Never Win Alone 5 Pieces of Professional Advice for My Younger Self

Never Win Alone 5 Pieces of Professional Advice for My Younger Self Ive spent my entire career servicing the staffing and recruiting industry, and it has been nothing short of incredible.Throughout the course of my career, Ive been lucky enough to work with some of the worlds largest staffing agencies and the individualswho lead them. The trajectory of the staffing industry and the year-over-year growth at Bullhorn, where I am a managing director, have presented me with amazing experiences that have allowed me to grow bothpersonally and professionally. unterstellung last 12+ years have been exciting for me I started as a geschftlicher umgang development representative in corporate headquarters in Boston before evolving into a managing director role on our enterprise team, where I now work remotely out of Austin, Texas.I have been able to grow into the person I am today thanks to the mentors Ive had and the lessons Ive learned through both good and bad experiences.Given the opportunity share some of the wisdom I gathered over the years with my younger self, heres what I would say to him and to anyone else just starting out on their professional path1. Bad Meetings, Misaligned Expectations, and Misunderstandings Are InevitableThese things are going to happen. Its all about how you respond to the adversity and learn from the experience.With an analytical mind and an organized approach to task execution, youd think that planning guarantees success in all of your conversations and meetings. Youre constantly chasing perfection and the satisfaction of meeting and exceeding expectations. However, the reality is that life throws curve balls. There are going to be times when everyone colleagues, prospects, and even customers isnt on the same page. Not all meetings are going to follow an agenda or align with your presentation. Your first meeting with a client being transitioned to you will be a prime example.Youve done your homework you ve studied their business, read recent press releases and news stories, worked with the previous account manager, and spoken with platform owners.Its not enough. The business owner has never spoken with you and isnt excited about a transition. Youll be frustrated that all of your efforts are going unnoticed, but its important you dont mentally check out. This will be an eye-opening experience, an opportunity to see that sales doesnt follow a checklist and that relationships across all levels of an organization are critically important. Embrace the experience and grow with it.2. Stay Focused, and Be FlexibleConstantly set personal goals and lean on yourself for the motivation to reach them.Sales professions are full of goals monthly activity goals, quarterly booking goals, and annual growth goals but you need to supplement them with personal goals so you dont burn out and lose focus. Personal goals also allow you to hold yourself accountable, and never will this be more important t han when you work remotely, like you will in Texas.Transitioning from an arbeitszimmer employee to a remote, home-based employee is challenging. A routine youve established over the years will be disrupted, and the face-to-face conversations youve come to love and rely on will be harder to have regularly.Stay flexible and recognize the opportunity you have use remote work as a catalyst to build a new and more efficient routine. Account for time zone differences and make sure you maintain (and build) relationships with your colleagues through any communication channel necessary. Youre going to miss the water cooler talk, but youll appreciate the new work/life balance and the flexibility a home office can grant you. Change is good, and if you embrace the short-term disruption, itll help you build some new skills.3. Never Win Alone, and Never LoseAloneThis mantra comes from my colleague and friend Donny Payne, and its a very important one. Selling is a team sport. Youre going to collab orate with others to reach desired outcomes and land the win.Early in your career, youre going to be excited by the opportunity to win some deals and make a name for yourself. Youll think you have what it takes to do it on your own and earn all the glory and then youll lose, only to find out the lessons your colleagues have learned could have been applied to your campaign and changed the end result.On the enterprise team at Bullhorn and in the sales organization overall, everyone is in it together. Were a team first. That mentality has to extend beyond your peers on the team toinclude colleagues in all other functional groups, such as marketing, product, services, and support. Selling enterprise software and solving complex business issues require a collective group to work in unison, and its your job to identify the strategy and keep everyone organized. Delivering an incredible customer experience will followwhen everyone is equally vested in the success of the client. Remember, y ou work with some of the most talented people in the industry, and they want to help you.4. Sales Is a Short-Term Memory Game Be Wary of High Highs and Low LowsSales is a results-driven career, and success is ultimately measured through production and quota achievement. However, its also important to remember that each year and each quarter the scoreboard resets. Sales is about what you have done lately keep this in mind when measuring and responding to individual contributions, whether theyre wins or losses.The work doesnt stop when you win or lose. In fact, the stakes get higher. When a customer chooses your software or wants to add on to it, theyre entrusting you to help their business achieve key goals or outcomes. You can celebrate once youve guided them through a successful implementation and delivered on the sale.Youll also learn that your character is truly assessed in how you respond to the losses. People, both internally and externally, will take notice, and the relatio nships you establish will last beyond a transactional sale. Trust me when I tell you that not everything goes as planned individuals who may have told you they were going in a different direction will call you months or years down the road looking to reopen a conversation.5. Remember to Step Back and Appreciate the JourneyYoure the schriftart of person who is constantly thinking about the next step and the next goal, measuring yourself against your colleagues and friends. But not all paths are the same. You need to appreciate what youve accomplished on your journey.Once in a while, you should step away from the day-to-day to remind yourself how fortunate you are to have an opportunity to work for an amazing company that supports your growth professionally and personally. Youre surrounded by all-stars who want to coach, mentor, and provide feedback at any opportunity. Take it all in. If you do that, youll continue to grow, and your appetite for change, an agile work environment, and new responsibilities will be fulfilled. Hard work pays off, and you should celebrate your successes with family and friends, preferably on beaches in exotic locations (or wherever your favorite vacation destinationmay be).As the saying commonly attributed to theRoman philosopher Seneca the Youngergoes, Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. While I have no idea what the next decade will bring, I can only hope for a bit more luck so I can continue tobe proud of my accomplishments, the career path Ive chosen, and the person Ive become.Greg LaGarde is a managing director for Bullhorn.