"The heaviest thing in the world is an empty pocket."
Yiddish Proverb
Translated to sales...
"The heaviest burden a sales rep can carry is an empty sales funnel."
In driving home a serious sales point, I made conscious decision to bring in some of my Jewish heritage into 5 Yiddish Words That Remind Me Of Sales Reps... Oy Vey!
- Get off your Tuches and start prospecting!
- If you fail to prospect you will have Bupkes at the end of the month
- Tenured sales reps who feel they don't need to prospect any longer are Shmendriks
I am forever grateful to my heritage. From my grandparents through to my parents, a series of life-long lessons were instilled or should I say drilled into me.
Believe in yourself as this creates your reality, as the famous Yiddish expression goes, "Tracht gut vet zein gut – Think good and it will be good.”
LIFELONG LESSONS
Passed through time from my family to you...
BUILD A REPUTATION FOR INTEGRITY AND HONESTY
Growing up with a Rocket Scientist for a father, the first question asked when he got home from work, "So, tell me son and be honest, did you complete your homework?"
Being raised with an 'Ivy League' educated father was pressure all by itself. That single question became the measuring stick throughout my early years. This is what I took into my sales career as honesty and integrity got me to where I am today. There is no greater temptation to cheat than in a business setting where one can earn massive amount of profits. As a sales rep if you can overcome this great temptation, you will reach a high level of character, one in which others revere. Your clients, fellow team members, management and future clients will covet what you have to offer. When you are honest, your business grows.
BE HUMBLE, ACCEPT AND ENCOURAGE CRITICISM
I ate a tremendous amount of humble pie as a kid. I had to learn how to accept and deal with criticism, as school wasn't my favorite thing to do. Pride, ego and fear get in our way of success. We all make mistakes and never think you're always right. Accept and encourage criticism, especially from those who know business better than you.
Some of my best sales ideas over the years have come from my clients, centers of influence and my mentors. I realized the wealth of information I had sitting so close to me. I see so many in sales who fail to capitalize by listening to their clients or even asking for help. This is a big mistake. Be humble, be genuine, take action on suggestions, and accept criticism, as you can greatly improve your sales career.
YIDDISH WORDS THAT REMIND ME OF SALES REPS, CONTINUED
The Yiddish language is a fabulous source of rich expressions, especially terms of endearment, complaints and insults. Sounds like a day in the life of a sales rep!
Let's get this started...
Far gelt bakumt men alts, nor keyn sechel nit. Money buys everything except common sense. Trust me on this one, if a sales rep could finance common sense they would, oy vey!
KIBBITZ - Walk into a sales bullpen from 7:45 AM to 9:00 AM on most days and listen to all the sales reps discuss non work related chitter chatter. "Hey Bob, did you catch the football scores from the past weekend?", "Saw a great movie last night, you ought to check it out." Small talk amongst team members is healthy but get to work and stop the kibbitzing! You just lost an hour of productive work time. Sales professionals pay attention to what's important now, growing their business and taking care of their clients.
SCHMOOZE - Listening to a sales rep schmooze a client they haven't seen for quite some time is hilarious. You wouldn't have to schmooze if you made a conscious effort to maintain a healthy, proactive business relationship. This is what sales professionals do best!
TCHATCHKE - All the company branded USB devices, calendars, pens and notepads... stop it as your clients have enough of your Tchatchke's or crapola! Sales professionals continually educate, engage and excite their clients by building rock solid business relationships, based upon no gifts but what they bring to the business table which is themselves.
SCHLEP - “I had to schlep through traffic for over two hours for a meeting with that guy and it lasted only 15 minutes, OY VEY!” Suck it up sales reps as this stuff happens. A true sales professional will find a positive twist in those 15 minutes.
NUDNIK - Do not allow your clients to view you as a nudnik, a pain in the ass, nagger, and nuisance! Sales reps who consistently bring zero value, take their clients for granted but expect them to continue to do business with them are nudniks. A true sales professional builds a relationship plan and with consistency delivers on their promises.
PEOPLE TRYING TO DEFINE YIDDISH WORDS
Let the accolades begin... I wish you all well as you have been educated on a bit of my heritage as passed down through my family.
I feel strongly we all can learn from each other, our heritage, our upbringing, our friends, family and more importantly; our clients. With this I say...
L'CHAIM AND MAZEL TOV - Let's all lift up our business glasses full of clients and prospects; repeat after me... L'Chaim (to life)! Mazel Tov or congratulations as you continue to develop into the sales professionals I know you all can be.
ONE LAST MEMORY FROM MY CHILDHOOD
Growing up in a Jewish household with all sisters, my dad and I were purely outnumbered. As we all got older, there was two things my mom cared about more than anything else: marrying my sisters to nice Jewish boys and where we all could find a good Chinese restaurant on Christmas Day. All I can say is we found the Chinese restaurants without a problem!
I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and modern strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way!
In 2016, I was recognized by ENX Magazine as, “The Difference Maker,” as someone who is making a difference inside the B2B office technology sector. I am passionate about helping sales reps succeed in creating their online brand image.
You can find more advanced training material inside the Social Sales Academy website.
I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my stories. Integrating the use of social and sharing my story on LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive office technology world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire sales teams to grow new business by helping them share their story and how they communicate it out by integrating the use of social inside the sales process. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.
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