Becoming a Sales Rock Star On and Off the Road

A significant percentage of salespeople are beginning to travel for work again. For some, business travel is a massive perk. For others, it’s a necessary evil. A role that requires a lot of travel time outside the office is not for everyone by any means. And while there exist many benefits that come with being on the road, it’s not always as glamorous as it may seem.

While recently traveling to present at various sales and technical events worldwide, I’ve thought a lot about what makes a salesperson a “rock star.” What is it that sets them apart from all the other salespeople out there. As I sat in airport after airport, from New Zealand to Canada and multiple cities across the U.S., I reflected on how individuals that attain this rock star status seem to thrive on the road. What’s the secret to their success?

On the Road Again

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of meeting and working with many salespeople I would consider rock stars. These individuals have specific qualities and learned behaviors that contribute to their success in sales wherever they may be.

The first is to be consistent and maintain a schedule as best as you can. I always start my day by doing the same thing – reading the day’s news as soon as I get out of bed. It’s critical to be informed of what is going on in your industry and the world around you so you can be a chameleon – adaptable. In addition, when traveling, never leave without scheduling a plan. By the time you arrive, you should generally know how every hour of your time on the road will be spent. Plan how long it will take from when you land to get to where you need to be. Build in time for meetings, catching up on email, eating, sleeping, doing something fun, and traveling home. Maintaining a well-planned schedule is crucial for success.

Next, it’s important to be knowledgeable. A great salesperson has a love of learning and a thirst for knowledge because they know it’s important to be able to hold an engaging conversation with anyone you meet. To do so means being well informed on a wide range of topics. You never know with whom you may need to strike up a conversation, especially as you’re on the road.

Finally, it’s important for salespeople to embrace honesty, transparency and dependability. These are three of the most important qualities for success in sales. These qualities are similar yet different, and true sales rock stars strive to maintain each at the highest level possible, both with internal teams as well as with customers and strategic partners. If a mistake is made, own it. If someone emails or calls, reply as quickly as possible. Simply put, great salespeople treat everyone like they want to be treated.

Benefits of Traveling as a Salesperson

If you do, in fact, find you’re cut out for being a road warrior, there definitely are some great benefits that come from hitting the road. Consider the following:

 

Face-to-face interactions allow you to build deeper relationships with your customers and colleagues. Sure, Microsoft Teams and Zoom are great and convenient ways to hold a meeting, and you can cover more ground in less time, but so much human communication is done non-verbally and that does not always translate well online.

By traveling for business, there are many opportunities to learn a lot in a short period of time because you are less protected from uncomfortable situations than you would be if you were stuck behind a desk in your office. There are great teaching moments in these types of situations. If you can handle the stress and sometimes fear that can arise by navigating these unfamiliar areas, you’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of your competition.

On occasion, work travels can allow you to enjoy different parts of the world. In the past, it was rare for me to spend any real time in a city I visited. I was very work focused – I would arrive, accomplish the task I was sent to do, and then head home to my family. Recently, however, I have found that it’s nice to slow down and experience my surroundings as much as possible. This year I have seen multiple sporting events in cities across the nation, eaten Nashville hot chicken, enjoyed Texas barbecue, met family for dinner in their home state, eaten at a highly regarded Chicago steakhouse, ridden a roller coaster, walked the beach in California, and heard tornado sirens for the first time ever. Traveling for work can truly add to your life experiences.

Business travel, just like anything else in life, is all about your perspective. When done right, it provides many benefits. Next time you’re on the road, keep the tips above in mind to help you become a sales rock star both on and off the road.

Author

  • Will Ominsky

    Will Ominsky is senior director, MSP Sales for Nerdio, a company that empowers Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and enterprises to build successful cloud practices in Microsoft Azure with Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365.

Get our newsletter and digital focus reports

Stay current on learning and development trends, best practices, research, new products and technologies, case studies and much more.