[Self-Introduction] How I went from not knowing 'how to do sales' to winning the President's Award. I believe sales is about 'method,' not 'sense.'

Nice to meet you. My name is Yu.

I currently work in corporate sales at a major SIer, and I use this note to share sales philosophies and practical methods with young to mid-level IT and SIer sales professionals.

The most important thing I want to convey in this note is that,

sales is changed by 'method,' not 'sense.'

that is what I mean.

How do you evaluate a project?
What should you ask the customer?
How do you think about a winning strategy when there is competition?
Who should you meet next, and what should you do?

These are things required in sales, but surprisingly, you are rarely taught 'how to do them specifically.'

I myself had absolutely no idea when I was young.

Even when told to 'go get a project,' I didn't know what to do.

I joined a major SIer as a new graduate and started my career in sales.

My first assignment was in an account sales team handling a mega-bank.

However, at the time, talented development members often spoke directly with customers to move projects forward, and as a salesperson, I focused mainly on administrative tasks and internal coordination.

I felt anxious every time I heard from my peers that they had 'won a new project in their first year.'

Taking meeting minutes carefully.
Researching things I didn't understand.
I was making an effort in my own way.

Even so, I felt almost no sense of growth as a salesperson.

In my third year, my boss changed, and

'Go get more projects.'
'You're in sales, so think and act for yourself.'

I was strictly required to do these things.

But, in the first place, I didn't know what to do to get a project.

I couldn't act because I didn't know. If I didn't act, I got scolded. Even when I managed to act, I got scolded again.

As I repeated that state, my mental health deteriorated, and I eventually took a leave of absence.

At the time, I genuinely

thought, 'I don't have a knack for sales.'

I believed that.

Learning that there is a 'model' for sales

My way of thinking began to change in my fourth year at the company.

During company training, I learned about a sales strategy framework called TAS (Target Account Selling).

That was the first time I

learned that there is a 'model' for sales that organizes what you should think about and what actions you should take.

I realized that.

Organizing the status of a deal.
Understanding the customer's decision-making structure.
Analyzing the competition.
Thinking about the actions needed to win.

The things I had been struggling with intuitively until then were systematically organized.

However, just taking the training didn't mean I could master it in practice.

'I understand the concept. But how should I actually move?'

That was the state I was in.

Another turning point was meeting a sales manager in my fifth year.

To me, they were someone I could call a 'sales professional.'

That person thoroughly practiced the concepts I learned in TAS in actual deals.

'What is missing in this deal?'
'Who should I approach?'
'Where will we win against the competition?'
'What should I confirm in the next meeting?'

And they taught me through our work how to put that into practice in real-world situations.

Encountering the 'system' of TAS and the sales approach that masters it in practice.

These two things completely changed my approach to sales.

Winning a new project from a major financial institution. Receiving the President's Award.

My sixth year at the company.

I was in charge of a new project in the healthcare sector for a major financial institution, which was one of the most important projects in the division.

There, I put into practice everything I had learned up to that point.

Organizing the customer's situation.
Identifying the stakeholders.
Thinking about a winning strategy while being conscious of the competition.
Getting internal teams involved.
Advancing necessary actions one by one.

As a result,

I was able to win the new project.

Furthermore, this project was highly evaluated within the company,

and I received the President's Award.

Of course, it wasn't just my own effort. It was a result made possible by the strength of many people, starting with the development team.

Even so, I, who had once taken a leave of absence because I didn't know how to sell, was able to contribute as a salesperson to winning an important project.

This gave me a great deal of confidence.

And it wasn't just a one-time coincidence.

After that, I became able to continuously win multiple new projects.

Now, I am increasingly sharing the sales philosophy I've learned with my juniors and colleagues.

In fact, there are cases where members to whom I've taught this approach are building their own sales activities and winning new projects.

That is why I now believe,

sales is not a job that only a few talented people can do.

That is what I believe.

Becoming a salesperson who knows 'what to do next'

When I was young, every time my boss said something, I would wonder, 'What is the right answer?'

Now,

'For this project, I should check this next.'

'This part is weak, so I should build a relationship with this person.'

'Against the competition, I will create a winning path in this area.'

I have become able to think and act on my own in this way.

This is the greatest value of learning how to sell, in my opinion.

Being able to think for yourself about 'what to do next' without having to be told the right answer by someone else.

'TAS,' the origin of my sales career

The sales philosophy I share in this note is heavily influenced by what I learned from TAS.

TAS is not just a method for creating good proposals.

It is a sales framework for strategically thinking about 'how to increase the probability of winning an order' by analyzing customers, competitors, and one's own company from multiple perspectives.

Personally, I particularly refer to:

Project Assessment → Competitive Strategy → Customer Organizational Analysis → Action Plan

This is the flow.

In large-scale projects, the number of stakeholders increases and evaluation criteria become complex. That is why it is important not only to create a 'good proposal' but also to design sales activities while looking at the entire project.

Regarding TAS, I have organized the concepts I refer to in my practical work in the following article.

If you are wondering 'What is TAS?', I think reading this will make the sales philosophy I share in this note easier to understand.

I wish I had known sooner that 'there is a method to sales'

I wish I had known this way of thinking much sooner.

How to view deals.
How to compete against rivals.
How to analyze a client's organization.
How to think about the next action.

If I had known these things when I was younger,

'I don't have a knack for sales'

I think the time I spent worrying about that would have been a little shorter.

That is why, in this note,

I will share the 'sales methods' that my younger self wanted to know, in a format that can be used in practice.

Rather than just introducing difficult sales theories,

'What should I ask in tomorrow's sales meeting?'

'What should I organize before the deal review meeting?'

'What should I consider when there is a competitor?'

I value making things concrete down to that level.

Just like my former self, I want to deliver something useful to those who are struggling, thinking, '**I don't know how to sell.**'

That is the reason I continue to post on this note.

Sales is not about talent; it changes with the 'method'.

I would be happy if this note becomes a catalyst for you to find your own 'way' of selling.