TAGGING THE SALES PROFESSIONAL: AN IDENTITY CRISIS

The gentleman was confused as he was introduced to the ‘Sales Manager’. This was not the young man who had come to his office selling life insurance. There had to be a mistake somewhere. Or had he been tricked by a con artist? In fact he had given his business to that person because he preferred to do business with someone of a certain standing in the company. He would not have given the business to that life insurance salesperson if he had been aware that he was just sales representative. The Manager, sensing what had happened, perceptively took the man into his office and asked for the description of the said ‘Sales Manager’. The description given by the customer was exactly that of one of his sales representatives. In a calm and professional manner, he allayed the fears of the customer and explained that truly the gentleman who had sold the insurance to him was one of the firm’s ‘Sales Managers’. He then went ahead and provided him with all the assistance the man needed. The customer was glad and left with a very positive impression about the company and promised to bring more business their way. After the customer left the Manager was left in a deep dilemma. What was he supposed to do? The sales representative had falsely presented himself to a customer but by so doing had gotten a deal which he otherwise could not have gotten. Should this matter be reported to Management for sanctions to be meted out to the offending sales representative? Or should this be handled at the branch level?
I have always appreciated the importance of names, titles and all forms of nomenclature in any given profession. However the dilemma facing our manager in the opening vignette clearly illustrates the gravity of the issue if not handled properly. As a matter of fact this story was narrated by an attendee to a recent sales training seminar I facilitated. An interesting debate ensued among the other participants after that and I believe readers will hold discussions in that direction after reading this piece. How important is the title given to a sales professional, or to any professional for that matter? Does it matter what appears on your complimentary card? Do the designations we give ourselves improve our chances of making a sale? These are some of the issues I would love readers to think through. I would present the two sides of the debate, i.e. from those who believe professional sales has nothing to do with the title given to the sales professional and from those who think otherwise.

Being in sales consulting and training all this while has brought me in contact with many business professionals. One thing I have always found interesting are the titles on their call cards. Some titles require some effort in deciphering what they actually stand for. Readers who have followed my writing for some time now will remember an assertion I made in an article dated July 28th that we all make a living selling, i.e. no matter what appears on your call card, desk-top label or door signage, all you are really doing is selling. Why then do we give ourselves all those fanciful titles? A few interesting titles or designations I have come across are Account Manager, Business Manager, Account Executive, Account Representative, Team Manager, Area Representative, Account Specialist, Customer Representative, Territory Manager, Business Development Manager, etc.
Rod McKinnis CEO/Founder of the McKinnis Consulting Group argues that designations such as Business Development Officer and Business Procurement Specialist can ultimately rob an organisation of potential sales. He is of the opinion that a refusal to place the word ‘sales’ on one’s card is a sign of a lack of pride in the sales professions. He further argues that this affects the sales identity which is a measure of a salesperson’s pride of the sales profession. If a person views selling as noble, they are considered to have a strong sales identity. The opposite is true for those who view a sales position as something to be ashamed of; they are considered to have a weak sales identity. By McKinnis assertion salespeople with weak sales identities will under-perform within 6 months of joining an organization and ultimately “self select” out of the sales profession within 18 - 24 months.
He writes, “We found people with weak sales identity prefer to apply for “sales” positions with deflected titles because they insinuate less sales accountability.”
According to this sales consultant, unless detected, salespeople with weak sales identity will struggle and steal valuable resources from the organization via increased turnover, higher training costs and poor sales results. His averments call for serious thinking, especially on the part of sales managers who regularly witness high staff turnovers within six months of training.
At the sales training seminar I referred to at the opening, there were some brilliant opinions from the participants on the need for a change in the titles of the sales representative. Though these professionals were speaking as regards the company they worked for, I believe their opinions are representative of some views in the sales profession. According to one participant, there are customers who are not comfortable dealing with ‘small fishes’ and prefer someone with some clout in the company. This was the case in the opening vignette. Such customers will refuse to strike a deal with someone they believe is not in the position to solve issues directly if problems were to arise. I personally have had experiences in my days as a Customer Relationship Officer (see my title?) of a bank, when some managers of companies I had called on refuse to do business with me because I was not designated as ‘Manager’. Some customers I interviewed for this article suggested that they would be happier dealing with whoever the sales representative was ‘representing’ and not the rep. What about the common term ‘sales agent’? By common knowledge, a sales agent is someone who buys or sells for another in exchange for a commission. Therefore customers are justifiably suspicious of sales agents when they come across as being over-persuasive. Customers will begin to suspect that the agent is only in it for the commission, and not for the customer’s welfare. This will ultimately result in a loss of the sales opportunity. How about Customer Representative? A business partner of mine will prefer that term since it indicates to him that the person is his link to the company and that the person’s primary job is to make sure he, the customer, is always happy! Another term such as ‘Company Representative’ changes the focus from "I'm here to sell you something", to “I’m here to make sure our company is meeting all your needs."
What is the appropriate name to give to sales professionals? I believe one factor in considering what a company should call its salespeople is what its competitors are calling their salespeople. I have heard of direct competitors whose salespeople carry different titles for the same job specifications. Whilst one company calls its direct salespeople ‘sales reps’, the competitor refers to their salespeople of the same status as ‘sales counsellors’; even others refer to theirs as ‘sales managers’. Another company refers to its salespeople as ‘relationship officers’ whilst a direct competitor calls its salespeople ‘client advisors’. As a customer, who would you feel confident and comfortable dealing with?
I could go on discussing the merits and demerits of each title but that is not my reason for writing this article. I intended for the discussions to continue in the various offices, shops and homes. Find out what titles would be appropriate. Would you go for a name change to reflect the times and business’ conditions, or like Rod McKinnis, prefer the good old-fashioned S-Word?
If you decide to go for a name change here are a few of my favourites. You are free to choose from Solutions Analyst, Relationship Manager (or Relationship Specialist), Business Development, Account Executive, Community Relations, Customer Relations, Marketing Consultant, Vice President, Loan Officer, Mortgage Originator, Solutions Engineer, Solutions Specialist, New Business Director, etc.
Of all the titles I have come across in my sales consulting career, these however are my personal favourites: Results Specialist, Results Expert, Results Producer, Results Developer, Results Manager or Results Supervisor. The choice is yours!