by Dave Stein

Debbie Antonelli of Richardson pointed out to me that a recent survey by ExecuNet has only 54% of sales executives are satisfied with their current job:
 
Profession Percentage of Executives Satisfied With Current Job

  CFO/Comptroller 68%
  HR 65%
  Marketing 63%
  General Management 61%
  Sales 54%
  MIS/IT 53%

Source: ExecuNet 2008

I’m being not cynical when I say I’m surprised that the percentage for sales executives isn’t lower.

More insight from the survey:

Top Five Reasons Executives Are Unhappy At Work

Limited advancement opportunities (12.8%)
Lack of challenge/personal growth (12.3%)
Compensation (11.7%)
Stress Level (7.7%)
Job Security (7.7%)

For sales executives, I believe there is another reason for unhappiness in their jobs: many don’t have the capabilities to perform successfully.  It’s too much of a challenge rather than lack of a challenge (indicated in number 2 above).

Here are two indicators that this is true:  First, tenure of sales executives is getting shorter year after year.   These sales executives aren’t leaving their jobs in less than two years because they’ve been wildly successful.  Second is the overall lack of performance of the sales people that work for these sales executives.  Here are the stats again, for those of you who missed them:

Depending on the industry, 25% (e.g. heavy equipment) to 33% (enterprise application software) of sales people are unsuited for their job. (ES Research Group, 2007)

Only 37% of companies report forecast accuracy is greater than 50%. (CSO Insights 2007)

In 2006, 38.5% of salespeople missed their annual objective. Turnover among salespeople last year (2006) was 40%. (Sales Benchmark Index 2007)

This isn’t just a bad situation.  It’s an epidemic.

  Read more.

by Lee Fratzke – The Sales Hub

I have come to really like Alison Green’s posts and today I found another one that is worth sharing.  As you can see from the title, she gives 7 signs that you can use in gauging how well an interview goes. 

1. The interviewer gives you a clear timeline for when a decision is expected, rather than being vague or noncommittal.
2. The interviewer asks about your timeline.
3. The interviewer tries to sell the position or company to you.
4. The interviewer spends a lot of time answering your questions.
5. The interview runs over the allotted time.
6. After you’re done, the interviewer introduces you to others or shows you around the office.
7. You hear from your references that the employer has called them.

If you wonder why any of the 7 are good signs, I recommend that you go read the post as Alison gives good insight into the why.  Now just because you experience one doesn’t mean that you should think that the job is locked up.  Let me provide an example from a recent interview.

The interview started well, but after a couple of questions I could tell that the owner of the company and the candidate did not click.   The candidate was told to plan on a 60-90 min. interview.  After 30 minutes of questions from the owner, he asked the candidate if he had any questions (remember sign 4).  After answering a couple of the candidate’s questions, I expected the owner to show the candidate out the door.  Instead, he asked the candidate if he would like a tour of the facility.

I have to admit at this point I was bit confused because the owner didn’t show a lot of interest in the candidate during the interview.  After the tour I asked the owner his thoughts about the candidate.  He told me that when he got up to shake the candidate’s hand he noticed that the interview had only lasted 40 minutes and he felt that he should spend a little more time with him.  His reasoning – so the candidate wouldn’t have anything negative to say about his experience.

by Lee Salz, author of Soar: Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager

The compensation plan changed again. The revolving door of company executives spins out of control. You look at the corporate direction and you’d like to give the CEO a compass so he can find his way. Concerned, you’ve decided that today is the day that you will peek your head over the cubicle wall and see what other opportunities are out there. After all, you’ve been successful. No need to go down with the ship.

The morning you wake up with the inspiration to begin a job search is a little scary. There is the factor of the unknown. Yet, you pushed yourself outside of your comfort zone to open the doors to new opportunity. It’s been a while since you last looked for a new sales home. How do you go from where you are today to a new, fresh opportunity?

