Training Types

Looking around the table…

Yuppie Sales guy: He’s read all the relevant books, has prepared client briefs with exhaustive details including fetishes for smelly underwear, the aspirational guy who is the first to jump up and present, demo-ing that he’s listening…he’s all there, no matter he says all that he shouldn’t.

Blow-hard “I’m here to show my peers I’ve arrived” sales guy: Da man with all da answers. Been there, done that, can’t let go of the t-shirt. BSD is the memorable phenomenon that Michael Lewis i.d.-d. He can’t stop talking of how he handles clients oh-so-very differently, how he accesses the higher levels with panache. If only he stopped and listened hard, he’d hear the sound of no one caring a hoot. Such behaviour is usually the result of a mistaken assumption that your audience has no idea what you are about. These are the guys who talk continually of a sales guy’s life being terribly exciting (daily), no matter that half the time, you are chasing a squiggle on a purchase order that will save your ass for precisely 3 days (till next week’s review). I know what you are thinking…sounds…cynical. Right?

Of course it does! That brings me to the next type. The Cynic – this one’s close to my heart. It’s me! The kind who attends the training with a bored look, fighting sleep constantly, smirking @ the above two types, and of course updating a blog! For the world of me I don’t understand sitting in a hall hearing a very nice (I have to be honest) lady trying to explain solution selling. Its all very well, but when I want to talk strategy, my client wants me to find the missing parts! When I write to the CEO, saying I might have something relevant to him, he scrolls down, sees my designation, and presses Shift + Delete!

There is one last type that holds out hope for humanity. These are the Nice Guys – guys who are there knowing it is a waste of time, but are willing to give it a hearing; guys who are capable of giving their full attention to the goings-on and respect the idea behind the training. Nice guys these – they are even willing to take some learnings away from the jing-bang! More power to them, the nicest chaps on this beleaguered planet!