Episode #143: Don’t Work For Idiots In Sales

Bullying, humiliation, ridiculous stretch targets, rubbish goods, stress, shame – a toxic cocktail often suffered in the sales environment. We often get into sales by accident. There are not many varsity business courses in sales. There is sales training available, provided by companies like ourselves, but often this is not offered by the employer.

The assumption is you look after yourself. We won’t invest in you and what’s more, we will fire you, if you can’t make your numbers. “Churn em and burn em” is the dominant ethos. The successful salespeople ride the favourable market conditions through until the inevitable downturn. If they survive that experience, they often wind up being the sales manager. Battlefield commands come on the back of your officer being removed by HQ or by the enemy.

There is a high turnover rate in sales both when people fail or succeed. In either case, you are out the door and off to somewhere else. The survivors who don’t want to move on the greener pastures, often become the bosses. They continue the toxic culture regardless of how stupid it is, because that is all they know. It worked for them, so it is supposed to work for you.

The client in all of this is the “mark”, to be harvested, to have their cash extracted and then abandoned to their own devices thereafter. Often in bad sales organisations, area salespeople have to cover big territories. This is because they can only hit that one market once. They are selling a lie. Their product is not matched by good quality relative to the high price they charge. They have to scarper with the cash and get out of Dodge. They are like sharks, which have to keep swimming around in order to breathe.

Who decided it would be like this? Not the salesperson. They join a company and then discover the disconnect between the cost and the value, between the public rhetoric and the internal reality. By this time they have already left their previous job and are treading water to make commission and not drown in debt. They are always just one week from financial oblivion, so they have to keep dancing while the music is playing. The sale’s evil ethos is the company’s making and this is where the blame should lie.

Bad sales organisations are inevitably run by bad sales managers. The reason is simple – “birds of a feather, flock together”. Good sales managers don’t want and don’t need to be involved in a business where they have to survive by fleecing the buyers. They see a bigger better picture. They have ability and talent and a war chest of funds to offer them choices.

There is an old Japanese saying that prescribes “the fish rots from the head”. Consequently your company’s bad sales boss, environment, culture and sales ethos stinks. If you are a “good” person in sales, swimming in a toxic cocktail of sales hell, then get out of there. You are not in a position to reform that business or the management. It didn’t get that way by accident. Now you may not be able to move immediately, but for the sake of your health and mental well-being, don’t put up with crap from idiots. As soon as you can, move on.

In the interim, strenuously begin educating yourself. There are tons of books, free videos and podcasts on how to do a better job serving clients. Access them. Feed your mind with the positive, because for sure you are being killed by the negative environment surrounding you. If you have the funds, then get yourself into some professional sales training. By whatever ethical means, make yourself more skillful and valuable.

I often refer to the word kokorogamae in sales, which I translate as our “true intentions”. Don’t let any toxic environment or people corrupt your true intentions. We should have a very clear guiding principle, a light on the hill and that should be to serve the best interests of the customer. That means we have their success as the catalyst for our own success. If we make them successful, we will get reorders, a steady stream of work and we will be earning good commissions, building up our financial security. Money elicits options.

This is not instant and means creating a different type of client relationship with a longer sales cycle. The share of wallet increases over time when there is a good track record and strong trust. The lifetime value of the customer becomes an integral part of the equation. This type of sales environment only exists in companies with a correct kokorogamae. If your company is not like that, then do not become a lifer pirate, get out of there and save your career, health and mental well being.

Action Steps

1. Decide that your time in this toxic environment must come to an end
2. Study sales diligently while you are organising your great escape
3. Make your kokorogamae a clear vote in favour of serving the client