A Better Way…
Posted on | August 5, 2008 | No Comments
Why is it that when you examine the sales organization in many firms it sounds something like this? “ We hired salespeople, we fired salespeople, we do not have enough customers, we do not have enough revenue, why aren’t there any good salespeople out there?”
Let me tell you why, because companies are not able to look inward and understand why this is happening. The only common element for them to start their examination with is themselves. The organization is the only constant element with each passing salesperson.
Let’s take a technology services provider as an example. This is an area that I have many years of expertise with both as a sales contributor and as a sales leader, manager, mentor or whatever you want to call it…
As an example here is a common statement – “Our Salespeople need better time management!”
The reality – Salespeople have as many tasks if not more on their plate as any single function within the company along with the pressure of providing the revenue to keep the firm alive. Think about this:
If you are running a software development project would you hire the same person to play the role of Project Manager, Solutions Architect, Application Architect, Developer, Tester, Implementer, Maintenance & Support and “Client Manager”? – Probably not unless it was a very small project.
So why is it that firms want to nickel and dime sales salaries, not trust anyone, not empower or provide the tools necessary to do the job and then hire a sales person to do the following tasks: Lead Generation, Prospecting, Suspecting, Engagement with the customer, Qualification, Facilitation (Project Management), Positioning, Proposals, Competitive Analysis, More Qualification, Presentation of value, “Closing”, Customer Relationship Management, Implementation facilitation, After sale support and then start all over again with the same client on a new opportunity and with a new customer at the same time etc, etc…
Gee, no wonder it is very rarely succesful, not to mention a lot of small and mid-size firms are very rarely run by anybody with a sales background let alone any understanding of how to break down the sales process. It is typically delivery people trying to run sales like delivery. It is a diffirent animal and requires different skills as a leader, mentor, coach and player.
This is a topic near and dear to my heart and I would be happy to discuss this with anyone that is suffering from this pain…
There has to be a better way! And there is you first have to acknowledge the problem and help is right around the corner…
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About Coley
Coley Perry is a 15 year veteran of the sales and marketing grind. Most of his experience is in and around the intersection of sales, marketing, change management, technology and business process helping clients solve business problems through innovative solutions and consulting. He has built sales teams, go-to-market strategies, demand generation engines and sustainable revenue streams. Currently his passion is focused on the convergence of sales, marketing and technology. He wrote a lot of checks to Columbia College and Northwestern University but learned the most from The “Second City” Training Center in Chicago where he studied the Art of Improv.
