Be the CEO of Your Territory
Tom Alaimo, Account Executive, TechTarget
For the best salespeople, sales isn’t just a job — it’s a craft. And part of mastering the craft is to treat your territory like your own small business. As an account executive you’re the CEO of that business and responsible for the success or failure that happens on a daily basis.
Here are a few traits of great CEOs that you can apply to your sales territory to make a direct impact.
Be responsible.
One reason that the CEO is such a high-paying, coveted job is that CEOs are responsible for the success or failure of the organization. This responsibility can be translated to your sales territory and comes in two forms. First, preparation and strategy start and end with you. You need to organize the team, coordinate the necessary resources and come up with a game plan that will win the deal. On the flip side, all of the blame falls on your shoulders as well.
Know your numbers.
No CEO would arrive at a board or shareholder meeting without knowing their numbers. Although you don’t need to study the balance sheet of your company, you should know your sales numbers — quota (per account, if relevant), your percentage to goal, number of meetings and calls made, your touches per opportunity, and so on — like the back of your hand.
Show empathy.
Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. Truly great CEOs and salespeople have high levels of empathy. Empathy needs to be shown throughout the entire sales process and starts with the initial premise of thinking about the customer’s perspective in every interaction.
In the initial prospecting stage, the customer does not know you and does not care about you. Like any of us, they have goals and struggles. They don’t want to see the logos your team has sold to; they only care about their problems and how you can fix them. Always personalize your pitch to the possibility that this is the only person who could receive this email.
To read the complete article, Be the CEO of Your Territory, visit Quotable.com.
