Over the past several years, as I get a little more grey in my beard (I would have said hair but I have more beard than hair) I have been asked two questions repeatedly;
1) Do you think young sales reps relate to you and what you teach?
2) Do you relate to young sales reps and the stage of their career they are in?
Both of these are great questions, and I never shy away from giving a direct and complete answer.
The first question, “Do you think young sales reps relate to you and what you teach?” is usually asked by a sales manager or someone in a position of authority. I understand why they ask me, however I sometime can’t believe that they don’t already know the answer.
Not only do I think that young sales reps relate to me, I think they relate to any sales rep, manager or trainer who has been in the industry for a long time and has achieved a level of success. Young sales reps are looking for short cuts to success (the same short cuts I looked for as a young sales rep) They want to be trained so they can avoid some of the bumps that the “older guys” (guys is a northern term with no gender attached to it) have encountered.
I actually think a young sales rep relates better to someone my age then they do a peer because they don’t see the peer as able to “warn” them of trouble before they are in it. I have found that young sales reps today are even more eager to learn from successful people than reps were when I was coming up the ladder.
Over my years as a trainer I have seen other trainers that were a lot younger than myself have a harder time relating with young reps not because of age but because of attitude. It seems the closer the reps and trainers are in age the more they seem to bump heads. The learners don’t think the trainer knows enough to be a trainer and the trainer sometimes can’t understand why the learners don’t understand everything as well as they do.
The second question, “Do you relate to young sales reps and the stage of their career they are in?” is usually asked by the sales reps themselves. They are afraid that my years of experience will dull my ability to see them where they are and offer the help they need.
Relating isn’t dependant on age, it is however dependant on each side understanding the point of view of the other and respecting one an others positions. I never lose sight of the fact that young reps are usually scared. Sometimes they don’t even know what they are scared of. Some are scared of failing, some of getting fired, some of rejection some of success, and some are just scared of the unknown.
So many sales trainers look at these fears as being stupid and make light of them to the reps. I have always viewed these fears as real and have worked to dismiss them in a logical, professional way that never makes the reps feel silly or demeaned.
It really doesn’t matter which question is asked of me or by whom. What does matter is the fact that there is a question in the minds of managers and reps which need to be answered, my job, even before I start to train is to give the answers.
If you don’t think you can relate to a trainer don’t be afraid to step up and ask question like these. You may find that what they tell you makes relating easy for you both.
Lorin
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