Don’t let derailments break your sales spirit.

In the past four years I have sustained numerous injuries from my “hobbies.” Why do I do this, and how does this relate to business? The easy answers are to slow the aging process, challenge myself, achieve some goals I’ve arbitrarily set and overcome some fears … well, maybe some of all of that.

A quick recap:

1. Mountain bike accident. A level 3 shoulder separation, cracked ribs and concussion. Time out of commission: three months.
2. Mountain bike mishap. Palo Verde tree had fallen down across the single track; no way to avoid coming around the turn. Ripped-up left arm, scars and a ton of blood, terrifying hikers I rode by while finishing the ride. Time out of commission: one week, until blood didn’t soak through my shirts.
3. Mountain bike issues. Numerous peddle strikes on shins. One didn’t heal, developed a squamous cell cancer that had to be removed. Time out of commission: none.
4. Gym stupidity. Leg press attempt of 400+ pounds. Hyperextended right knee. Time out of commission: Six weeks with a sports medicine doctor, then a measured recovery back in the gym.
5. Chores stupidity, better known as “I can do that!” Hand-drained our pool, scraped all the tile grout out, cleaned the pool and regrouted. Three 12+ hour workdays in 90°+ heat. Back strain; PT needed, new gym routine needed. Time out of commission: five weeks and a slow, measured recovery.
6. Mountain bike accident. My current condition as I write this: Fractured clavicle, soft tissue damage, and bruised ribs. Time out of commission: at least eight weeks.

Figure 1. Inventory management makes all the difference in light-tolerance industries.

Keep in mind, the derailments don’t mean just missing activities I really enjoy. It also means rehab time, where I am not at 100%, rebuilding strength and stamina. It’s interrupted sleep patterns due to discomfort and pain issues, leading to waking hours that are less than effective. It’s a fight not to sit idly by and feel sorry for yourself. Over the past four years, I estimate I have lost about 12 months from injuries, including rehab and rebuilding. That’s 25% of my time.

I enjoy all this action, but as I am 68 now, is this wise? I wonder what drives me to keep engaging in such activities. Unless my wife saws my bike into pieces (as she’s threatened to do) or melt it down in the driveway, I’ll eventually climb back on, try to learn from the experience and overcome the fear of my “next fall.” For now, at least, I’ll grind through the pain and rehab this latest injury so I can get back in the game.

What does this have to do with business? The grind of rehab and recovery parallels the daily work of the salesperson, reflected in the unglamorous actions we must accomplish to be successful sales professionals.

Those who have never made a living in sales see only the end results, the deal that is won or lost. They don’t see the grind of prospecting, networking or arriving home early Saturday morning from a week away on business.

Is there another profession that lives with rejection more than acceptance? A poor professional baseball hitter, perhaps? Rejection makes top sales professionals introspectively look at their sales process to see what they could have done differently to achieve a positive outcome, shake it off and restart the process.

Given the outsourcing sales cycle that can run a year or more from discovery to the final outsourcing decision, failure to close the deal for many is numbing. What did we do wrong? Did we prepare well? Did we have a mediocre plant audit and, if so, how come I didn’t go back earlier and walk the floor longer to better prepare my team? Did I uncover all the buy triggers that the OEM valued and communicate those to the factory, or did I leave out something that would have energized our chances of winning?

I can’t get back that time in a lost deal, and where would I have spent it if I could? Were we really the best fit to service the OEM? Did I give a thorough review of the quote before we submitted it? If not, were there errors we should have caught?

The sales grind is all the work we do when no one is watching. It’s the networking and research done to identify an OEM that may need a new manufacturing relationship. It’s the diligence we demonstrated, with everyone involved in the down selection and final decision process. It’s starting early and staying late, if that is what is needed to reach the prospect’s decision-makers.

The sales grind is understanding the prospect’s current business model and filling any service gaps that may exist in its current outsourcing solutions. We must deliver a value they aren’t receiving or solve a problem for the prospect. It’s frequent communications and understanding that even the smallest detail may actually become an inflection point in the OEM’s final decision.

The grind includes being bold enough to ask the prospect the hard questions they may be less willing to answer. Those questions may even need an explanation as to why they are asked and why it’s in the mutual best interest of the OEM and manufacturer to address them.

The sales grind is dealing with much more rejection than other professions encounter. It’s brushing off the failures, hopefully learning from them and knocking on the next door.

The grind also includes the wisdom to know when to walk away from a deal, regardless of the time already spent, because it is clear the customer is not a fit for your business model. This may be one of the hardest aspects of EMS sales for those in business development to execute, where business savvy must override our competitiveness.

It’s getting up each day, having simply earned the right to get out of bed and continue the sales grind. The running joke in EMS sales is that when asked what other jobs you would do, the reply is, “Nothing. I would miss the pain.”

With that, I’m off to perform some painful daily exercises to move the injury small steps forward so I can get back in the game sooner than later. My wife has threatened to “melt my bike” in our driveway, but before she carries out that threat, I'll climb back on and overcome the fear.

Jake Kulp is founder of JHK Technical Solutions, where he assists OEMs and EMS companies with optimizing demand creation offerings and deciding when and where to outsource manufacturing. He previously spent nearly 40 years in executive roles in sales and business development at MC Assembly, Suntron, FlexTek, EMS, and AMP Inc. He can be reached at jkulp@cox.net.