Paula Shannon, introduced at the beginning of this chapter, spends part of most weeks away from her Montreal home-based office, managing a global team of 70 sales professionals for Boston-based Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. Some indicators of her success: 1) Under her direction, Lionbridge placed second for Best Sales Team in the American Business Awards; 2) Paula was recognized with the inaugural International Stevie Award as Best Sales Executive; and 3) Among more than 600 entrants, Paula received a second Stevie Award as Best Canadian Executive.
Some qualities recognized by the Stevie awards include leadership, innovation, perseverance, creativity, teamwork, and integrity. There are many things that must come together to create success at this level. Paula Shannon is a person who has managed herself and her career with meticulous detail; her success is not an accident.
Paula Shannon notes six principles that she believes have contributed to her success:
1. Be self-confident, but be humble and respectful. Customers buy from salespeople who are confident and professional, not from those who are arrogant or self-centred. Paula says, “Some of the best people I have worked with have been able to combine selfconfidence with a genuine interest in and respect for our customers’ business issues and needs.”
2. Communicate clear, simple customer solutions in a language they understand. Some salespeople have a tendency toward bafflegab—sprinkling their discussion with technical jargon without explaining it—mistakenly believing that this will impress their customers.
Yet most customers want a clear, simple solution to their buying problems. Paula says, “The art of making complex issues simple seems to be one of the most important things a salesperson can do. When done well, this results in a ‘call to action’ and a sense of mission or purpose to see the job through.”
3. Be a prolific reader. Paula Shannon reads both fiction and nonfiction for pleasure. She also reads The Wall Street Journal daily, Fortune, CIO Insight, Selling Power, The Economist, Harvard Business Review , and numerous reports, industry newsletters, and specialized publications. Paula says, “I know that the ability to digest large volumes of information has always been a key to my success. Whether I am getting up to speed on a project, a new deal, or an opportunity, or staying current on business trends or technology shifts, my reading is something that has helped me at every level of my secondary education and my career.”
4. Have fun and love what you do. Salespeople who work too hard are often subject to burnout. You need time for yourself and to relax. Paula logs more than 240 000 kilometres by air a year. There is no doubt she works hard, but she also plays hard. Paula says, “I rarely schedule work for myself over the weekends and save time for my family, sports, friends, and fun.
As a result, I remain energetic, positive, and upbeat.
These are all things that are important when interacting with both colleagues and customers.”
5. Develop competence with technology. At one point in her career, Paula purchased her own laptop. She recognized that she could improve her own efficiency if she could work on correspondence and client proposals while away from her office. Paula says, “Sales requires extraordinary time management, immediacy, customer focus, and access to and the exchange of information. Technology is an essential tool in the equation.” Speaking of the impact of technology on herself and her sales team, she adds, “Our ability to respond to customers, solve problems, and deliver information has improved five-fold. Remote access to a shared store of centralized information has helped us, as service providers, to manage global projects, report on status, improve quality, and coordinate worldwide teams.”
6. Develop both depth and breadth of knowledge. Paula credits some of her success to the fact that she has taken several “career meanderings” during her career—lateral moves and an occasional step downward.
Speaking of this, Paula says, “In sales—deep technical or product and service—offering expertise is crucial to your success and credibility with customers.
However, those skills alone, without broader business or cultural context, result in someone whose options become increasingly limited as their career progresses.”
Questions
1. Which of Paula Shannon’s “six principles for success”
will make the most important contribution to a career in personal selling? Explain.
2. Reflect on your own approach to accomplishing things. Then select two of Paula’s principles that you would find easy to adopt. Also select two principles you would find difficult to adopt. Explain your choices.
3. What things, among the many that Paula does, do you think help her manage stress most effectively?
Explain.
4. How important do you think time management is to Paula? Records management? Territory management?