Fear is the only thing that I can come up with that prevents businesses from continuing their once aggressive, most flexible, do what it takes, sales execution. I’ve heard it all, yet sometimes I can’t believe what I’m hearing. In the beginning of an engagement, I ask the question, “What do you want from your business?” which is the one question that business owners don’t want to or won’t answer. I think the reason they won’t answer it is because it would commit them to action and honestly, many owners have reached a plateau of comfort or fear of change.
Typically, driving logical process delivers positive results! In many of the engagements I’ve observed, sales organizations run on poor practices, without direction, common sense or logic, and their sales reps promise almost anything to get a deal. Most often, standards and accountability are non-existent and quota is just some word the owner uses occasionally. Commonly, there are no consequences for failure and little reward for success, yet those same owners will come to my workshops and tell me, “I’ve tried everything!”
What is it that allows chaos and illogical thinking to take over? Where does it begin to dissolve the aggressive, great behavior that once ruled most companies? One answer can be that the owner simply isn’t a good manager of people. Possibly they were at one time a great salesman or technician, but that doesn’t make them a good leader. But this isn’t every company.
Applying common sense and sound logic help deliver success, but it’s not a one-time application. If your plan should fail to reach its objective, tweak it for improvement! When one fails to interject and maintain logical, common sense practices, he or she creates an artificial opposition to the result of success. I call it soft chaos.
It’s mandatory to establish goals regarding what you want from your business. It’s logical to research and understand your marketplace to identify what best aligns with your company’s values and benefits. You owe your employees and customers strong leadership so that they both know the values of your company. Here’s a great test. Go out to 10 random customers and ask them, “What value do you receive from our company?” If they answer, “You’re a good copier company,” that shares one view, but if they answer, “You’re a great technology partner,” that obviously shares another view. Either way you can immediately hear what your sales team delivers to your marketplace.
If what I’m saying describes what you see in your company today, don’t settle for it! Find your way back from the illogical, chaotic nonsense that exists in many companies. It’s not hard to go back but it is hard to implement and hold yourself accountable, because in most cases it’s the owner who has pushed away CEO duties to others in your down line. Only you can launch the dream again and only you can create the winning culture and responsibility to succeed.
First, roll up your sleeves and plan to recapture what you’ve let slip away. There are those that say the best days are behind us; I say the days are what you make of them and the best days can be where you want them.
Find your way back to success! Take a look at your current methodologies in going to market. It’s going to take some cash to rebuild what’s missing but the good news is most of the cash you need is already available; you just need to redirect it.
Go to the most expensive categories first such as payroll and eliminate anyone who, most likely, isn’t going to make it. You probably know who these people are already; you may have even had conversations about them last week, saying, “They need to go!” Do it and free up that cash. Do the same with all other departments and categories of expense so that you can see what funds you have available.
Second, build a plan for growth: growth from net-new business and growth from your account base. These two are the primary considerations (high level) that must be well tuned and logical. If necessary (and it almost always is), revamp your sales and service compensation plans to drive the behavior you need from all employees involved in your success plan.
Third, announce to all employees what you’re doing and why. Tell them that you’re transforming the company into the company you want to be and that everything we do from this point forward will be to exceed your client’s expectations and to out perform your competitors. Let them know how YOU ARE PERSONALLY INVOLVED in this cause and that you expect everyone to be on board! Tell them the things you’re changing (high level) and invite everyone to come to your office and share any and all ideas they may have. Make them a part of the company’s success!
Fourth, and this is key, you can’t change a gelding into a stallion, and if you have geldings in stallion positions, that needs to change. In order for success to happen, you must have the right people in the right jobs. It does no good if YOU HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF. This idea goes beyond the sales department. Any position that requires a stallion must have a stallion. Don’t let emotion stand in your way. If that person means a lot to you (and they should), LOVE THEM to a new position if possible and replace that position with a stallion.
Fifth, design your sales team to deliver. If your new business development percentages are low to non-existent, you’ll have to build a business development team. Their job is to grow your company. YES, of course, they’ll have to be a stallion! Rework your money and go hire someone who most likely is happily employed and build an opportunity to bring that stallion into your company. YOU CAN AFFORD IT because you just got rid of 4 non-producing sales reps. Remember if you use a recruiter, their job is to sell you on placing someone, that’s their motivation. They don’t necessarily care whether the person they’re recommending is a stallion. If you research and seek out a superstar, high-level sales professional, who IS hitting home runs already, you just need to work the numbers, like MONEY BALL!
Lastly, design your account management team. This goes beyond loving your customers to renewal. Retention is just a part of it, and you must expand those relationships that can be expanded. So your compensation on this side is no longer just a percentage of the renewal deal, its matrix considers the overall renewal percentage as well as the percentage of expanded (new) business injected into each portfolio managed. You want no less than 20% expansion and somewhere around a 95% renewal result.
Over this last year, it has become clear to me that many dealerships in our industry have simply become lackadaisical (apathetic, careless, lazy, relaxed, half-hearted, laid-back, easy-going, or casual). Choose any of those synonyms and you’ll be feeling what I’ve been seeing. When I ask the owners about it, they claim that they’re not lackadaisical, but when I ask them what significant changes they’ve made in the last few years that are driving new business, the answer is mostly, “Not much!” So, is it fear of change, or have they become lackadaisical, or is it just too many geldings in the corral? Don’t be afraid, build your plan, interject logic and common sense, be accountable, and lead your team to success!