Know what you want. In sales, you often work with the profile of your ideal client. The same applies when looking for a job. You need to know what the ideal fit is for your sales pedigree. If you don’t know what you are looking for, how will you know when you find it? This introspective exercise is the subject of another article of mine titled, “Finding the Right Home For Your Sales Skills.” That article walks you through the exercise of defining your ideal sales role. Don’t go another step in the process until you have read that article.

Develop your marketing tools. Marketing tools? Yes, that is what a cover letter and resume are all about. When you think of marketing, you also think of messaging. Many forget this when they develop their cover letter and resume. However, these marketing tools communicate a message, a story. The key is to make sure they convey the story you intend.

While the easy thing to do is to create one cover letter and one resume, it is not the most effective way to pursue a new job. As someone who has screened thousands of these documents from sales candidates, I can share with you a little nugget of insight. Hiring managers ask themselves a simple question when they first peruse your cover letter and resume. “Do they want my job or just a job?” We know when you are mass emailing your marketing tools just like prospects know when you mass email them.

In sales, you are taught to make sure your message matches your audience. Sales is not taught as a one-size-fits-all, but rather a template that is adjusted to match the need and circumstance. When prospects feel that they are the sales call of the day, they don’t respond. The same applies to hiring managers. Hiring managers are looking to hire people that want to work in their organization. They can feel when someone just wants a job, not necessarily theirs. Thus, when they get that feeling, your candidacy for the job goes into the trash.

The cover letter is one of the first ways it becomes obvious that you are treating this as a mass event. The sales person applies for a specific job, but the cover letter communicates a message that says they want a different job. It is not intentional on the part of the sales person. After all, they paid a copywriter a thousand dollars to create this masterpiece. Copywriters are very helpful to those in need of assistance in creating the story of their background. However, the effective cover letter recipe has three ingredients to it, making it somewhat difficult for the copywriter to unilaterally assist you.

1. Share what you know about the company. Hiring managers want to see that you have at least done a little research about them. This is easily done by visiting their website, performing an online search, and studying them on Hoover’s.

2. Present your relevant qualifications/accomplishments. The keyword here is “relevant.” We’ve all done a lot of things in our lives. Pick the ones that you feel are most relevant to the reader based on what you read when you researched the company. You can also ascertain this from the job posting.

3. Show the synergy between the opportunity and your background. Connect the dots for the reader. If the company is looking for a sales person that has developed a new territory and you are an expert at doing that, make sure the message comes out in the cover letter. Don’t expect the reader to see the synergy. You need to map it out just like you do for sales prospects. When presenting the synergies, use their language. If they call the position “a hunter,” refer to yourself as one. If they call bringing in new accounts as “territory development,” you are in expert in territory development, not hunting.

When the objective, isn’t the objective. The same holds true for the resume. Many sales people write an objective at the top of their resume. Yet, they fail to adjust the title based on the position for which they are applying. My favorite is when someone writes as an objective, “To get a sales or sales management position.” I can assure you that approach is a guaranteed way to get yourself removed from consideration in an instant. Those are two completely different jobs. “I want to be a pitcher or the manager of the team. It doesn’t matter to me.” Again, I just heard you want a job, not necessarily my job.

What you’ve done. The resume is an extension of the cover letter. The message should be the same. Highlight the results and areas of expertise that are most relevant to this opportunity. I’m not suggesting that you leave certain jobs or employment off your resume. However, package each one as best as you can to convey the synergy between you and the company.

From the job posting, you can usually infer what is most important to the sales manager. Those usually can be found in the section of the job description that highlights the candidate requirements for the job. Include bulleted descriptions and statistics that map back to those elements.

While the work to customize these marketing tools may seem huge and painful, it really isn’t. Earlier, I mentioned that you should start the search process by identifying the right home for your sales skills. The reason for that recommendation was to give focus to your search. It allows you to laser-in on those opportunities that best match you. Thus, isn’t it worth the time investment to customize your marketing tools for those job prospects that are best suited for you? Wouldn’t you do the same thing in pursuit of a major prospect? I certainly hope so.

