Most experienced wine sales reps live an independent life during the day. See the right accounts, keep selling wine, keep the bosses happy (i.e. not being too involved in your sales business), then head home.

That naturally leads to an assumption on both sides (management and sales): if the boss isn’t hearing of any problems from the sales rep, then things must be okay.

This silence can and often does backfire. Maybe an account is slipping but it’s not acknowledged. Maybe buyers are changing and nobody other than the sales rep knows. Maybe sales are stagnating when they shouldn’t be.

So the question to you, the sales rep, is this: when do you ask for help?

The answer is simple: ask more often than you think you should.

Asking for help is not weakness. It’s encouraging the help of the experience of the team. It’s acknowledging reality. It’s brainstorming. It’s a way for the bosses to know that you see yourself as part of a team instead of a lone sales wolf.

Pick a problem — everybody has one in a sales territory — and try asking for help. You may be surprised what happens (and more importantly, you may be surprised at how much easier it is to solve with the help of others).