The Salesperson as a Free Agent

I have always believed salespeople are entrepreneurs.  In name they for  work companies but actually they work for themselves.  Now go one step further and imagine them as true free agents hired on an opportunity by opportunity basis. I just finished reading The Rise of The Naked Economy: How to Benefit fromThe Changing Workplace by Ryan Coonerty and Jeremy Neuner.  It looks at the future workplace and makes some interesting observations. It depicts a world where the trend to outsource has continued and 1/2 of the entire workforce works for themselves (self employed)  Gone is the paternalistic company which provides the employed with a retirement or even healthcare. Workers collaborate to create products and services on a project by project basis.  Once the project is completed they move on finding new projects/opportunities and collaborators.

According to the authors these self employed fall into two categories "generalists and specialists" who come together on a project basis, dissolving when the project is complete and then forming new collaborations as opportunities arise.  In my recollection, they never specifically talk of salespeople as one of these types of specialists but to me it makes great sense.

In the15 years that I have worked with salespeople all over the world,  I have noticed that many times the salespeople who leave the company are the very best ones.  They chafe at the many levels of management with which that have to share their commissions and are unhappy with having to get permission to sell from client executives and software client leads that constrain their access and relationship with key executives and decision makers.  Free agency, to me, sounds like a great alternative.

Large opportunities can have sales cycles six months or longer.  This presents the perfect environment to introduce the sales free agent, who has the industry, solution and competitive expertise to make the sale happen and can do it for a fraction of what it would cost to introduce a big consulting agency to do the same.  Just a thought....

Anyway, this book is a great read and provides many provocative thoughts for the entrepreneur in all of us!

New Years Resolution: Sales Personal Professional Development

Have you chosen professional development as your New Years resolution?  If so, we have some reading suggestions for you.

In Sales:

1. Daniel Pink's, "To Sell Is Human, The Surprising Truth About Moving Others."  This book provides a fresh look at the sales profession, some interesting new research regarding sales and who sells and finally some great insight on how to sell.
2. "The Challenger Sale, Taking Control Of The Customer Conversation," by  Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson. Here you will find some interesting insights into the evolution of sales and where we are today. This book is provocative and controversial and most of all will provide some new and interesting techniques, of which every salesperson should be aware.

In Marketing, something old and something new:

1. "Influence: Science and Practice," now in it's fifth edition, by eminent social psychologist, Robert Cialdini provides a classic of  research and insight of getting to YES
2. " Contagious, Why Things Catch On,  by Wharton Marketing Professor, Jonah Berger, who through engaging examples offers research and insight as to why things catch on and even go viral.

In Retail:

1. "The Everything Store," by Brad Stone is a must read for anyone interested in the future of retail.  Stone documents the extraordinary efforts of founder Jeff Bezos and the incredible rise of Amazon.

In Analytics:

1. Nate Silver's,  "The Signal and The Noise," is a great primer, in easy to understand narrative form for those seeking to understand issues in analytics, "Big Data" and statistics.

In General Business:

1. Malcolm Gladwell continues to provide refreshing ,surprising and useful insight into the world around us with his latest book, "David & Goliath, Underdogs, Misfits and The Art of Battling Giants."

For Your Career:

1. "The Start-up Of You: Adapt to The Future, Invest In Yourself And Transform Your Career," by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman with Ben Casnocha provides great advice for all not just entrepreneurs.h