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"Making the Transition to Sales can be Simple and Rewarding"
March 3, 2004 - By Leslie Hensell

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When Ashley Knee graduated from southern Methodist University in 1996, the technology industry seemed like the place to be. Yet after working in public relations and marketing for several high-tech firms, Mrs. Knee got laid off-twice in one year.

"After that second lay-off, I decided that these doors are closing for a reason," Mrs. Knee said. "One of my favorite sayings comes to mind-history repeats itself, but opportunity does not."

So, rather than seeking a position at another high-tech firm, Mrs. Knee decided to try sales.

Two years later, she earns more than ever and works by her own rules as an independent executive senior sales director at Mary Kay Inc. She works fewer than 40 hours a week, and her office is in her Plano home.

"I had never sold anything before, but my background was in marketing, where I developed materials to help sales people do their jobs, " Mrs. Knee said. "Those skills translated very well into what I'm doing today."

She encourages other who've been casualties of the high-tech down turn to consider sales, especially those with marketing experience.

"Sales is nothing more than learning how to develop relationships," Mrs. Knee said. "It's about making connections with people. When you're marketing in the tech sector, your job is to evaluate the products and services your company offers and try to match those to your customers' needs. This is the same thing, just with a different product."

Mrs. Knee isn't the only person to abandon a stressful or unpredictable industry in favor of a potentially more lucrative and rewarding opportunity.

"The transition is easier than you might think, provided the person has an understanding of what sales really is," said Maura Schreier-Fleming, president of Best@Selling, a Dallas sales consulting organization. "It's not yakking, eating and golfing a lot. It's serious business based on specific skills and strategies. The skills you must have-or be willing to acquire pretty quickly- are listening skills, persuasion skills and questioning skills."

Consultative selling skills can be key as well, said Kathy Willis, a sales executive for Provider HealthNet Services, a Dallas-based supplier of information management solutions to hospitals.

"In the past, you made one-time sales, where you came in, sold something and were done with the client," Ms. Willis said. "In today's environment, you have to establish more of a cooperative partnership. You evaluate their needs and determine how you can solve their challenges."

Although she held sales positions in the past, Ms. Willis began her career in technology as a director of health information management at St. Bernard Hospital in Chicago. Now, as a consultative salesperson, she enjoys the variety of working with multiple clients and learning how to solve a wide range of problems.

"With my background, I have a good idea of how processes work," she said. "When you're in a health care environment, there's a lot of pressure. The most rewarding part of what I do now is the ability to go into a facility, with an understanding of the challenges they face, and help to relieve some of that pressure."

Despite the bad reap that salespeople sometimes get in the business community, sales is actually a "helping profession," said Bryan Flanagan, director of corporate training for Addison-based Ziglar Training Systems, a sales training consulting firm.

"Sales is an honorable profession," said Mr. Flanagan. "And good repairmen and good salesmen never go hungry."

High-tech pros such as engineers can easily translate their job skills into sales positions, he said.

"If you've taken care of internal customers, you can translate that into helping sales customers and clients," Mr. Flanagan says. "If you know how to run meeting, then you can handle sales meetings and presentations."

"People coming from a non-traditional sales background need a process to depend on, rather than relying on their personality. That really takes the pressure off," Mr. Flanagan added. " Most high-tech people embrace processes. They can confidently go to a potential employer and say, give me a process I can sell."

Ms. Schreier-Fleming agrees. "While it's not essential that someone be an extrovert to do well in sales, it is necessary to have persistence and the ability to overcome disappointment," she said. "Sales can be a long process, where focus and determination play a large role. Engineers and other in high-tech careers are great with understanding process, which is good fro the transition to sales. Sales is just one more process to learn."

In fact, some high-tech employees who are not extroverts may mistakenly assume they would not make good salespeople.

"Engineers typically are more introverted and are great listeners-a skill that I think is crucial for selling," Ms. Schreier-Fleming said. "What I would counsel both high-tech and health-care professionals transitioning to sales is to ask them how self-motivated they are. Selling, even when you are part of a team, really is a solo profession."

Salespeople must make their own appointments, prepare presentations, follow up with clients and coordinate the buying process. Plus, they must make a great number of decisions themselves, she added.

That's just fine with Mrs. Knee.

"Why am I going to continue working so hard for somebody else when, at the end of the day, I am building somebody else's wealth and not my own?" she said. "I'd rather work for myself and be the one to reap the rewards."


 

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