And Now For Something Completely Different (for sales)

It may be time that sales organizations re-examined a core belief that may in fact be limiting their revenue growth rather than helping it.  The question revolves around the need or practicality of having a dedicated sales force.  I’ll state my bias right from the top, I don’t think it is always necessary, and I think there is very much room for alternatives.  In addition I also believe that success in sales come from ones ability to “sell” not their knowledge of “product”.

There are numerous functions in today’s corporations that are key, yet being executed by temps, contractors, or other non-employees.  Let’s be clear, we are not talking about people on the loading dock, but people in important functions such as finance, IT, marketing and more.  These people bring their expertise not just in their function, but they also bring a blend of “best practices” gained in their stints with other corporations they have worked with.  There are many top notch professionals in these fields who have either never worked full time for a given company, or not worked for one in many years, reason being that they have the sought after skills many companies need and are willing to pay for, even if their pay is above average, the total cost to the corporation (pensions, health care and other sundry costs considered).  So why not sales?

I can hear the “Relationship” camp fidgeting, hang on, I’ll get to you in a second.

It seems to be a requirement in sales to buy into and accept the 80/20, the Pareto Principle; or even if you are a convert to the Shanto Principle, the 70/30 rule, either way, the pundits always tell you that 20% of your team brings in 80% of the revenue, (I guess the other 80% are there for weight distribution on the bus), the cost of carrying the 80% must be a real burn.  When you ask why, more often than not they tell you that the 20% understand how to sell, not pitch product, how to work with buyers to uncover the objectives, and then present and deliver a solution that delivers value to the buyer and revenue (usually not discounted) to their company.

Well what if you could have team of those 20% types who deliver based on their ability to sell, not their skill at pitching product?  Let’s face it, when it comes to selling certain products, you can swap one seller for the next, when it comes to some base products, transport, wireless, office supply, and others, success is based on the sellers ability to sell, not product knowledge or how well they manage relationships.   So why not outsource it to a team of pros, with a track record, up to date training, willing to execute even the nasty activities required and a willingness to get things done.         

Relationships can still be managed by those built to manage relationships trying to pawn themselves off as sales people, you just don’t need as many.  With the tools available today, and truly integrating marketing and sales to focus on the market and buyers, you could probably make progress over the state of affairs today.  In the end you can probably save money as you would save on unearned commissions.  The reality is, and it was demonstrated over and over again in the economic down turn, relationships are very different in up markets than they are in down markets.  Keep the ones that really managed and grew relationships in 2009, bring in some hired guns to find new buyers and opportunities in existing accounts and you could have the model for the 21st century.

Tibor Shanto

Popularity: unranked [?]

Related posts:

1. Sales Management: Reward or Punishment?