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Think and act like business manager

Written by: Todd Youngblood

Article Overview: The traditional role of sales rep as provider of information is obsolete. That role got outsourced to Google because it's a lot faster and easier that way.

Free Download - “The future is here. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.” By Todd Youngblood
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Think and act like business manager

If customers can find the information they want using a Google search, why would they ever contact a sales rep? If it's accessible via Google, they don't need you. In fact, if it's accessible via Google or from your website or from a competitor's website, they don't want you. They'll correctly assume that all you'll do is burn more of their time, and there's not enough of that to go around as it is.

Here's a novel thought... put yourself in your customer's shoes. In other words, think and act like a business manager and consider some common themes that appear among every business manager's performance objectives:

Given these common themes, we as sales professionals should package our personal value to match. Here's an outline for the sales job that can help make that happen:

If the above four items don't look like they belong among a set of traditional sales rep objectives, that's because they don't. Many traditional sales professionals couldn't or wouldn't do that kind of work. It is the kind of work, however, that your customers expect you to do ...and it's what your competitors are doing.

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Home > Sales > Todd Youngblood > Think and act like business manager
Article Tags: bottom line, business manager, competitor, equipment time, excellent starting point, google, google search, industry publications, li li, novel, performance objectives, personal value, research deals, sales job, sales professionals, sales rep, search engines, time money, tough questions, ul

About the Author: Todd Youngblood
RSS for Todd's articles - Visit Todd's website

Todd Youngblood is passionate about sales productivity. His 30+ year career in Executive Management, Sales, Marketing and Consulting has focused on selling more, better, cheaper and faster. He began his career in 1976 as a Marketing Representative with the IBM Corporation and for fifteen years progressed through a wide variety of field and staff assignments. He then founded and operated an Information Technology Outsourcing firm providing Software Development and Maintenance Services. In 1994, he joined an electronic commerce firm serving the insurance and healthcare industries, as Vice President of Sales & Marketing. He established The YPS Group, Inc. in 1999 based on his years of experience in Sales Process Engineering � that is, combining creativity and discipline in the design, implementation and use of work processes for highly effective sales teams. Todd has worked extensively with firms in the Distribution, Manufacturing, Insurance, Services, and Telecommunications industries. He is the author of two sales management books, The Dolphin And The Cow and Think About It� He is married, has two daughters, enjoys cycling, is a second degree black belt in Choi Kwang Do and serves on the board of the Cobb Symphony Orchestra.

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