Black In Business

If you are in business and market a product or a service, chances are; at some point you will have to find some new accounts. Many times business owners are also salesmen. In other cases business owners are not salesmen but have to make sales calls. Selling can be frustrating when you are not trained in some of the basics of professional selling.
Many people we approach for business are nice people and may even like us as people. Some do not like to disappoint us and many are not confrontational. This make it difficult when you armed with an excellent power point presentation filled with value and a proposal no body could so no to. In fact nobody does, instead they say, “ I want you to know what a great job you did in your presentation today. I am very impressed and we will think it over. Why don’t you call back next week?” What do you do, smile weakly and say thank you I will call you next week and leave?
You need the business and it was nice to hear what a great job you did. Keep in mind most times in this scenario, if you leave you lose. You may never have this opportunity to sell again. Here is a method to reopen conversation.
“That is fine Doctor, I assume if you are going to use your time to think it over you must be seriously interested.” At this point they think you are about to leave, so they response, “Of course, we will give it very careful consideration.” At this point you should say, “since you are that interested in my product, what exactly is it that you are going to think over?” Do not pause but flow into, is my personal credibility, is it my company’s reputation, is it a concern about our ability to deliver on our promises? Ask several Is its, your answer should be no for most of these. If it is yes then you know what you have to speak to. After several is its, ask, is it the money. As you know most things come down to money.
When you discover it is the money, ask how much too much is it? Let’s say it is 1000 dollars too much for a fur coat. You may say, how long you expect to wear this coat. Let assume the answer is 10 years, 10 years is 3650 days. Lets divide 1000 by 3650 days equals 27 cent a day. Are you sure 27 cent a day will keep you from enjoying the warmth and comfort of this fine fur coat? Here put it on again.
Like most things this is not a sure win but it can help you keep the conversation going and minimize the money objection. Let me know how you over come the “ I will think it over objection!”

This is a business blog and although it may touch many subjects usually there is a business take away for the reader. My last post was about a black family and some issues that can arise from living in an affluent area. The business ramifications are that we may want the same things in a community our successful white peers do; i.e., nice homes, good schools, safe neighborhoods and good infrastructures, we could face resentment. You should not be shocked by it and try not to let it affect your happiness. Today I will post about managing managers and things to do the first 90 days. If you read this blog and find value, I would love to have your vote for blackinbusiness as the best business blog. All you have to do is click on the stamp in the upper right hand corner and follow the instructions.
It is a beautiful thing to witness the start of a blackinbusiness career. We are filled with hope, pride and excitement. In some cases we represent to hope of generations of our relatives because we are the only family college graduate. We want to win and will big, some of us think we have survived racism; surely our well educated corporate white peers are going to treat us like equals. Just like white women and Oparh have “The Rules,” for dating, there are rules for corporate success. In our case there is no book. An example for your consideration, years ago a major corporate giant analyzed their top executives to see what the commonalities for their success were. It was found, in that case, most of the high ranking executives had been a front line sales manager. The outcome was as high potential talents were identified, an action and development plan was put in place. The goal was to get that person ready for front line sales management ASAP.
Another key career move is proving you can manage managers. A person I hired at Abbott is ready to interview for a large opportunity managing managers as the regional sales director for a major life science company. He called me to see if I had any copies of a ninety day action plan. I did not but I was able to tell him what I did my first 90 days as a national sales manager and managing managers for the first time.
At Abbott, I was the first black to become a sales manager and the first to manage managers for my division. As a tall football build, very dark skinned black manager, I brought to the party a lot of baggage. All of my managers who were now to work for me were white of which were 2 women. The baggage I brought was in the negative portraits painted by the media of blacks in America. This manager is like me in many aspects but not as tall, but nerveless a big strong and proud very dark skinned black man. He may even run in to less understanding of the diversity of blacks in America than I did. It appears America is a less tolerant place. I did not go into details but spoke of the key things I did that enabled a team to win and from day one express a higher level of performance.
As follows are my key events over the first 90days.
1) Meet with managers off site. I chose Sanibel Island Florida. This was in the fall of the year; I introduced myself and reviewed why I was the man with a plan. I reviewed my expectations of them and the reasons for it. I provided them a lot of time to talk and explain the market. This team was way below plan. My job was to listen carefully, take away excuses, and build a bond. We went out and ate great sea food and even took time to play beach volley ball. At the top of my list I wanted to team to have fun and I wanted them to trust in me. The social settings helped bridge that gap. I had researched the top accomplishments of the management team so I was able to demonstrate the ability to look beyond the present to the past to provide hope for the future.
2) I had 70 something sales reps and I wanted to meet them all in the first 30 days and have them present their business plan for success the next year. I kicked off 7 meetings in 7 cities. My goal was to look each and every sales person in the eye and let them know, less than100% of performance was not an option. This was after I had communicated everything we would do to support and help them. It was most important for them to know we were in this together. We did some social things as well.
3) At the end of this string of meetings I was able to analyze every body’s strengths and weakness and attitude. I send each sales person a customized letter using information from their action plans.
4) I took to the field to visit key customers, prospects and accounts lost to competition. I wanted to see hands on the market, competition and objections to our product line.
5) I informed my boss what support I needed from him and what return he could expect.

