Please don’t gloat when you take over a colleague’s territory: here’s why
Posted by Geoff Alexander on Mon, Jul 11, 2011 @ 10:02 AM
This post is about the importance of making sure that your inside sales colleagues love you. When we deliver our inside sales training courses, it’s pretty common for one person in the class to have taken over all, or a portion of a colleague’s territory, while the colleague in question’s territory has changed. When you successfully close an opportunity that your colleague has worked on, I strongly encourage you not to dance around the office, ring the bell, boast about the order, or otherwise call attention to your sale. Why? Because your colleague probably worked the heck out of the opportunity, then lost the sale to you when you got the territory. And if you throw it in his or her face, he or she will probably resent it.
Changing territories are part of our business, and every rep eventually deals with it. And all reps get a thrill when the deal closes. But team communication is important, too, and this situation requires a bit of sensitivity. This topic came up recently when a newly-hired rep inherited part of a territory previously held by a good salesperson who had part of his territory carved out for the new rep. She called and asked how best to handle the situation, so I advised her to take the high road, don’t outwardly gloat about sales for the first few weeks, keep it subdued, and her keep celebrations to herself. We want her to be loved by everyone, and not be resented as the newbie. If you’re in this situation, please keep this post in mind, and if you’re an inside sales manager, a little bit of counseling to all parties might be in order to keep the good vibes and morale flowing through your department.