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Jill Konrath, We Miss You

March 27th, 2023 by Kenneth Abrahams

It is rare that I devote a blog to an individual, especially one that I have never met but she is someone that I miss, a lot. Most, if not all of you probably have no idea who Jill Konrath is. She is an author, speaker, and noted expert in the field of sales. Some of the largest, most well know organizations in the world have hired her to talk to them about their sales strategies and to improve their effectiveness as a sales team. Her books are on a shelf behind my desk, countless hours have been spent reading her newsletters, articles, and watching her videos on YouTube. No matter how many times I read or watched something I always got something new out of it. There were times when I felt challenged or simply motivated to do my job better. Other articles or videos were a great affirmation that I was on the right track. Unlike some in the field of sales and coaching, her style was genuine and devoid of a lot of the arrogance that comes with some others in that same market space.

For over 20 years, Jill provided insight and guidance on how to sell through real life situations that she and her clients faced. Some of the tenants that she championed were not new or radical, like listening to clients and not assuming that you know what they need, but she presented them in a digestible way.  It needs to be noted that when she started it was a male dominated field. Names like Zig Ziegler, Tom Hopkins, Chet Holmes, even Ron Popeil are often mentioned as sales legends. Few women have made the list. Whenever I saw an email from her pop into my inbox it went right to the top of the list. Once I read it, I would pass it on to other members of our organization in the hope that they too would glean a nugget of wisdom or two. An article from her that I read years ago said stop using the word love when trying to connect with a prospect and I haven’t done it since.

More than a year ago, Jill Konrath retired from selling. Between some life changes, the pandemic, and George Floyd her focus needed to be elsewhere. At that point in her life, she felt that her mission had been accomplished. Considering her full body of work it is hard to argue that. In my lifetime, if I were able to accomplish 10% of what she did I would be satisfied. At 62 years of age, almost 63, it is a safe bet that I will not achieve that mark. She still sends out the occasional story or life update, it is far less frequent but no less interesting. As always, when I get them, I open them immediately, excited to hear about the story she must tell or the adventure she is describing.

Today there are legions of salespeople that will never know who she is or what she has to offer. On a daily basis, my email is full of sales pitches overflowing with jargon laden terms that are clearly just a canned pitch that has been sent thousands if not tens of thousands of times. Yesterday, I received yet another one here is just a part of it:

There is currently a high demand within the media for impactful SMEs and we believe you should be a part of those conversations. Pathos communications can promote your business and create professional pitches in the global mainstream media. We are sector-agnostic - We work with Tier 1, global media outlets the likes of: (Forbes, Bloomberg, CNN, BBC, WSJ, Nasdaq, Independent, Financial Times, Business Insider, AP, Yahoo finance etc.) which boast a readership of millions, including a sizable readership in your region. We will increase your Brand Credibility, Generate Leads, Attract investors & Partners, B2B, B2C etc.

I have no idea what sector-agnostic means and had to look up SMEs. Clearly, they did no research on FUN Enterprises/SPEAK Educators. Believe it or not, I crafted (in my opinion) a thoughtful response and sent it back to the company. Funny that despite their lightning fast response when I sent my first email simply saying I did not believe we were a good fit, to date I have received nothing back from them. They made no effort to even pretend they understood who we were and how we operated. Pretty sure that if they had worked with Jill she would have chastised them about assuming that every business they came in contact with wanted and needed the same thing, global exposure. In their original email, this organization made it sound as if we should be honored that they found us worthy enough for them to take us on as a client.

Sales initially didn’t come easy to me and getting to the point that I thought of myself as a salesperson was even harder. Today, I think of myself as a problem solver not a salesperson. Unlike the organization that contacted me, I believe that the first thing we need to do is ask our clients questions. Find out where they need help and how we can best serve them. My style is and always has been relationship based. For us, it is a badge of honor that so many of our clients have been with us for one, two, or even three decades. We are lucky enough to consider many of the clients we serve as part of our extended family. Yes, we do email blasts that are push marketing, but in the world today I am not sure how else to reach that large potential audience to hopefully expand our business. One thing that I tell you is that if we get a response from one of those blasts, our reply is not some canned, formulaic response.

Jill, I miss those regular pearls of wisdom, but I fear the sales world in general misses you more.  So many people want that instant gratification, that quick sale. Get the contract out, get it signed and then onto the next quarry. As I mentioned, Jill Konrath and I have never met, we have exchanged an email or two, but I can’t believe she would be happy with some of the techniques that some people are employing today. To be fair, those tactics have been around for years but that, as they say, is a blog for another day. Hope you are doing well Jill K. and that your new direction continues to energize you but know that you are missed.

For more information on Jill please visit her website at www.jillkonrath.com/sales-resources. She is working on the next phase of her professional life which she will be announcing in the next few months. Sign up for her newsletter to stay informed.

About the author:

Ken Abrahams is the VP for Client Relations at FUN Enterprises and SPEAK Educators. Although he is responsible for a lot of the sales for the company, he truly enjoys trying to help his clients. Many of his clients are college students and for them this is an educational experience. One that he is very happy to be a part of.

To find out more about the company go to our website www.funent.com you can also go to this link to sign up for our newsletter which comes out about 6 times a year    https://funent.com/subscribe-to-the-funny-pages/.  Our newsletter will tell you more about the company and the products and services we offer as well as some games, things to do, and the occasional cooking tip.