![]() Of course, this will differ in B2B and B2C sales cycles. In these situations, language is less important. Shorter sales cycles generally are a volume game – it is actually more important to manage your time carefully and if someone isn’t buying move on to a different prospect. If you have to stay structured for over 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, you have to be more formal or corporate in your communication. I think professionalism comes in if your sales cycle starts going up. If there’s a short sale cycle, someone can focus for an hour, a day, a week, maybe even a month, and then move on. I think anyone can deliver in a short period. Jamie: Can you just explore what you mean by professionalism there? If you’re in a role with a longer sales cycle without that professionalism, you can’t get into the top 25% of performers. ![]() ![]() I still think that ultimately, the person that can combine both gets into the top 5%. I’m sure there are roles with shorter deal cycles, where that works well, but in any role with a longer sales cycle, the more that organization and ability to structure becomes important. They can chat with the girls on nights out and therefore be great at sales. You get a lot of people who think they are really articulate. Jamie: What skills or personality traits you believe that someone should exhibit to want to go into sales?Ĭharles: I come from a world where people come into sales thinking that the most important thing is the “gift of the gab”. We are at the more complex end of the recruitment sales cycle working with a very corporate client base which influences our culture to the more sophisticated. Young people like to go to the pub, bond and socialise more than an older workforce. This can also lead to an increased chance that culture will be more sales-y, driven by key performance activities, which are high energy. The shorter and less complex the company’s sales cycle is the higher likelihood that a higher weighting of the staff will be junior. The second consideration is how long or complex the sales cycle is. This can lead to a very typical sales culture – ‘laddy,’ ‘frat-y,’ ‘aggressive.’ Businesses with a larger, wider corporate employee team can dilute this sales culture. It is that lean structure that enables people to found businesses with lower resource requirements than other industries.īusinesses with a high weighting of sales professionals as a percentage of employees, such as a lean recruitment business can have an aggressive sales culture. In recruitment, unlike many sales roles, the sales professional is also the source of the product in that they identify both the candidate and the opportunity. You don’t need much more than a computer and a phone to get going. The great thing about recruitment is that you have a very early opportunity to run your own business. One of the easiest methods to measure this is to consider what percentage of employees are ‘Sales’ focused staff. The first is how dominant the sales team is as part of the company identity. Jamie: What do you think is the key difference in the culture between an organization like yours, which is pure sales, compared to a bigger corporate?Ĭharles: I think that two criteria influence culture in a sales organization. That’s really the greatest thing about sales, particularly in the recruitment industry. In recruitment, right from one year in, you can build your own business. I think some sales can be very different where if you’re doing some more corporate sales, that networking and the time to become autonomous and self-sufficient that takes a long time. And the opportunity you have from a relatively junior position. I think in recruitment sales, it’s the autonomy that you have. Jamie: What’s the best thing about being in sales generally?Ĭharles: I think it can vary significantly. I still enjoy the day-to-day of sales and get that feeling of satisfaction from big or complex deals, or a strong client relationship, but my role now has evolved into a wider role of building an organization also, and for me, that is even more fulfilling. Obviously, in sales, the initial focus is to become good at your craft. Jamie: What have you found most fulfilling about your career thus far?Ĭharles: I think that evolves as you go through different stages of your career. You can read Charles’ full biography here I recently had a further call with Charles where he talked about his upcoming plans for a new venture. Charles’ rapid rise reflects his drive, his ambition, and – as he reveals below – his choice of industry. I went to University around the same time as Charles, so I was pleasantly surprised to see – when I looked up his job title eight years later – that he was already “Managing Director – EMEA & APAC” for a significant recruiting firm.
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