I had butterflies in the stomach as I waited in the boardroom to meet with with my boss and the HR manager. The boardroom was impressively modern, very high up, overlooking the Brisbane river and Storey Bridge.
I was three months into a new role as Business Development Manager at at a top tier city law firm.
The previous month they had given me “feedback” to adjust my approach in the role.
My hiring was an “experiment” as they traditionally hired BD staff with law firm and/or tender writing experience. It was believed exposing the partners and senior associates to an experienced B2B sales person might assist to grow their practice groups.
When asked to give an account of my recent work, I proudly shared 10 measurable improvements that had been achieved in the past month. I felt confident as there was positive feedback given to me from a wide range of areas of the firm. Things were about to turn around!
At the end of my update, there was an awkward five second pause.
The HR manager opened with, “Paul I’m going to have to get straight to the point. The partners don’t feel that you are adding enough value and we are going to have to give you a formal warning”.
WHAT?
I was in complete shock. I was not in a review meeting. They were actively managing me out of the firm. They explained how once the partners formed an opinion of you, it was very difficult to change perceptions. “Off the record Paul, I think you would be far happier working in a different role”.
It was a gut punch. Stress. Mental panic. Rejection. The feeling of betrayal that my efforts had gone unrecognised. I was no longer on their team.
Fortunately this story has a happier ending. I reached out to recruiters and within a few weeks had two job offers. I took the one that would give me an amazing experience for almost five years selling enterprise software.
Did they have to be so cutthroat with me? They could probably have been a little nicer to me!
But in reflection, my failure was the best thing that could happen. It forced me to accept important lessons that have led to my current sales success of exceeding sales targets and selling $15M-$20M / year over the past two years.
What did I learn?
A strong sense of how professional services works. Top tier law firms know how to set a high standard for their customers. They were focused on “adding value” for their customers. Expanding on “adding value” has given me incredible success in selling professional services over the past nine years.
Read the book. There is a book that I wish I had read before, “The First 90 Days” by Michael D. Watkins. It would have helped me learn from other people’s mistakes instead of my own!
Don’t be afraid to share your opinion. I regret being too deferential at the law firm and it cost me. It’s okay to have a different opinion to everyone else. If your points are valid, they will respect you more for bring diversity.
Your job is to bring value to the organisation. Prioritise what is most important. I still do that. It is too convenient to get affected by other people’s agendas instead of your success.
The biggest revenue earners have the most power. People respect rainmakers. The partnership model is different to the corporate structure. However the same principle holds true with both structures.
In short:
A career “failure” is not an exclamation mark (!)
It is a comma (,)
Use your experiences to improve and move forward.
