What Else Do I Need to Know?

• Your employer is in business to make money. Quite often, people say that their company makes car parts, or that they work for a grocery store. But the overall point of their business is to make a profit, at least in a capitalistic economy. Profit is a return on investment to shareholders (owners) of the firm. Over the years, we have heard individuals who openly questioned the need to make a profit. Let’s keep it simple and assume that losing money over time will put you out of business. Profit allows investment. Remember that on your first day of work, you were an “investment” by the company—one that they hoped would eventually pay off.
• You work in a competitive environment. Are your competitors nice people with whom you share war stories and talk about “bagging the elephant?” No! They’re slugs to be crushed. Of course, you may temporarily work with these competitors in teaming situations, and you might even change jobs and work for a former competitor. But, remember, if you don’t win, then you don’t eat. Do you think the competition is sitting in their war room plotting schemes to be nice to you? Of course, not. They’re scheming to eat your lunch!
• You make choices—lots of them. We are fond of saying that life is full of little choices. One of the simplest examples of this is the need to make a choice between two equally attractive opportunities to win new work from customers. Sometimes we choose one over the other, and sometimes we choose to pursue both. Less frequently, a choice is made to pursue neither. The activity of making choices, and the information which forms the basis of those decisions, is a major emphasis of our book. Actively making good choices based on knowledge may be the most important factor in being successful at technical professional sales.

You make choices to outmaneuver your competition and make money.  Everything else is details.