The Forgotten Thank You
Every time a quarter ends, there is a surreal moment of pause. As a sales person one of two things is likely happening - either you're celebrating a great quarter or reeling from missing your number. It’s an odd feeling that, if you’re not in sales, you won’t appreciate. There’s a sense of accomplishment and relief combined with a sense of angst as you look forward to doing it all over again. Even in the midst of celebrating an incredible quarter or commiserating a loss, it's hugely important to remember that you do not win or lose alone. There are many of people involved who are rarely thanked and often forgotten.
Your customer
Let's not forget there is very rarely a single solution to solve a customer problem. Your customer picked you (and your company) because they trust you - sure, your product, service, etc might be "leading, innovative or disruptive" (please don't use all 3 to describe it!), but ultimately people are buying from you because they like and trust you. You may have worked with them over a long period of time for a large, complex enterprise deal or maybe shorter for smaller deals, but, at the end of it all, we often forget to call them just to say thanks. We call them plenty asking to "get it done this quarter" – let’s make it a point to call your customers, write a thank you note (handwritten means more), share the good news of your success and, most importantly, say THANK YOU for partnering with us.
Your Sales Engineer
A sales person is only as good as their SE. That's not a common statement for sales people who often believe they are the rockstar closing every deal. My philosophy is that a sales person and SE should have a sacred bond - a bond forged by shared triumphs, defeats, and ultimately a trust that both are going to execute at a high level. Sure, there are high fives when a deal closes, but it's super important for a sales rep to remember to thank their SE - you would not be at your plan (or above!) without them. (You should also read this article, “Made your quota last year, Thank your Sales Engineer” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/made-your-quota-last-year-thank-sales-engineer-chris-crombie )
Your Legal and Contracts Team
Ah, the contracts process. Often the most complicated and time consuming process of any deal, and yet reps forget to go back and thank the contracts manager or attorney who just spent countless hours reading T's and C's, negotiating legalese calls, and listening to the rep complain, "but there's not THAT much risk, can't we just accept the term." This team deals with a lot and sales reps need to make sure to let them know they are appreciated.
Your Deal Desk and Finance Team
Did you need any special terms approved? Did you need help with a quote? How about a discount that just HAD to be approved? Chances are the answer is yes. Did you remember to walk over to their cube and say thank you? Similarly, to legal, these folks deal with a lot, often without any thanks. Sometimes viewed as the “Department of No," Finance is there to protect the company from risk, which as a shareholder in the company, you should be supportive of. Thank them for looking out for you!
Your Product, Engineering and Support Teams
Remember, you didn't build what you are selling. Chances are there is a strong product, engineering and support organization building the product, helping explain details in your sales cycles and supporting / keeping all of the promises you made during the sales cycle (most of which you’ve probably forgotten by now, but they are on the hook to deliver.) These folks are not sales people. They didn't sign up for endless hours on customer calls, re-prioritizing roadmap items to meet a customer request or listening to sales complain that XYZ feature isn't available in time for this quarter. Reach out and say thanks.
Your Family, Spouse or Significant Other
How much attention did you spend at home during the past few weeks? Even when you were home, chances are you were glued to your iPhone, iPad, and laptop most waking hours. You juggled calls while maybe holding the baby, but weren’t present even though physically at home. This is something that I struggle with and something I think most salespeople struggle with. It’s particularly bad during the end of the quarter and it’s important to remember that, especially if they’re not in sales, those important to us likely haven’t seen or heard much from us lately. Remember to take a breath, shake it off Taylor style and spend some time at home this week. Say thanks for their support and show you mean it by spending some (present) time at home.
There are numerous other teams and people that sales people need to thank. Let's remember that we're not the easiest bunch to deal with, typically are a little paranoid and cranky towards the end of your quarter, and probably push on other functions aggressively at the end of the quarter without many (sincere) "thanks" being handed out.
