It's Green Week --

Are the BEST sales people GREEN?

We begin a four-week cycle: four articles in four weeks about the four Colors of SALES PEOPLE. In what ways are each of the Color temperaments "the best" as sales people?

This week is Green - the Rational person who can be an Architect, Inventor, Mastermind, or Fieldmarshal (temperament-wise). Rational Greens know how to strategize and efficiently gather relevant information for prospects.

Sounds like a darn powerful, high-profile sales person, doesn't it?

The fact is, Green folks do not gravitate to sales naturally, but lots of sales people have Green as a secondary Color. After all, great sales people must be good at strategizing  in order to meet the goals of, say, a five-year plan.

If we consider sales as a team effort rather than focus on individualsales people, then hiring Green folks onto a sales team makes sense - important sense. Who but a Green relishes the chance to design a sales system that is based on long-term strategy? Who but a Green will do the research required to come up with that system?

As for individual sales people, who but a Green should be chosen to make the pitch to a Green client? Remember that Green prospects are extremely demanding and "do not suffer fools lightly." They consider themselves experts and, in order to feel respected, hope to heaven that you send them a real expert on the products or services being sold. Green prospects may arrive at a meeting better informed than most anyone on your sales force, so do you have that person in place who commands Green respect?

Now there are a few "Achilles heels" in the makeup of Green sales folk. They are naturally impatient, hate small-talk, may seem cold and overly analytical, and may end up talking over the prospect's head. Successful Green sales reps learn diplomacy, teach themselves to relax enough for friendly conversation, and are willing to take the time necessary to answer a prospect's questions. The good news is that Green folks will usually figure this out on their own, with minimal coaching.

But let's get back to Green strengths: They know the science behind the product. They will do extensive research for prospects and will satisfy the most discriminating among them.

Gold Team Member Comment: Use me for follow-up activity, adherence to timelines, and other logistics.

Blue Team Member Comment: Send me out to the client to spend face time with them, especially if you are not sure what's holding them back from a "yes".

Orange Team Member Comment: I'm a closer. Bring me in when it's time to get a signature on the deal.

Dear Jack,

At the workshop, my fellow Greens and I chose "heartless" as the word we least want our coworkers to label us.

My husband calls me heartless on occasion. My kids do so almost every day.

The thing is, the use of time means everything to me. I write for a living - and this is a profession that demands strict discipline, rigid timelines, plenty of alone time for creativity, and so much more. I work at home like most writers. I have small office that used to be a bedroom.

So the time every day that I give to my family may be only two or three hours. Knocks on my office door and interruptions during my work time are supposed to be for crises only, but of course that is not the case. When I judge a disturbance to be frivolous, I may do a little screaming and thereby get screamed at for being "heartless" - of course.

Let's backtrack a little. Those two or three hours of family time are 100% attention given by me to both children husband -- whatever they want and how they want it. I, too, re-energize myself with this time. I adore my family. I laugh, play, build stuff, go places, and have great conversations.  And this is not a strict 2 to 3-hour regimen. I am at the school plays and other important events, and I spend most of my weekends with the family, friends, and guests.

Actually I think the family understands and they love me back, but I still end up feeling a little selfish and coldhearted clocking so many hours behind my office door.

Any suggestions, Jack?

RJ

Hi RJ,

Your challenge has less to do with being Green and more to do with being a parent of young children and an active spouse.

You all want the same thing: you really, really want more time with each other with little or no guilt for working for a living.

What you are doing now is not working to your satisfaction, so think about making changes? Many writers I know, for example, do their best writing between 3 a.m. and 9 a.m. and they quit then. The rest of the day is open for occasional meetings, errands, chores, and a nap. The spouse fixes breakfast, gets the kids off to school, drops by the writer's office for a kiss, and goes to work. When kids are home from school and the spouse is home from work, the writer is there for the rest of the day and evening.

If time is difficult to alter, then space may be the issue. Working at home is too close to all the chaotic activity that happens there - and too close to the refrigerator, some say. Of course you know that many venues provide free wifi and quiet digs to spend quality work time. There is a current trend also to share office space with others for reasonable rent. Remember that "out of sight, out of mind" working somewhere else will work wonders for family members who see you as "heartless" when you are trying to work in their presence.

Many great artists have had this dilemma. In some cases, the great art demands gobs of time and great sacrifices on the part of all family members. If this is your case, then all parties need to work at understanding your use of time and you must work a little harder selling them on the importance of it. Let me know if this is true for you and we'll talk more.

Jack