Warning!
Ask the right questions before taking any sales job
By John R. Graham
If you’re in sales, you know the feeling. It’s the middle of the night about two weeks after starting that new sales job. Doubts fill your head. Even though you push them aside, they won’t go away. “Everything is new,” you tell yourself. “I just need to give it a little more time.” But the doubts keep coming back.

The gap between what you were told about the job and what is actually happening is getting wider by the day. After about three weeks, you wonder, “Have I made a mistake?”

Salespeople seem to make more job mistakes than others, becoming dissatisfied faster and moving around more. Maybe it’s because they’re optimistic, always seeing the possibilities and ignoring the problems. Or, could it be that they’re basically customers at heart and can’t resist a good sales pitch?

To help avoid taking the wrong sales job, here are questions to ask before taking a new position. Some of them may seem odd or even offbeat. As it turns out, the answers to these questions will give you the information you need to make the best possible decision. So, be gutsy and ask them.

“May I see your resumé?”
Yes, this is one of the questions you must ask the sales manager. He’ll be so flattered, he’ll give it to you (salespeople always seem to have one near at hand) without even asking why you want to see it.

This particular detective work gives you the SM’s employment record. Has the person jumped from job to job? Have the moves been upward, lateral or is the direction downhill? How would you rate the companies the SM has worked for? Or it may be that you find that the SM has been in the same job for 30 years. Is it coasting time? Is the fire still burning?

Now comes the important moment. If you’re unimpressed by what you read, hand the resumé back and come up with the biggest smile you can possibly muster. Thank the SM profusely, offer the first excuse for leaving that comes to mind and get out the door as fast as you can. This SM is unstable, ineffective, and doesn’t know what’s going on. If you go to work there, you can count on being blamed for the SM’s poor performance.

“Where will I get my leads?”
If the answer to this question is unclear, assume this is a “do-it-yourself” outfit.

If you want to spend all your time figuring out where your next prospect is coming from, instead of using your time making presentations and closing business, go ahead and take the job.

If, however, you’re a professional salesperson, then never take a sales job unless there’s an ongoing lead-generation program.

It’s a company’s responsibility to invest time and effort developing qualified leads for the sales force. If this isn’t happening, then you’ll be a canvasser “dialing for dollars,” as they say, not a salesperson. And your income will reflect your actual job status.

“May I see your office?”
If you haven’t seen the inside of the SM’s office, ask to see it. Don’t be bashful. Once again, the SM will be flattered that you asked.

Why do you want to get in the SM’s office? Look around and see if there’s a “sales scoreboard” on the wall, listing the salespeople and their “results.” If there is, get out fast. This SM is only interested in pushing product — and salespeople. There’s no interest in developing customers, looking to the future or building relationships. Your only value will be in terms of where you stand in the weekly or monthly ratings. If you’re at the top, you’re great. But, if you’re down the list, watch out. You’re gone. And you won’t beat the odds.

Here’s the issue: sales managers (and companies) only interested in short-term results hire short-term salespeople.

“May I review the sales literature?”
While the SM will be impressed with your interest in learning more about the company, you have an objective in asking to see the sales literature.

You’re looking for the company’s approach to marketing. If the promotional materials are ”customer-centered,” then you can be fairly certain that the company is committed to understanding and fulfilling customer needs.

If, however, the brochures are “company-focused,” describing solely the wonders of the firm and filled with one “we” after another, start worrying.

Should you see full-color photographs of the Chairman of the Board and the President (and the Executive Vice President, of course), don’t even bother to say “thank you.” Just head straight for the door. Get out fast because this is a self-serving, self-satisfied company that’s more interested in looking in the mirror than it is in creating customer relationships.

“When are the slow selling times?”
This is another question that lets you play undercover agent. It’s guaranteed to catch the SM off guard and to get you a straight answer.

“Well, May and June are never really very good and we just write off November and December.” Now you know a lot more than just the company’s “slow times.”

You also know that the down periods are a “tradition” around the company. Everyone there accepts the fact that sales during one-third of the year are lousy.

You might guess that the employees even look forward to the peaceful, quiet days of spring and fall. But you also know that no one has ever thought of developing a marketing program to deal with the problem.

Here’s the point: when sales are down in the valley, someone is eventually faced with having to scale the mountain without a rope — other than the one wrapped around your neck.

“Could I go with you on a sales call?”
That’s it. You’re separating yourself from the rest of the pack by taking time to go along on a sales call to get a better feel for the business. The SM is now putty in your hands.

Once you’re in the customer’s office, you’re ready to go to work — without saying a word. Your goal is to listen for the “90-10 test.” It’s simple: the customer should be doing 90 percent of the talking and the salesperson no more than 10 percent. If the SM’s mouth is open most of the time, then this is probably a pure product-pushing sales organization with little regard for the customer’s needs.

If this happens, don’t go any further. Bail out.

“What is it that gives you the edge in your market?”
Now you’re probing and that’s good. Once again, the sales manager will be impressed because the question separates you from all the other applicants who want to talk about their endless accomplishments in sales.

Your goal is to discover if sales are price-driven. What’s the sales manager’s philosophy? Is it to low-ball the price? If that’s it, then this isn’t the company for you. The only way you’ll keep a customer is to push to get the price down as low as possible — and then some. If that doesn’t work, neither will you.

“What can you teach me?”
Since you’re on a roll, go all the way. When you’re huddling with the sales manager as you wait to meet the vice president of something-or-other, quietly ask what the SM can teach you.

Not only do you have total attention, but your question will trigger this response: “Hey, you’re good, real good. If you come with us, I’ll teach you every trick in the book and then some. I’ll make you great.”

Who could possibly refuse such an offer? You. Without realizing it, the SM has let you know that clever techniques and tricks are what make sales.

“It’s all a matter of orchestrating the customer,” the SM whispers. “I’ll show you how to do it.” At this point, tell him that your mother is very sick and you must return to your family home in the Fiji Islands immediately.

Today, clever sales closes and manipulating methods are ineffective. There’s no more gun to the head. The customer wants a knowledgeable, trustworthy expert who can be an advisor rather than a huckster.

“May I visit your marketing department?”
If the SM takes you down the hall and says, “Turn to your right and it’s the second door on your left just beyond the restrooms,” then you know that the marketing department is the closet where the sales materials are stored.

If the answer is, “You’ve met Judy. You know, our receptionist. She responds to requests for information. Gets everything out fast.”

Now you’ve made four valuable discoveries: 1) this company doesn’t understand marketing; 2) it has no interest in marketing; 3) it doesn’t know where it’s going; and 4) it has no plan to get anywhere. At this point, head in only one direction — straight to the door.

There they are, the questions that make the difference — all the difference — in choosing the right sales job. Most of the time, it won’t be necessary to ask more than two or three. The answers will be obvious.

Nevertheless, these are the important questions for anyone who is serious about sales. You may be good, but the company you work for can make you — or break you. To succeed in sales, you want to be in the right place.

About the author: John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing services and sales consulting firm. He is the author of The New Magnet Marketing and Break the Rules Selling, writes for a variety of publications, and speaks on business, marketing and sales topics for company and association meetings. He can be contacted at 617-328-0069 or . The company’s web site is www.grahamcomm.com.