Lee B. Salz is the CEO of Business Expert Webinars, President of Sales Dodo, and author of “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” Known as “The Sales Dodo,” Lee specializes in helping companies and their sales organizations adapt and thrive in the ever-changing world of business. He is an online columnist for Sales and Marketing Management Magazine and the host of the Internet radio show, “Secrets of Business Gurus.” Look for Lee’s new book in 2009 titled, “The Sales Marriage… How to Hire the Right Sales People.” (Sales Gravy Press)  He is a passionate, dynamic speaker and a business consultant. Lee can be reached via email at lsalz@salesdodo.com, or by phone at 763.416.4321.

By: Daniel Keller

A lot has changed in just the last few years in regards to writing a winning sales resume.  The format and techniques of the past are no longer relevant.  In this article, I will break down some of the major changes and provide some useful tips to help modernize your sales resume. 

1. Focus on Accomplishments NOT the job descriptions. 

Every time I read a resume that says, “Responsible for managing a territory and increasing sales,” I just cringe.  Recruiters and hiring managers know what the duties and responsibilities of a sales person are.  Your resume must create a value proposition and relay what you can do for the company, not what they can do for you.  Psychology 101 tells us that the best predictor of future success is past success.  Your resume must convey a consistent track record of performance. Focus on the results; how much did you increase sales by?  What was your quota attainment?  What was your ranking?  Any awards? Other recognition?

2. Summaries not Objectives

Objectives are out.  There must be millions of resumes floating out there with the same objective; seeking an opportunity to develop my sales ability with a growth oriented company.  Chances are the person reading your resume will know that your objective is to get a job with their company.   The beginning of your resume sets the tone and entices the reader to continue reading.  Use the beginning of your resume as a chance to sell your self, summarize your skills, abilities, and yes, accomplishments. 

3. Keywords

Most companies, recruiting firms, and job boards use some sort of electronic applicant tracking system to store resumes.  The only way your resume will get noticed is if the right keywords pop up when a recruiter is doing a keyword search.  It is also important that you have a resume formatted in ASCII to submit along with a MS Word copy.

4. Do not end your resume with, “References furnished upon request”

This is one of my biggest pet peeves.  The resume reader assumes that if the process furthers itself that you will have references to provide.  Remember, the goal here is to sell your self!  If the reader took the time to read all the way to the bottom, take advantage of this and write something that will help your resume close for the interview.

Here’s an idea:

Please view my profile on linked in:  http://www.linkedin.com/yourname

Remember, the goal of the resume is to sell yourself and stand out from the competition.  By utilizing the suggestions outlined above you will be on your way to creating a sales resume that demands attention and will produce results.

Daniel Keller is an acclaimed Professional Resume Writer and Career Consultant.
He is the President of Your Sales Resume, the leading resume writing firm focusing exclusively on the Sales Professional.  Feel free to contact him at Daniel@yoursalesresume.com

Get Smart | The Sales Store

by Heather Johnson

This post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who writes on the subject of human resource manager. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com.

We’ve all heard the cliché of how the mark of a great salesman is being able to sell an igloo to an Eskimo, but in my book, a really good salesman should be adept in the art of selling himself first, to any organization that he desires to work with. A job in sales is often more challenging than those in other disciplines, because it involves knowing customers’ mindsets and acting accordingly. Here’s how a salesperson can apply his/her inherent skills in securing the position he/she wants:

