I'm going to get personal here for a span. My day job is in HR staffing. More particularly in the IT sector. I work in an office of an undisclosed HR firm. One of the largest ones to be honest.
I failed my coworkers in my BD role. However, in doing so, I've succeeded in understanding what drove my personal successes and the kind of environment that I thrive in. I'll be trying to move onward and upwards by developing the one thing that I'm proud to never have exploited. Relationships. I've always gotten by on my own steam because I don't want to risk jeopardizing my relationships through exploitation. That will remain to be so, however I'm going to try making friends along the way and maybe, just maybe this little blog and shop and sales guy just might make it.
-Jonas
In my office, there are about 10 - 15 people, composed of 3 types:
1) Client people - They glad-hand the companies that need my firm's services
2) Candidate people - they troll job boards and linked in to find roles that companies need
3) BD people- that's me. A new-ish venture. I find companies and connect them with the Client People, who will close the sale. Basically, I phone companies and ask for meetings.
There are pitfalls in any company, and this firm is no different. The pitfalls lie in the culture. It is a commission only structure and this particular environment has bred a specific type of employee. We've all seen it. The type that shakes your hand with their right, while pulling the rug out from under you with their left. Contact hoarding, weaseling into meetings, and never taking the time to know your colleagues out of fear of being betrayed, or knowing you'll be the betrayer eventually.
There are pitfalls in any company, and this firm is no different. The pitfalls lie in the culture. It is a commission only structure and this particular environment has bred a specific type of employee. We've all seen it. The type that shakes your hand with their right, while pulling the rug out from under you with their left. Contact hoarding, weaseling into meetings, and never taking the time to know your colleagues out of fear of being betrayed, or knowing you'll be the betrayer eventually.
There's a way sales people speak. They have this way of talking to you, asking questions, but never going too far from the surface; never too far from their objective. They never give too much away and you're at arms length at all times. That's not bad, per se, but it's not exactly good either. The client never knows too much, so they are always on guard and always aware that they're being sold to. The salesperson's colleagues eventually see all this and eventually withdraws their own care for the sales guy.
Here is an ugly truth about The HR industry and the previously mentioned "candidate people". If you are a candidate, the more you get paid, the more your HR contact gets paid. As such, they want you to get as much money as possible. However, keep in mind they don't have a vested interested in you. They have an interest in filling the requested role. Often times, they will submit 2-4 applicants from their own database for the same role and many don't care about fit. They're slinging mud (yes, you're nothing more than mud to them) at the wall and hoping some shit sticks. That's it. The only one they want to keep happy is the client. As long as the client is happy, they have a continual source of job openings to fill.
Where do I fit in as a BD person? I find clients. Whenever I book a meeting between a client person and a potential company, I get paid. If new business comes from this meeting, I get paid. If you've ever worked the phone for a living, you know you've got roughly a 5%-10% success rate or contacting someone you need. Of that group, 5%-10% of them will be receptive to a meeting. You do the math. That's a shit ton of calls and contacts before you meet success. If I don't book meetings, the client people start getting on my case. When I probe them for leads, I receive a combined list of 150-ish leads (the quality and source of which is highly suspect). The math works out to approximately 1.5 people receptive to meetings. Where do the other leads come from? They're self generated. Fundamentally, I worked for a week clarifying and qualifying this lead list. Then 1 more week reaching out just to get a shot at $75 bucks. The rest of the time, I'm working my own methods to source out leads.
I've begun to see the frustration in my colleagues that I'm not getting them meetings. I'm failing them. Catastrophically. As I've alluded to, this office is staffed with so many short sighted, self absorbed employees, that don't understand what it takes to succeed that I've all but completely retracted all support. I've effectively failed their expectation of me, and I'm just not doing my job. I'm not doing it because these folks don't understand a basic concept of any sales role, or life in general. What do I know that they don't? It's simple:
Give to Get.
That's it. The bulk of my colleagues are just looking for that one sale and doing nothing to show appreciation to their existing clients outside of the customary holiday trinkets. They show even less to their supporting colleagues. What value are they bringing to their colleagues and clients? A minimal amount at best. I've always said, in sales and client relationships, you have to give to receive.
Where do I fit in as a BD person? I find clients. Whenever I book a meeting between a client person and a potential company, I get paid. If new business comes from this meeting, I get paid. If you've ever worked the phone for a living, you know you've got roughly a 5%-10% success rate or contacting someone you need. Of that group, 5%-10% of them will be receptive to a meeting. You do the math. That's a shit ton of calls and contacts before you meet success. If I don't book meetings, the client people start getting on my case. When I probe them for leads, I receive a combined list of 150-ish leads (the quality and source of which is highly suspect). The math works out to approximately 1.5 people receptive to meetings. Where do the other leads come from? They're self generated. Fundamentally, I worked for a week clarifying and qualifying this lead list. Then 1 more week reaching out just to get a shot at $75 bucks. The rest of the time, I'm working my own methods to source out leads.
I've begun to see the frustration in my colleagues that I'm not getting them meetings. I'm failing them. Catastrophically. As I've alluded to, this office is staffed with so many short sighted, self absorbed employees, that don't understand what it takes to succeed that I've all but completely retracted all support. I've effectively failed their expectation of me, and I'm just not doing my job. I'm not doing it because these folks don't understand a basic concept of any sales role, or life in general. What do I know that they don't? It's simple:
Give to Get.
That's it. The bulk of my colleagues are just looking for that one sale and doing nothing to show appreciation to their existing clients outside of the customary holiday trinkets. They show even less to their supporting colleagues. What value are they bringing to their colleagues and clients? A minimal amount at best. I've always said, in sales and client relationships, you have to give to receive.
Connect with your clients by giving something of yourself, and not keeping things at a surface level. Connect with your colleagues on a personal level to show you care about more than how their production can benefit you. I'm no saint, I'm no charity worker, and certainly not a philanthropist. That said, I do know how infinitely more wealthy you can become by reaching out and caring for the people around you
And so, I'm ending this journey here, before I slide further down this crevasse. I've plunged my hands into the filth before, often times to help people, instead of the company I'm working for at the time. After getting previously canned for refusing to do so in the name of the company, I'm done with filth. I'm sick of being around filthy co-workers with no scruples and no care for each other. I'm done working for a company that tries to foster a giving image when in reality, its only out for itself. The company saw to that.
And so, I'm ending this journey here, before I slide further down this crevasse. I've plunged my hands into the filth before, often times to help people, instead of the company I'm working for at the time. After getting previously canned for refusing to do so in the name of the company, I'm done with filth. I'm sick of being around filthy co-workers with no scruples and no care for each other. I'm done working for a company that tries to foster a giving image when in reality, its only out for itself. The company saw to that.
I failed my coworkers in my BD role. However, in doing so, I've succeeded in understanding what drove my personal successes and the kind of environment that I thrive in. I'll be trying to move onward and upwards by developing the one thing that I'm proud to never have exploited. Relationships. I've always gotten by on my own steam because I don't want to risk jeopardizing my relationships through exploitation. That will remain to be so, however I'm going to try making friends along the way and maybe, just maybe this little blog and shop and sales guy just might make it.
-Jonas
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