The Inbetweener: Spin or substance, what's more important to a career in sales?
I once had a manager who lived by the line "You gotta fake it till you make it". He always questioned why I wanted to know the technical aspects of my sales job, rather than the bare minimum to get by. It was a concept which didn't sit well with me, given that I was the one who had to deal with curly questions from clients and didn't like using the phrase: "I'm not sure about that, but let me get back to you".
When the business development manager (BDM) came into the office, I wanted to know the ins and outs of all the financial products we were selling. But when I asked him questions of an operational nature (e.g. exactly the type my clients would ask me), I usually received a blank look and a description of what my kickbacks would be if I would only get people to buy the product.
Hitting this managerial brick wall would then lead me to find out the names of our department's operations people in order to understand exactly how the product worked. That way, if a client enquired, I knew all the answers to any questions thrown my way. I soon learnt not to trust the technical expertise of the BDM.
Spin wins?
When the GFC hit it was mainly sales, advertising and some back-office jobs that were culled. But I recollect reading articles about how it was usually the technically competent salespeople who were surviving these layoffs. Much was said at the time about how we had learnt lessons from the financial crisis and that there would therefore be a shift away from the smooth talkers towards those with technical expertise.
But from what I saw, it didn't turn out this way. It was actually the good spin doctors, and/or those whose redundancy payouts would have been astronomical, who stayed in their jobs. I doubt that banks now hire BDMs because they know the products inside out instead of the minimum to achieve their sales targets.
What do you think? Has there been a shift away from spin at Australian financial institutions since the GFC? I know that product development managers aren't BDMs, but should they be on the same desk in order to really educate those who on-sell financial products? Is it possible to have both strong technical skills and sales skills?
Who would you prefer: a smooth talker who tells you what you want to hear, or a technical dweeb who at least knows what he/she is talking about? I'm a bit confused because I have worked with both types.
And I have to say that hearing a nervous techie dork may be just as cringe-worthy as dealing with a smoothie shonk who is only out for a bonus. I would hope there is a sensible balance between these two extremes. Thank goodness it's a decision I won't have to deal with in my career again. I'm no longer working in sales.
