Veterans Benefits Information

Content provided courtesy of USAA | By Chad Storlie

Sales roles are some of the most difficult and the most rewarding of any position in business. Sales roles, whether in a major corporation, a small business, a food truck vendor, or on the floor of a retail shop, require patience, skill, good nature, a deep understanding of the customer, and a daily willingness to go above and beyond to help the customer satisfy their needs. A sales role requires you to educate, inform, negotiate, and conclude sales opportunities with a wide variety of different customers and to use different skill sets simultaneously to ensure a solution that meets both the customer’s needs and the needs of the sales organization.

There are several military skill sets that can make a sales role more enjoyable and more successful.

Be an Expert in Your Field & Have the Latest Corporate News.

In the military, a great military leader not only sets the example in their own unit, but also helps other military units succeed. A salesperson is similar to a military leader because a salesperson needs to be a positive physical representation of all that a company is and aspires to be. By no means does a salesperson have to be perfect, but they need to be an expert in their industry and they need to understand both their company’s products and services and how they help their customers excel in their daily operations. One of the greatest benefits a salesperson performs is helping their customers use the company’s products and services to deliver a better service for the customer’s customers. Another core attribute that translates from the military role to a sales role is bringing your customer’s intelligence on how to deliver better to their customers or what the customer’s competitors are doing. Expertise, intelligence, and dedication to the customer are common traits for both military professionalism and sales professionalism.

Be Honest, Conscientious, Respectful & Have Strong Follow Up.

Naming personal qualities of a solid military leader and a sales leader are startlingly similar. We want both to be honest, respectful, conscientious and dedicated to their duty, and have a strong follow up on outstanding issues. In the military, we want our leaders to look out for our personal and professional well-being. In sales, we want a salesperson to look out for the well-being and success of their customers. There is no difference in leadership qualities between military leaders and sales people in my opinion. Both are ethical, honest, and respectful of people and the organizations that they serve.

Listen, Take Notes and Display Initiative When Seeking Solutions.

The best salespeople and military leaders are often quiet, because they are seeking to understand, take notes, listen to what their customers want, and then taking the initiative to generate ideas and options that their organizations can successfully accomplish. In my opinion, a poor salesperson and military leader are loud, boastful, and talk a “solution” before they even fully understand the problem that they are trying to solve. Listening is an underrated skill and a highly appreciated quality for both military and sales leaders. When someone listens, takes notes, ask questions, and then provides ideas for a solution based on what they heard, and not what they have done in the past, we know that person is there to help us find a solution, and not just to provide us an “easy” answer.

Adjust & React to New Priorities Quickly.

Adjusting to changes quickly is a quality the military and sales both experience together. Priorities change due to changes in leadership, actions exhibited by competitors, changes in priorities, changes in strategies, changes in budget, other personnel changes, and different ideas on what the organization needs “today.” Change happens and disrupts plans for leaders in both the military and in sales. What great military and sales leaders do is to react quickly and comprehensively to the changes and deliver another proposal quickly that meets the needs and expectations under the new strategy. Staying with the “old” plan helps no one. Delivering a new plan quickly that addresses the changes in strategy/budget/priorities helps everyone succeed.

Advocate for Your Customer to Create Loyalty.

In the military and in business, loyalty is the best outcome. In the military, loyalty goes “down the line” from military leaders before it comes back up. Lower ranking military personnel need to see, trust, and experience loyalty from their leaders before they provide their loyalty in return. Likewise, for a salesperson and a business, customer loyalty provides the greatest financial rewards for a business and a company. If I create loyalty in a customer, then that customer trusts my products and services and I know I need to be an incredibly strong internal advocate for that customer in my business organization. Loyalty to those led and from / to customers are some of the best personal and business outcomes that military and sales leaders can achieve.

Live a Healthy Lifestyle & Get Home Often.

Military and sales positions are highly stressful. Military and sales positions are where the front line “winning” occurs. Sales and military leaders need to promote their own exercise, sleep, healthy diets, and control their schedules as much as possible to be near family, friends, and other personal support. It is critical to remember, that military units and corporations will never love you and, in fact, are designed to succeed when you leave. Maintaining a strong level of personal and mental fitness means that salespeople and military personnel will continue to have great lives when they leave their organizations and move onto other roles.

Being a successful salesperson and a military leader is difficult and stressful. Consistently acting in the best interests of both organizations while being ethical, honest, creative, and conscientious help ensures a successful career as a military leader and as a sales leader.

