| I've been in sales and sales management training | | | | someone who sold copiers on a commission-only |
| for the last 15 years, and I am continually struck | | | | basis, and someone who emigrated from another |
| by one unchanging situation: sales forces don't | | | | culture who had to learn how to do business in a |
| reflect the ethnicity of the working world. | | | | new language, you might get new ideas on how |
| Here's what I mean. I live in Toronto, the most | | | | to drive, motivate, and persuade your |
| multiculturally diverse city on the planet, and I | | | | customers." |
| recently became a Canadian citizen. On that day, | | | | BRIDGING THE GAP: |
| 113 other people from 22 countries also took the | | | | How can managers encourage, recruit and nourish |
| citizenship oath. As I looked around, five of us | | | | culturally diverse salespeople? Here are some |
| were white. Only three of us spoke English as our | | | | ideas: |
| first language (two Bulgarians were the other part | | | | 1. DECLARE YOUR INTENTION TO HAVE YOUR |
| of the white contingent). I was surrounded by a | | | | SALES TEAM MIRROR THE POPULATION |
| sea of interesting looking faces of various colours | | | | When hiring for sales positions, start paying close |
| and hues, and I was so proud to be part of this | | | | attention to company policies that encourage or |
| crowd. | | | | mandate a diverse environment. Tell others |
| I ride the subway whenever I get the chance, | | | | (including your sales team) of your intentions, and |
| and the other passengers who are going to work | | | | ask if they know good people to hire. |
| (executives, middle management, administrators, | | | | Perhaps members of minority groups are not |
| blue collar workers, men, women, recent grads, | | | | applying for sales jobs in your industry, or aren't |
| the nearly retired) mirror the crowd at the | | | | being promoted into sales management. The |
| citizenship ceremony. | | | | same was said about women 25 years ago. |
| I have worked with over 6,000 sales | | | | Depending on the industry, many sales forces |
| professionals in the past 15 years in a wide | | | | now include significant numbers of women. |
| variety of industries including technology, | | | | Change can happen. |
| packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, | | | | 2. QUESTION YOUR OWN PERSPECTIVES |
| telecommunications, health care, travel, banking, | | | | Ask yourself some questions. What are your |
| insurance and manufacturing. Yet only a handful of | | | | assumptions about races and cultures other than |
| people in all my training classes have been black, | | | | your own, or about the prospect of working with |
| Asian, East Indian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, etc. | | | | people who may look at the world and human |
| Why? | | | | interactions through different lenses? When you |
| This lack of diversity makes no business sense. | | | | hire or promote someone from a minority group, |
| Every day, companies struggle to develop their | | | | do you feel as if you've done that person a |
| competitive edge and increase their customer | | | | favour? Unconscious attitudes can unwittingly lead |
| base. They are operating in a global marketplace, | | | | to exclusionary actions. |
| made up of a vast range of cultures, customers | | | | 3. BE A MENTOR MATCHMAKER |
| and customs. Most companies declare in their | | | | Research indicates that employees of minority |
| corporate statements that their people make the | | | | cultures in an organization may have more |
| difference, yet they haven't found practical ways | | | | difficulty finding mentors than employees of the |
| to ensure that their sales forces reflect the | | | | prevailing culture. Find out if an employee would |
| marketplace realities of diverse races and cultures. | | | | prefer to be partnered with someone of the |
| Some voices have started recognizing the | | | | same background, and then offer to connect that |
| benefits of diversity, such as Bill Minix, director of | | | | person with an appropriate resource within your |
| learning and development for Fisher HealthCare. | | | | organization. |
| As he says in a recent article in Selling Power | | | | 4. SHARE YOUR SUCCESSES WITH ME |
| magazine, "The more diverse your environment, | | | | If your organization has been successful in hiring |
| the better your sales." "If you get 10 medical | | | | and retaining a culturally diverse sales and sales |
| technicians together for brainstorming, each with | | | | management force, please let me know how |
| 18 years of experience, what kind of ideasdo you | | | | you've done it. I will share your practices and |
| think you'll get? But if you introduce a junior | | | | insights with Sa1esWise readers. |
| military officer with a background in leadership, | | | | |