Stop talking about sales, selling, salespeople and how they need to get better. In many organizations, salespeople are some of the most skilled people. They are good at their jobs.
They know the difference between talking and listening, asking questions and pitching, setting expectations, and hoping for a good outcome. Not only that but a lot actually know the reasons someone would, could and should buy the product or service being sold. Most of the time they know the difference between the buyer, the influencer, and the gatekeeper. Many have been selling for more than a few weeks, know about the power of language, cadence, attitude and how to challenge.
Often the few maverick salespeople account for 80% of sales, and the majority (those following policy and process) sell next to nothing. But when you ask the majority, they tell you they just had a good call and are sure it will be a deal when they get the price down.
Why is it organizations spend money to train those policy following salespeople on executing those policy’s creating only 20% of the revenue? Why not align the whole organization to Ideal Buyer focused policies and process that drive the 80%?
After engaging over 10,000 companies, it is clear companies have too many salespeople (following 20% policy and process), and they spend too much training those same salespeople, on those same policies and process for decades or until they go out of business.
No salesperson can produce more than the organization supports. If policies and process limit sales, and mavericks are the top producers, what is the lesson for an organization that wants to grow?
Are you kidding? The mavericks sell because they avoid what the organization calls support. Great salespeople learn early that the competitor they fear is their own company’s support. Becoming a maverick is one way to avoid that competition. Most companies at best inhibit their salespeople and at worst cripple or kill them.
So, what should organizations be doing? If organizations have too many salespeople and are overspending, part of the solution is spend less to get more revenue. Who doesn’t want to do that? The answer is an organization that believes great salespeople have great magic and those not great salespeople just don’t, that’s who.
Forty years ago, the world of manufacturing couldn’t manufacture quality at low prices because people in the factory didn’t have the magic. What manufacturing learned was if everyone in the TOTAL process worked as if their success depended (think Lean) on everyone else in the process, things got easier, faster, and cheaper. The whole team came together and asked how I may support you, and pretty quick their world is changed.
Stop talking about sales and sales magic or lack of it. Start talking about an end-to-end revenue process with common metrics and outcomes at the strategic and detail levels to compel ideal buyers. Marketing’s customer is sales, and sale’s customer is delivery, and delivery’s customer is the market of ideal buyers.
Apply Chief Revenue Officer Thinking, put those groups in a room, create a Revenue Strategy designed from the buyer back with behavioral metrics, and STOP TALKING ABOUT SALES MAGIC.
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This post originally appeared on www.therevenuegame.com.