jeb Blount
		About the author:
		Jeb Blount is a leading expert on sales, leadership and human behavior in the workplace. He helps companies, teams, and individuals transform their organizations and accelerate performance through intense focus on interpersonal relationships. He is the author of five books including People Follow You: The Real Secret to what Matters Most in Leadership,People Buy You: The Real Secret to what Matters Most in Business, Sales Guy’s 7 Rules for Outselling the Recession, Business Expert’s Guide to Small Business Success and Power Principles.To learn more call 706-664-0810 x102 or email carrie.martinez@peoplefollowyou.com .