Sales and Marketing Management Summary

Sales and Marketing Management

Summary of "Stars in the Making," by Elana Harris

For years, the practice of sales and marketing seemed to be somewhat like magic, with no way to teach people how to do it or what makes a good representative. Literature in recent years, such as "Stars in the Making," a 2001 article by Elana Harris, serves to demystify the process of turning new salespeople into, in effect, "sales stars."

In Harris' article, she makes the point that there are ways to mentor, motivate, and lead new salespeople to their full potential as salespeople; this point is cleverly proven by success stories from such luminary companies as Bausch & Lomb and others. Perhaps the most important message that Harris puts forth in "Stars in the Making" is that training, motivation and development of the skills needed for overcoming challenges are keys to the growth of salespeople over the long-term. Because of this, Harris continues, sales managers must be coaches or mentors to their team members as well.

Simply put, in conclusion, "Stars in the Making" proves that success in sales is attainable for those who put forth the effort, when properly led by managers who likewise make an effort to mentor their "future stars."

Relevance of "Stars in the Making"

Elana Harris' article is extremely relevant, especially given the bad reputation that selling has been given over the years, not only from the viewpoint of the customer, but also from the viewpoint of those who are looking at career choices. A great deal of this bad reputation and misconceptions about sales have been based in the past upon unprofessional, unethical salespeople, led by managers who were even worse. However, Harris takes the sales profession, the development of competent and ethical salespeople, and their management to a higher level of professionalism and credibility, making this article relevant to a professional selling career from several key points-of-view.

To begin, Harris gains credibility in her article by explaining that while there are basically a handful of born salespeople who make their quotas and do well without much coaching or skill sharpening, there are those who simply need more mentoring and training to bring out their full potential. This explanation is something that an aspiring sales professional, or even someone looking for a valid career choice, can hold onto as a highly valuable piece of information, for it shows that sales excellence is not always magic, but is a skill that can be honed and developed.

Especially relevant for sales managers was information that explained how important it is for salespeople to be given all of the tools and training that they will need to realize top productivity as salespeople, and furthermore, all of this can be done in a professional setting and that salespeople add a great deal of value to the buying process. This concept also relates Harris' article to another key reference on the sales profession, the book "Selling: The Profession" by David J. Lill.

Lill's book is very relevant and compatible to Harris' article because the two have taken the sales process and expanded and defined that process to show that it can be studied, measured, and refined, much like the process to build a material product or create a work of art, at the risk of being melodramatic in the analogy. Because both Harris and Lill have studied and presented information that can teach sales professionals, and aspiring sales professionals, not only the ways to be outstanding salespeople, but also how the right salesperson can add tremendous value to meeting and exceeding the needs of their clients. In other words, these authors have proven that sales is no longer just the process of trying to convince someone to sell something, but also to help a potential buyer to understand their options and make the right buying decision. By doing this, everyone wins; these authors have made an excellent discovery in presenting this material to the reader/student.

Critique of "Stars in the Making"

For all of the attributes of Harris' article, there are some fair critiques that could be made of the article from several points-of-view. With this in mind, these critiques are offered not as a means of saying that Harris' article is not well written from several points-of-view, but rather that there are some improvements that could be made to the article from a strictly objective perspective.

To begin, while it may seem like nitpicking, the article begins with a statement to the effect that salespeople need handholding. While the spirit of this statement may be correct, the actual nature of the need is not properly revealed. Handholding implies that salespeople will be led down a path and protected from anything that will adversely affect them; true, those who lead salespeople have a responsibility to look out for their people and likewise to allow their salespeople to grow, take chances, and in some cases, fail. Not that sales leaders want their representatives to be failures, but by giving them the chance to test the waters so to speak, the aspiring salesperson can learn from their mistakes and grow as professionals. Holding their hands may not do the trick. The handholding statement is contradicted a few paragraphs later when the motivating and helping of salespeople is detailed, so perhaps it was a well intentioned, if not confusing, attempt to cover both sides of the topic.

Another critique of the article lies in the extensive, actually somewhat excessive, use of quotes from professional salespeople. While real-world accounts and experiences add depth to the article, and add credibility, the excessive use of quotes tends to make the article seem like it is being filled with fluff over real substantive information that the reader could use for a valid form of reference. The discussion of some of the high end benefits that the salespeople of Bausch & Lomb receive may be entertaining, but it could also be discouraging to someone who works for a smaller firm or is in fact struggling in their sales efforts.