Facing Challenges
Looking back at her career path, Wilson recalls that she encountered a few surprises along the way.“ When I first started repping, there were hardly as many females in the profession as there are today. As a result, one of the challenges I initially faced was that of being a female in a maledominated profession and dealing with businessmen from other cultures that were not used to— or comfortable— dealing with women. My feeling was that I had to work doubly hard in order to prove myself to them and to be successful.” She adds that having more women in the profession today makes this less of a challenge and has made life a little bit easier.
If being a different gender was a concern years ago, being of a different generation is proving to be a concern today.“ Today my greatest challenge is how to effectively deal with millennials. The way sales are conducted with members of this generation are completely different from anything I’ ve done in the past.”
Finding the Purchaser
“ As I look back at how I used to conduct business, it was a matter of cold calling or just picking up the phone and working my way to the right person who made purchasing decisions. Not so today. As an example, during Thanksgiving I was discussing with my niece and her husband how millennials communicate. I offered that it was easier to just pick up the phone and tell someone what I’ m interested in. They on the other hand, made the point that if you e-mail or text, then you have an immediate record of your communication— making business that much easier.”
Admitting that you can still cold call and use the phone, Wilson says that she’ s had to constantly make adjustments in her approach to business.“ For instance, I waited as long as I could when it came to creating a website. I finally did it and am constantly working on updating it and other means of reaching out to customers and prospects. Even then the work isn’ t done. Each month you have to adjust key words on your website so when customers are conducting product searches your agency name comes up.”
Staying in Front of Customers
In addition, she cites the need to do all she can to stay in front of customers.“ I’ ve had to join more and more organizations to be able to meet and network with people at the executive level. I have to admit that I’ m still‘ old school’ when it comes to meeting with people. I like to look them in the eye and see how they react when I say something. That’ s why participating in industry meetings and trade shows are still ideal for cultivating business.”
Even in the face of all these adjustments to reaching prospects and customers Wilson still believes in the importance of building strong personal relationships.“ Even though it’ s getting harder and harder to get face-to-face with customers, I don’ t know how you can replace that experience. You have to make every effort to get in there to see the customer. You can never assume everything is all right with a customer if you don’ t hear from them. You’ ve got to remain proactive in contacting them.”