I already know...

I changed professions on April 4, 2011.  That was my first day in a new role called "Sales Enablement". 

Prior to 2011, I had never even heard the term Sales Enablement.  Truthfully, even today the definition of this field is vague and varies depending on who you talk to. 

Thankfully, I landed a Sales Enablement job with a company (reporting to a Vice President) who "enabled" me to develop and deliver sales enablement largely based on the premise, "What would I want if I were receiving said sales enablement?" 

Nothing makes me more tolerant of a neighbor’s noisy party than being there. 

Franklin P. Adams

The vast majority of people I enable are already senior, skilled and successful sales and business executives.  How do you offer sales enablement to someone who already knows what they’re doing?  I too knew what I was doing when I was a sales rep.  Accordingly, I approach my clients with two principles: 

1. I avoid trying to teach them stuff they already know.
2. I ask them do the work. 

You see, it doesn’t matter what my background is; if I can sell; if I can do the work.  Although they all want to know before they’re willing to invest their time with me.  “Street cred” is earned one experienced sales rep and one successful business executive at a time.  What matters is whether our resellers know how to succeed selling my company’s products.  

Invariably, when I meet a new executive or experienced salesperson we begin our relationship with a little ritual.  They say to me, "You know Gary, I've been in the business for 20 years; or 30 years; or occasionally longer."  I simply respond, “Me too.” 

I’m reminds of Zig Ziglar: 

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

They will inform me they already know how to sell; they outline their experience; tell me what companies they have sold for.  It’s almost as if they want to argue with me about participating in my sales enablement activities before we even begin.  Which is curious because my sales enablement program for our resellers is optional.  If they don’t want to “be there”, that’s OK by me. 

I don’t argue with them because salespeople and executives are a lot like engineers: 

Arguing with an engineer is like wrestling a pig in the mud. After a few hours you realize, the pig likes it. 

Unknown Sage 

Employing Principle #2, I simply ask them to do the work.  I try to set the stage in a way where we can examine their deal-strategy; ask them to practice their selling skill in a certain situation; see “what they got.”  

Almost everyone I work with already has excellent knowledge and skill.  They make it easy for me to employ Principle #1 – avoid trying to teach them stuff they already know. 

I do reinforce what they already know, however.  Often it is a source of their power.  The way I look at it, Tiger Woods has not one, not two, but three coaches.  And he’s a better golfer than all of them.  He has one coach helping him with his swing; one for putting; and one for sports psychology. 

If the best competitor in a field of elite competitors spends his own money for reinforcement on things he already knows… I figure my senior, successful sales and business executives might benefit from reinforcement on what they already know, too. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.