The Old and the New

If you are selling for a reputable company, you likely benefit from your companies history, references, and existing client base.  These are benefits that we inherit by default, but ulitmately did not have any involvement in.  When evaluating companies to sell for, one of the major factors that we (as salespeople) consider is the companies history and reputation.............for this very reason.  We all know it's easier to sell a product for an established company, as opposed to a start up company.

But guess what else comes with it?  Negative experiences from a past regime.  Things don't always go perfectly, and particularly, things are not always handled correctly.  Turning these past experiences around is much more difficult than earning new business from scratch.  There is an art to recognizing and admitting to past short-comings, presenting an approach that will resolve and prevent this from happening again, and then delivering with perfect execution while under the microscope.  This is a process that takes patience and desire, and you will only succeed if you can outlast the odd's............which are stacked against you from multiple angles.

You have no choice in this approach but to be anything less than genuine, sincere, and grateful.  You may actually find some of your most redeeming sales skills hidden deep within while going through this. 

**  A colleague jinxed me last week when he said "I haven't had an American Airlines flight leave on time yet this year."  I found that odd as I was having pretty good luck.............until he said that of course.  My last three flights have been delayed by an hour or more.