Some of us as children made fun of nerds. Some of us as children beat up nerds. Finally, some of us as children were nerds. I was then and probably forever will be a nerd. I know that I am a nerd still, because every time I mention Twilight Zone episode, a quote from Star Wars (Do or do not, there is no try), or complain about my fantasy football team, my lovely girlfriend reminds me that I am a nerd.
I can live with my inner nerd, and even more important than that, I can live with my outer nerd too. Now I know what you’re thinking, “But Kevin, you write a blog on sales, you can’t be a nerd!!” Well my friends I am one, and to prove that am I am nerd, I am listening to Rush (http://www.rush.com/) while writing this, but today’s blog is not about feeling good about your nerdiness (You should already feel good about that). It is about dealing with Tech Support, IT, Accounting, and other Dungeons and Dragons playing nerds.*
So you are a sales (wo)man, the top of the GOSH DARN food chain. Without you, and your hard work these nerds would have anything else to do other than going on internet fantasy dates, watch re-runs of Star Trek, or play with their abacus. (“Go play with your abacus” is one of my favorite comments to make to accountants.) First things first, yes, you do bring most of the revenue into the company, but you cannot do it on your own. Most sales people's math is limited to very few things, figuring profit margin, figuring discounts (which are normally wrong), and figuring out how wrong our paychecks are.
Our Tech Support, IT, and Accounting departments are what keep us rolling. They make sure that the product that we sell doesn't come back. They tell us what is wrong with our laptops and cell phones when we can't contact our customers. Finally they make sure that the product that we sell gets paid for. You should realize if the company doesn't get paid neither do we, and not getting paid IS A BIG DEAL.
These internal departments are the most important departments in our companies. They keep it going as I explained above. You need to find time to get to know them. I do not know where I would be if the Tech Support and IT departments did think of me as a friend. I recommend that you start thinking of them as your friends too.
I am not saying that you need to kiss their butts daily, but you do need to acknowledge their existence. Please remember to say that you. Remember they do not owe you anything. If you are not selling you will be replaced with some one else who will, and their lives will go on. If you have a tech or account that bails you out all the time, because you and I both know that we need someone to bail us out at times, buy them a soda, a candy bar, or god forbid, lunch. Have lunch with them, ask them about themselves. You know how to do that, and we all know that we like talking about ourselves, so do they. Find out something about them, ask the same fact finding questions you would ask a customer and retain that information just like you would with a customer.
They are a valuable resource for you, your customers, and your company. Make sure you treat them like it, and you will find that your issues, needs, and screw ups will get handled a lot quicker. So starting Monday, you KNOW what you SHOULD do.
*I played Dungeons and Dragons in middle school. Go ahead and make fun of me!
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