There are much more fill in the blanks things but these 5 items were key to my kicking ass managing managers. For those of you wanting to be a manager or those of you wanting to manage managers, make sure you and your boss agree on the best path to get there and that you have their support. What are your thoughts.

I moved to the Chicago area in 1995. My wife and I wanted to live in a close in suburb and be in a situation where we could feel welcome. We had lived in a largely white St Louis suburb and were not a part of the community. Our next door neighbor did not speak to us for 3 years after moving in. One day in the yard Oscar introduced himself. He was having a underground sprinkler system put in and the workman had to step on my property in order to do the job. I told Oscar I was glad to meet him and I am sorry it took 3 years, but I was not hung up about the workmen walking on my grass. A few week later I was startled by Oscar running across the St. Louis Airport to warmly greet me like a long lost friend. From that point on Oscar was very nice but for some reason I never did warm up to him. We had elementary aged children that very few of the neighbor kids would play with. The few black families in Chesterfield, Mo, included many pretentious families, which for me a poor boy from a mining community, made them hard to identify with. We did make some good friends but could not wait to move from St Louis, a city in which black people still have to know there place.
We were excited to discover Oak Park, IL, a village with a national reputation for diversity including; racial diversity, income diversity and sexual orientation diversity. We had black neighbors and our kids had friends that looked like them. We enjoy the community and its close proximity to Chicago. I wonder about the income diversity because the average home that needs works sells for over a half million dollars.
I have noticed many corporations are now in the suburbs and many black families are forced into isolated lives and surrounded by phony neighbors. It is a price for success. We thought we have found utopia in Oak Park. Our first home was a bungalow which we sold in 1998 for 415 thousand dollars. We then moved into a much bigger home on a large lot in the estate section of Oak Park Our problems with the police increased then to the point where we are harassed worst than in any community I have ever lived or my wife. Keep in mind this is a benchmark community for diversity and inclusion. Oak Park borders the heavily black west side of Chicago. I have to conclude many of these liberal whites are scared of black folks and the police’s job is to protect white folk even if it means demeaning blacks. I want to reinforce, we enjoy Oak Park and it diversity but when it comes to race relations and the police, the more things change the more things stay the same. As follows are a few of our encounters with the police.
The Police followed me and my young son in my Benz riding so close to the bumper that I pulled over. The police did the same but never got out of their car and eventuality pulled away.
My wife was pulled over for not stopping at a yield sign and the officer became agitated at her for pointing out to him, it was a yield sign and not a stop sigh.
A female police officer asked me what I had on my hip when I was wearing a fanny pack. I showed it to her and she replied, I thought it was a gun. That explained her aggressive manner.
My eighth grade son, at the time, was in our back yard reading a book. The police accosted him and asked for ID when he informed them he lived there. When I question the police, they said they had reports of a suspicious person in the yard. When I asked what about my son was suspicious, they could not provide guidance
I was driving my wife’s BMW X5, when a cop pulled up on my rear. I was a block or so from home. I approached a stop sign and made sure I came to a complete stop. I was shocked when the lights came on and the cop stopped me. He wanted license and registration. I asked the cop, did I do something wrong, he said I stopped on the white line and not behind it. I blew my top and said, do you know who the fuck I am.? I was his neighbor; he lived in subsidized housing under a community police program and had a small house around the corner from mine.
My high school daughter was sexuality harassed by a police office and repeatedly pulled over. I wanted to handle this situation but my wife did not want any more problems in the form of retaliations
We recently filed a complaint with the internal affairs dept. My wife was standing in front of our home speaking to a handy man. A squad car pulled up. The black on the outside police officer, intent on protecting white folk, got out of the car. He came with a menacing look, legs spread, arms crossed and said hello and proceeded to stare, he got the proverbial tip of a suspicious person in the neighborhood. He was disrespectful and talked down to my wife.
This is the life of blackinbusiness. Success allows you to afford a better life style but to many we remain an inferior part of the species, the human race. Do other black families face this issue. Any thoughts on this?