• Preparation is the key to any interview, and this aspect cannot be more emphasized than when seeking a position on the sales force of an organization. Let your higher-ups see that you’re a meticulous person who does his/her research before any venture, be it attending an interview or making a sale. Show that you’ve done your homework and are familiar with the company and its goals.
• Make sure your resume is updated and precise. If you’re seeking a job in the medical sales sector, include your experience in said field as the most important part of your resume. Employers are looking for specific skills rather than general ones.
• Put across your achievements, both in sales and in other aspects, without coming across as a bombastic braggart. As in any interview, wait till you’re asked to talk about yourself before you begin to unfold your life story.
• In case you’re rejected in the early stages, show some persistence if the reason for refusal is not strong enough. Most employers will appreciate the ability of salespeople to be persistent without becoming annoying.
• Show willingness to work hard for the compensation you’re going to receive. If that means taking on the position at a low salary with incentives from commissions, nod in agreement since a good salesperson must be sure of his/her ability to be able to sell anything.
• Take time to listen to what your interviewers are saying; a good salesperson is basically a good listener who understands what his customers want and describes the product or service in such as way as to make them believe that it is indeed suited to their needs. Use these skills to make your prospective employers believe that you are the right person for the job.
• Show confidence in your ability but restrain yourself so that you don’t come across as being over-confident in securing the job.
• Ask questions that you think are pertinent, to both the job and the way you are supposed to do it.
• A good salesperson is articulate, so don’t stammer and stutter in your responses. Take time to compose yourself before you reply if you’re nervous.
• Even if you know that the interview has not gone well and that you’re unlikely to be hired, stay positive and be polite. A good salesperson is never abusive or withdrawn if a sales pitch fails.

You will find more than 100,000 sales jobs on Sales Gravy Jobs. Search now.

Tom Musbach, Yahoo! HotJobs

The slowdown in the U.S. economy is threatening a necessity for workers: vacations.

According to the annual Yahoo! HotJobs vacation survey, 51% of respondents said they plan to skip taking a vacation this year, opting to save money instead.

Not a Frivolous Matter
“Vacations are usually the first thing to go when people feel job or economic pressure,” says Joe Robinson, a trainer in work-life balance and author of “Work to Live.” He continues, “We’re programmed to believe that free time is worthless, a frill to shove aside, but vacations are as important as watching your cholesterol or getting exercise.”

Skipping a vacation can also be bad for your employer.

Milo and Thuy Sindell, founders of Hit the Ground Running and authors of “Job Spa,” say, “You are not helpful to the company and your coworkers when you are not operating at full capacity. Vacations help you to get rejuvenated to come back to work at full capacity.”

Make It Work With Less
For those tempted to skip vacation this year due to financial worries, experts recommend the following tips:

Remind yourself: Vacation is not a luxury. “You owe it to yourself, your family, and your company to take care of yourself by stepping out of the office for at least a few days at a time,” says Liz Bywater, president of the Bywater Consulting Group, which helps improve organizational performance.

Put aside some funds each week. “Even $50 a week [or less] can add up and make your trip happen,” says Robinson.
Plan leisure activities near home. “Stay at home and read, garden, hike, jog, bike, or whatever you like to do but never have enough time for during the weekends,” say the Sindells. “Or be a tourist in your own city.”

Try home-swapping. You can swap with someone you know in another city, or use an online service, such as homexchange.com or even vrbo.com (Vacation Rentals by Owner). “It can have the look and feel of a vacation at a much more affordable housing cost than paying for hotel or resort lodging,” says Michael Haubrich, president of Financial Service Group and an expert in financial planning for career issues.

Keep the itinerary simple. Travel columnist Donald D. Groff recommends selecting a destination within 200 miles (a three-hour drive) from your home. If you’re traveling by plane, fly nonstop whenever possible. “The sooner you get to your destination, the sooner your relaxation begins,” Groff says.

Stress-Busting Strategies – Read More

by Heather Johnson

Selling yourself through a professional resume can be tricky, even for the most seasoned salesperson. However, there are some very simple ways to spruce up a resume and increase your chances of landing a dream job. If you are a closer, then all you need to do is get your foot in the door for that coveted interview. Below are seven tips for an effective sales resume.