The American Legion Riders (ALR) are all-inclusive and welcoming. Any American Legion Family member – Legion, American Legion Auxiliary and Sons of The American Legion – who meet the Riders’ eligibility requirements are eligible to join.

In an effort to reach current and eligible ALR members, the Department of California put together a few videos to present a clearer picture of what the riders are all about. Watch the department videos here.

“Being an American Legion Rider transcends generations,” said Mick Sobczak, Department of California ALR president. Sobczak served in both the Marine Corps and the Army and retired as a combat engineer from the Army. He is a 10-year Legion member and the son of a 32-year Legion member from New York.

The California Legion Riders looked for a way to promote their 89 existing chapters and also improve awareness and membership within the organization. They are especially looking to include women and younger riders. Past Hollywood Post 43 Commander Jeric Wilhelmsen filmed three rides in California with the help of Chapter 43 Vice President Dennis Kee. “We took a ride out to Malibu and down the Pacific Coast Highway,” Wilhelmsen said. The other shoots took them to Bakersfield and Monterey Bay. The videos showed the world-class scenic rides of Southern California but focused on the Riders. Watch Chapter 43's video here.

Sobczak knew Wilhelmsen had the skills to help execute the informative videos. They met when Wilhelmsen filmed the 2017 American Legion Legacy Ride, which raises funds for the Legacy Scholarship that supports children of post-9/11 veterans who died on active duty, or have a combined VA disability rating of 50 percent or greater.

Wilhelmsen was so inspired by the way Riders from the entire country came together that he wanted to be a part of it himself. He was an integral part of starting a new Legion Riders chapter at Hollywood Post 43. “When I got back to my home post I heard that there was talk about starting a chapter, so I jumped on board and did everything I could do to help out in creating that chapter,” he said.

When the Riders came to Hollywood Post 43 it was a perfect opportunity for Wilhelmsen to use his experience to develop and grow the chapter. “Our chapter really wanted to make splash and make our presence known and have the whole state or country know about us,” he said. “I thought it was important to have a strong social media presence. So I immediately created our Facebook page, our Instagram page; in making those pages we needed content.” Wilhelmsen, a U.S. Army and Army Reserve veteran, now works as a video journalist with experience covering adventure races like the Race Across America.

Dennis Kee, vice president and a founding member of Chapter 43 Legion Riders, also gave his skills to this project. Kee is part of a group of about 18 combat camera people who are members of Post 43.

This video project is intended to show exactly who the Legion Riders are and what they do. “We do a lot of veteran support activities,” Kee said. “We do welcome home activities, we do missions when groups deploy. We’re really proud. We’re just trying to get more Riders and to get everybody excited about it.”

These videos are "to provide awareness and hit different demographics to show that we’re not locked.” Sobczak said. “And being that the Riders are the fastest growing program of The American Legion, we just figured these videos would take us to the next level.”

“It’s exciting to see the Auxiliary and the Sons involved,” Kee said.

One of the videos highlights a female veteran rider named Stephanie Chaing. “I was tired of being on the back seat and I wanted to do my own thing,” Chaing said. “I love riding with a pack, especially the Legion. It’s a proud feeling. I’m passionate about riding because it’s a therapeutic thing for me, but also to be able to come together and experience it as a family.”

“Most people view us as the older guy riding a cruiser, and we use these videos, to show that there’s sports bikes, there’s cruisers, there’s men, there’s women, there’s Auxiliary, there’s (an SAL) squadron,” Sobczak said. “We tried to hit as many demographics as possible with these videos.”

The Riders are quick to clarify that they are not a motorcycle club. “We are a program of The American Legion,” Sobczak said. “We are Legion Family members serving veterans and our community. We just happen to do it on motorcycle. If you’re in the military family and you want to ride, you’re welcome.”

For Wilhelsen, the filming provided more than expected. “As I got opportunities to visit these various chapters, I was learning a lot of the history about the Department of California: how the Riders first got started here in California and how they developed. I really enjoyed learning the history of this state. As I was doing these interviews I realized that I was getting the history of the Riders. I was capturing a snapshot of the Riders in 2018.”

The Department of California American Legion Riders goal is to have 100 chapters for the 100-year anniversary of The American Legion in 2019.

“Training and membership are very important to me,” said Sobczak, a National Legion College graduate and instructor who helped develop California’s recent Legion College. “I’m a firm believer that if people understand our history and how the process works, we will not only get new members but we’ll retain and maintain active members.”

Wilhelmsen expressed the value of learning the history of the organization and meeting people who were part of some of the first Riders chapters. “I really hope that this archive of interviews of the current state of the Riders in 2018 is valued 50 years or 100 years from now,” he said.