Friday, 27 January 2012

Ego in B2B and CRM


Dreadful thing, isn’t it? The “I am”, the “this is me”, the “look at me and who I am”. Can be really helpful and can also really get in the way.

Example 1: Sales people. In order to be successful, a lot of ego is needed. It’s where the drive for recognition comes from, it’s where the ability to compete sits. “I’m going to win, and don’t you forget it”. Indeed, without ego most people will fail at selling. It’s a fundamental part of the character make-up. “I, that is me, am going to succeed and I will not accept anything less”.

Example 2: The sales manager. Lives vicariously, through his or her sales people. Is driven by a need to make them successful. Is involved in all of their deals but not to make himself or herself look successful but to add value and to create a culture and climate of success. In the successful sales manager, ego is quashed, put on the back burner, put to one side.

Example 3: The successful sales person who is promoted to sales manager. Oops. The very thing that made him/her successful (ego) now needs to be repressed and channelled into something different – lack of ego. If the new sales manager doesn’t have the strength of character to a) recognise that ego is no longer needed in the same way and b) is able to work for the good of the team then maybe, just maybe, you’ve promoted them into the wrong job.

Only those with highly developed egos need respond.


The Sales Controversy

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