1. List Your Strengths – Many sales resumes will start with an introductory paragraph and a list of the salesperson’s skills. Experience with contract negotiations, for example, is something you will definitely want to include on the list.
2. Focus on Results – You can wax poetic about your skills all you want. However, employers want to see some hard data about your results on the resume. Show them how you have helped your past employers improve their bottom line.
3. Use Powerful Words – When offering descriptions of each position in your work history, use positive and action-packed words. Start sentences with terms like “pioneered,” “grew,” “commissioned” and “generated.”
4. Respect Past Confidentiality Agreements – While you do want to explain some of your most effective sales strategies and past performance stats, you also need to honor any confidentiality agreements you have signed. Some companies wish to keep certain figures and sales tactics a secret.
5. Read Your Resume Aloud – One of the best ways to objectively proofread your own writing is by reading it aloud. Often times, people will read things in their mind the way they want them to be and not how they really are. You may catch some mistakes by reading the resume aloud or decide you want to rewrite certain areas.
6. Keep it Down to One Page – This goes for all types of resumes, as a matter of fact. Hiring managers want a summary of your work history and qualifications, not an autobiography.
7. Consider Hiring a Professional – If you aren’t confident in your writing skills and/or your ability to put together a great resume, it might be time to consult a professional. Resume writers are available through many sites, such as Elance and Get A Freelancer.

The fact is, salespeople are some of the best professionals when it comes to handling interviews. However, resumes can be a bit harder to nail down. By following the above advice, you will take a lifeless resume and turn it into a dynamic selling tool that will help land you a great sales position.

This article is contributed by Heather Johnson, who regularly writes on the topic of career exploration. She invites your questions and writing job opportunities at her personal email address: heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

An excerpt from Alen Majer’s upcoming book, Crucial Points to Succeed in Sales (and Life)

One morning Elizabeth Potter wakes up to find she is out of work. Her firm has been purchased and will be moving to another region of the country. Elizabeth is not in a position to move, so she begins to look for another job.

Along with hundreds of other letters, Elizabeth’s application slowly hits a company that is interested and grants her an interview. This position was carved to fit the person who is satisfied with what life chooses to give out to him or her – food, clothes, place to lay his or her head, and the right to exist.

But as she progresses, she is not satisfied with just a livable wage, and presents a well prepared portfolio of what she can do. She is hired for a gain in income.

Who did she beat out for this job? Hundreds of applicants both inside the company and out, who did not fight for what they were worth. Elizabeth showed what she could do. It was not just words. The amazing thing in this case is how the internal employees failed to demonstrate that they had the performance ability for the position.

By hiring someone who could demonstrate their abilities it may mean the company can save hundreds of thousands of dollars. No inside employee could match her ability to sell her competencies. It doesn’t mean they might not have those competencies; it does mean they didn’t sell them.

In another case a company is searching for a new auditor. Outsourcing costs are running too high and the international business work seems too much for the current auditor. In the New Z-Laser Company in Pittsburgh, a thirty-five-year-old dynamo, Bill Marin, is making a name for himself in the auditor’s position, and as a leading member of the professional auditing association. On top of it he has sought international finance and marketing expertise.

His ability has been noted by outsiders as well as by those above him. So, winding slowly through the grapevine, word reached the searching company that a right person for their open position exists. They send an invitation to Bill Martin for lunch. One month later, entrenched behind a mahogany desk in a private office, Bill Martin is on that success road to a six figure salary.

In this case the job found the person. The directors are congratulating themselves on having secured Bill’s services and are doing everything in their power to help him get a fair, square start.

Think it over.

Both Bill Martin and Elizabeth successfully sold themselves, purveyed their strong personalities, while hundreds of others, many that should have had an advantage by being current employees failed to make the effort. It did not happen overnight: both Bill and Elizabeth trained, expanded their talents, developed, and as their personal worth grew their incomes as well expanded. One of their trademarks was their dedication to a constant repetition of intended and steady tasks.

But an in-house employee should have been in line for that job. A person out of their own organization who had delivered every step of the way would have been far preferable at the time in the eyes of the employer. This person had overlooked the necessity of selling themselves and their possibilities to his employers.

There are three classes of workers:
1. The person who doesn’t try;
2. The person who builds their ability but fails to demonstrate it.
3. The person of success: a combination of ever-increasing ability and constant personality selling, who wins in spite of person barriers.

And, after all, you can be what you make yourself. Often just a little longer pull and a little stronger one and the sky is your earnings limit.

On the other hand, the person, who lies down and rests; who is satisfied at any point is lost. They become one of the vast wayside army which acts as background and scenery for the ones who really follow through. Bear this in mind: the person above you today, yesterday found less in their paycheck than you do now.

