A quick note from a well-constructed sales ad I just read.  The company is a medical device manufacturer and contained a strong sentence for attracting salespeople:

A strong work ethic is required to meet sales quotas. You will be supported by solid marketing programs, support staff, and innovative products that are designed to continue our growth in the medical device industry.

Anyone who has been in sales more than a day has experienced selling for a company that does not fully support the sales team.  I once worked for a large company where I had to pull my own product information, find the right envelope, address it and put the postage on it.  Yes, that was the days before the Internet.  That task may not seem like much, but I had a 10 state territory and this task consumed 1 hour of my day every day.

Salespeople are fearful of companies that are going to install large quotas on them while not providing the ancillary support that is needed to reach those numbers.  This company’s ad implies a significant quota along with the 3 most important items for reaching that quota.  An intriguing statement to a strong sales candidate.

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We’ve been on the tattoo and piercing topic for a while and it has generated many discussions at our shop.  BusinessWeek.com offers A Pierced Tongue: Too Edgy for Sales? which is a Q&A article.  Here is the set-up:

There is a young woman in our office who has done a great job in sales support. We are considering her for an outside sales position, but some of the managers are concerned because the employee has a pierced tongue and a little silver barbell ornament in it.

Good question – one we have never faced before.  I would personally have reservations about the pierced tongue with an outside salesperson.  The article mentions that fashion moves quickly and I certainly see many pierced tongues out there (though they always give me pause).

It may be that the employee agrees to remove the barbell ornament during customer meetings (in which case it would be nearly impossible for anyone to spot the tiny holes in her tongue) or find a tongue-colored barbell that would be less obvious than the silver one. Or you may agree to send her on a few sales calls and get customer reactions afterward.

Really, as a sales manager I cannot imagine having to deal with this topic.  But, if she is a strong salesperson, I would have to consider these options.  The main issue is knowing your customers and their expectations.  If my customers consisted of many traditional baby boomers with conservative expectations, I don’t think I would put her out in the field with them.

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