I often say that everyone is in sales, but I tend to find that many sales managers and owners of companies don’t take enough action to back up that statement. The sales force is a job unlike any other. They have to deal with daily rejection, competition, disappointment, and if they are good, they have to do what their mother told them not to do...go talk to strangers! So the question is, how much time do you spend with your people in the field? How much time do you spend role playing with your salespeople? How much time do you spend really sitting down with your people debriefing their day or week?
You are part of the sales team. As a matter of fact, everyone in your company is part of the sales team. Here are some easy steps to start making changes to include everyone (yourself included) in growing your company.
- Open up a monthly Sales pipeline meeting to all managers (this includes you). You will be amazed the great questions and input some of the other managers will have. It is also good for other managers to understand what they have to do to prepare for some of the large accounts in the pipeline. Additionally, you may find out that when the salespeople have to commit to the other managers when accounts close ...they might get more accurate.
- Implement alert systems, just as the sales department knows when things are shipping late or on time. The same opportunity should go to the rest of the company for the sales team. When the sales team hits their weekly number, make a company-wide announcement either through the office or digitally, letting everyone know the number was hit.
- Ride along with your salespeople. Not just you but some of your managers to better understand what good salespeople are doing, and what the bad ones are not doing. This could be a surprise ride along, or planned. When a salesperson comes in in the morning, just tell them someone will be their shadow today. This can be a great learning experience for you or any other manager in your company.
- Lastly, sit down with your salespeople one-on-one each week and debrief their week. Find out what went right and what went wrong...but don’t listen to excuses. Listen to what THEY did right and what THEY did wrong.
If you are doing this, you are part of the sales team and on your way to building a sales culture. If not, start today!