For Bill and Elizabeth the future wore a cloak of question marks, too. But they pulled back that curtain and traveled the identical road that you are following. Therefore, there is no reason under a blue sky above why you can’t do as much.

Now I’m going to repeat: Step by step-constantly adding to your store of knowledge-constantly fitting yourself for the step ahead, that is a step above you: study and work; use every capability within you; develop your talents and create new ones; then build yourself, your ability, and your possibilities day by day; and sell yourself all the way.

When you stop to analyze it, a salesperson selling goods has just exactly three things to do: first find a customer, then make the sales to happen, and last, but not least, that sales person has to cultivate customers to buy more.

It all comes down to selling yourself – selling personality.

You are your own wares. The person who employs you is your customer. You’ve got to find your customer by locating a business that offers opportunity for you and needs what you have to offer. You have to make your first sale: actually land the position.
And then, where the salesperson’s work is to make his customers buy more of his goods, your task is to build the value of your services and get a cash return – promotion – if you follow these steps.

What a person of success needs is a good margin of pay above a living wage. In that case, the job goes hunting for the person. That high-salaried person, who is worth that high price, is harder to find than proverbial needles in a haystack. Big positions find few applicants; little jobs have a waiting list.

This is an excerpt from my new book “Crucial Points to Succeed in Sales (and Life)”.

by Eileen McDargh 

Towers Perrin’s recently released 2007 Global Workforce Study shows fascinating shifts in commonly-held beliefs. However, I must express a level of caution in reading the results.

1. Towers Perrin stated that a “stressed out” workforce appears to be over-stated. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of those surveyed report reported being neutral to energized by on-the-job stress.

My caution:  Neutral is not a positive word in my book. What percentage are “neutral”? A car does not move forward in neutral.  It only stays put or rolls back. Same thing is true of people.

2. Technology is not the enemy. The vast majority (86%) felt it actually help them achieve some level of balance between their personal and professional lives and that it signal an awareness that the world operates on a 24/7 basis.

My caution: It comes from the word “some”.  Technology is a great tool as long as we control it rather than the other way around. It also requires that management is very clear about what really matters so that “connected time” is not wasted time. If everything is important, nothing is important.

3. Work is not the center of our lives. More than half of the respondents (59%) reported that they work to support their lives and family needs versus 18% who agreed that work was the most important aspect of their lives.  Among U.S. respondents, 72% agreed that they essentially work to live.

My caution: If one only works to live, a company better pay close attention to programs and trainings that help workers balance personal and life responsibilities.  If not, a worker is off to the next organization that enables work/life flexibility.

4. Senior leadership actions have greater influence than first-line managers on engagement and retention. Although a good relationship with direct reports is critical, senior leaders are scrutinized carefully for their decisions and visibility, along with learning and opportunities for advancement.

My caution: I am concerned that senior leaders will not heed this very important finding. An Opinion Research (Feb 2007) study corroborates that the top workplace frustration is poor communication by senior management about the business.  So on both counts, senior leaders best heed the cry of the workplace. The workers seek ethical decisions, transparency, clarity and visibility. 

Bottom line:  Data is always worthy of study AND of more in-depth analysis.  At the end of the day, we want numbers as well as plain talk about what matters. For more insights into work and life leadership, visit my blog:  Plain Talk – Straight-up insights on work and life leadership.

Ranked by Executive Excellence Magazine  as one of the top 50 experts on personal leadership development, Eileen McDargh** is an award-winning author, acclaimed business presenter, and skilled consultant. Her latest book is Talk Ain’t Cheap-It’s Priceless: Connecting in a Disconnected World.

