Probably the biggest mistake I made as a young sales professional was the feeling that if I asked for help I was admitting weakness to management. I felt that if I brought in a manager or any additional resource to help drive a transaction to fruition then I would be perceived  as incompetent. I witnessed other reps leveraging various resources to win business but somehow it didn’t sink in that closing profitable business was the ultimate objective. Getting the job done alone was not the objective. As a wise salesman once told me- “when you go to cash your check the teller doesn’t ask if you earned the commission without any assistance” The funds get deposited regardless. I will be the first to admit that I lost business in the early stages of my career because I refused to ask for help. I was determined to bring in the business all on my own. It finally dawned on me that I didn’t have to be a man on an island. If I was smart I could leverage the experience and wisdom of other successful sales execs in my office or sales region. I could pick their brains regarding how they were successful long term. I could ask  specific questions about how they dealt with a particular competitor. How they worked internally to get product shipped on time. How they worked with management to get price reductions. You get the point. Why not learn from folks who have been there and done that! Why do you have to reinvent the wheel? Not only can you learn from successful sales folks within your company, you can also learn from sales professionals in other industries. Sometimes they can offer a different perspective on how to skin the cat. A perspective that is totally unique to your particular industry. Part of the challenge today is many professional sales execs do not have the luxury of a traditional sales office. Many reps work from home. So the ability to share war stories and seek advice in an informal setting around the water cooler is not an option. In this case it is incumbent upon the sales rep to make an extra special effort to seek advice and wisdom when there is not a traditional office environment. Of course, at sales meetings and annual kick-0ff meetings you should always take advantage of the informal discussions that take place when the formal sessions are over. In my sales career I would always seek out some of the more successful sales execs and ask them specific questions about how they approach various situations that come up. It’s important to be as specific as possible when asking for advice. For example, there is little value in asking a question like this- ” tell me the secret to your success” Leveraging other resources within your company to drive a transaction to fruition should always be considered. The obvious ones are sales management and executive management. But also consider resources that will be involved in the business relationship after the sale is made. A prospect wants to feel comfortable that he will be taken care of after he signs on the dotted line. Consider introducing one or more of your internal support folks during the sales process. Get that relationship started BEFORE the deal is closed. Prospects are concerned that the sales rep will disappear after the contract is signed and be off to the next opportunity. Take that concern out of the equation. Think hard about ANY resource that will add value to your sales campaign. I talk in detail about this in chapter 9, “Selection of Resources” in my book . A professional sales exec should never be concerned about leveraging as many resources as possible in order to drive revenue. However, each resource should be well thought out and be deployed at the proper time as the sales campaign moves to fruition.

There are numerous stories in the book that describe in detail my inability to ask for help. Thankfully, I figured it out sooner rather  than later. “Universal Sales Truths” was borne out of the challenges I faced and overcame in my IT sales career. That is the primary reason I wrote the book and developed this website. I hope if you are a career minded sales exec you take advantage of these resources.