It finally happened. I blew my cool and the demons from a life I try to run away from are back. A business associate owes me some cash and cash I could use. He is a prominent local business owner and likes to give an impression of an affluent life style. He drives a Cadillac and lives in Lincoln Park. His weight is 430lbs, which must be expensive. We just read about a female rapper shooting a friend over 2000 dollars. I do not agree with that decision but I understand.
The guy that owes me the money brags about his childhood in Scarsdale, New York, of being friends with Lisa Minnelli. I grew up in a rough and tumble mining community where kicking someone ass was a sport. There was no Lisa Minnelli in town. The richest family’s owned the hardware store and the other was the town doctor. I was a good fighter because it was a matter of survival. Back In those days I would have had my money by now, remember Malcolm taught us, by any means necessary.
I visited the Sicilian car wash and talked about this guy and what I should do. Some of these guys are business owners, they said my only option is to work with this guy and be nice. I spoke with another business owner, a former Gangster Disciple gang banger. He said he knew some guys that would collect the money for 10% of the total. The demons of my youth and a violent response to challenge paid a visit and that is when I went off on the man who owes me. Now he is not answering his phone. I will get my money, but this is not about how to get money but what to do upfront. Getting paid is a important and necessary outcome for fulfilling your client’s expectations. I should have done more diligence prior.
I must remind to not do anything that could cause me problems or embarrass my family. The decision the rapper made by shooting her friend, was done in regard to not being punked and not in regard to the best thing for her business. It is fun to be a bad ass when young but as a blackinbusiness, we have to stay out of trouble. I will get my money but will not break laws to get it. This guy has already broken the law by passing a bad check 2 times that I still have a copy of. This is a matter for the law but I hope we resolve it in an honorable way! How would you handle? Business owners have to have cash flow, so this is an important consideration.

I own an executive recruiting agency. My specialty is medical primarily diagnostics, device and life science. It is a cool gig but has a lot of competition and take a lot of hard work. I am still looking for the free lunch. It appears there is no free lunch and all business success takes hard work. I come across plenty of resumes in my business. Assuming I am right in that; there is no free lunch, and all business success takes a lot of hard work, it is fair to assume, selling your self is hard work. That is what a job search is all about, selling your self! You are the product. I had a career as a sales and marketing executive. I have been a VP in 3 different major companies. Here is a quick case study. I will show two examples of the statement part of my resume. Let me know what one you like the most and why. This exercise may help you in preparation of your resume.

Objective: To find a senior level position in sales or marketing in the medical business sector.

EXECUTIVE PROFILE
A senior sales and marketing executive with a proven record of accomplishments managing in complex and fast paced business environments. Extensive career success provides unique insights used to raise levels of team performance. Strong interpersonal communication and team leaderships. A change agent and collaborative business partner who builds and motivates high performance teams that consistently achieve aggressive revenue and profitability goals

In one I say what I want in a position. The other I describe the product, me!

Please visit my Global Recruiters Web Site for more advice on resumes.

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