By Michael J. Brooks

This article was born on an airplane, while I was traveling to a couple different Universities looking for their best sales man or woman. I am a big fan of the talent that comes out of Universities these days; but while in the air, I began to think of a common challenge with these future leaders. The top candidates have never truly experienced failure. They are so talented that they (for the most part) have gone through life being the best. In grammar school and high school they got the best grades, ran the fastest, were the captains of their sports teams, president or vice president of their class, won many awards and got a chance to fill their resumes with accomplishment after accomplishment. This is a good problem to have as a hiring manager. The challenge surfaces after you hire them. Most sales organizations hire in groups. When you put ten to fifteen individuals that fit this profile in a sales organization a very interesting dynamic happens. Not everyone can be number one. There will be a number ten and number fifteen. You then have to manage the reaction of these individuals when their world crumbles and they are no longer the best.

Twenty minutes into the flight I could put my tray table down and began to type up thoughts. My goal is two fold: I want managers who read this to recognize the importance of preparing top college graduates for failure and I want any top college graduate reading this to recognize that they need to condition themselves for failure in order to learn. No successful sales person has gone through their career without failing. I will walk you through a simple exercise below to capitalize on this.

I researched failure after the flight and found this quote stood out. I think it hits the nail on the head and sums up my thoughts.

“You must accept that you might fail; then, if you do your best
and still don’t win, at least you can be satisfied that you’ve tried.
If you don’t accept failure as a possibility, you don’t set
high goals, you don’t branch out, you don’t try – you
don’t take the risk.”
— Rosalynn Carter: Former first lady and author

Again, one of the biggest challenge I have as a Sales Manager for entry level Sales Associates is hiring the best of the best from Universities. Seems ironic doesn’t it? You would think I would pat myself on the back that this level of talent was recruited by my company. While most of them turn out to be top performers; I run into the same challenge over and over again. They have grown up in environments where they have always been the best. They had strengths in their personality, mind, competitive nature, drive, attitude and character that set them apart from their peers.

I spent time in a classroom at a Florida University that gave me more ammunition for this article. I witnessed something that may change employer challenges with entry level sales people. It was a Sales Professor that was driving students to their limits. She was almost forcing them to fail. I wanted to jump out of my seat with a standing ovation. Why was I excited about this? I was excited because I was witnessing someone conditioning my future sales people. She was teaching them that one of the greatest tools for sales development is falling on your face, picking yourself up and recognizing where you went wrong. You then gather feedback and apply it the next time. You then improve.

A lot of students and entry level Sales people do not know what to do when they fail. The kleenex come out. They want to curl up into a ball. They get angry and defensive. They go into denial. They hop on SalesGravy Jobs or other sales job sites because they think their job is unfair. They think their manager is picking on them. Their self esteem and confidence take a big hit. Their enthusiasm and attitude hit an all time low. If one of these has happened to you please keep reading.

Leave it to the good old wikipedia definition to point out an important fact. “In general, failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective. It may be viewed as the opposite of success.”

The key part of this definition is that failure MAY be viewed as the opposite of success. It is the way you perceive your failure and the way you allow yourself to understand how to learn from it that prevents (failure) from meaning the opposite of success. I hope this article on the importance of understanding failure reaches thousands of University students looking to go into sales. I hope it reaches hundreds of thousands current entry level sales people. If it does then I want you all to complete this simple exercise. Ask your sales mentors, managers, or sales people that you know have been successful the following question: Have you learned more from the deals you won or the deals you lost? Now if you get one that could go on and on and on about the deals they have lost; you may want to ask someone else. The point is that any successful sales person should admire the question. They will think back and probably share a very vivid memory of a deal they lost and all of the things they wish they did different. They will remember the advice they sought out from their manager to improve. They may have even solicited feedback from the prospect on what they could have done differently. The successful sales person would have chalked the deal up as a loss; but, then chalked the loss up as an opportunity to cash in on the experience. This, my friends, is what you need to recognize if you want to get into the field of Sales. If you have just started out in Sales please realize that you will fail, in fact, plan on it. Your manager’s will be raising the bar, driving you, constructively criticizing you and at times make you feel like you can not get it right. Learn how to cash in on this and turn failure into experience.

I will leave you with a great quote from Thomas Edison, a very successful historical figure. “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”

Michael J. Brooks is one of America’s leading college recruiters. His new book Sales Blue Chips (Sales Gravy Press) will be released in late fall 2008.