Hey Sales, Take Care of Your Peeps During the Holidays

Showing gratitude for the year of support

It is crazy the number of sales people that don’t take care of their back office folks at the end of the year. I make it a point of going into the office, planning a lunch or a meeting, and giving a firm and solid look in the eyes and heartfelt “Thank you” to those that helped me achieve my goals, or went the extra mile. I’ll never forget the sales ops guy that routinely went the extra mile, never made mistakes on commission reports, and helped with some complex deals throughout the year, for me and at least 50% of the rest of the sales team. A few days before Christmas, I went to the office, handed out Starbucks cards to my Peeps, and he was the last one. The office was deserted, and of course he was finishing up a project for someone. When I shook his hand and said thanks, he looked up at me and said, “You don’t know how much I appreciate this. Glad you stopped by.” I found out later, I was the only one that made an effort to thank him. I was angry.

You have to take care of the people that help you sell and be productive throughout the year. It’s imperative for your reputation, and required if you want to rise as a leader and to get the levels of support needed to be a top tier rep. Don’t be a T-Rex with itty-bitty arms that cannot reach your wallet.

No man is an island, especially with the complexity of sales these days. Just think back to your year:

• The sales engineer that worked over the weekend to get it done for Monday

• Joanna in legal that spent several late evenings helping you refine redlines

• Sheila in marketing that worked on that partner request for a new piece of collateral.

• The sales admin that went the extra mile to help schedule some internal meetings

The list can go on and on. It doesn’t take much, just a small thought and some words of gratitude. Here are some ideas:

• Treat them to lunch

• Gift certificate to their favorite restaurant

• Gift card

• Handwritten note

• Gift box from an online store

• Etc, etc.

More about the effort and kind words. You’ll be surprised the impact it makes and the loyalty you gain. Take care of your extended team and they’ll take care of you.