Reflecting on this years later, the joy of sales for me is how perfectly binary it is. I’d either closed the deal and got paid, or I hadn’t. There was no ambiguity. So, with this experience, I’m continually surprised by how squeamish we seem to be in New Zealand about the whole sales function in our businesses.
Somehow we’ve started to use euphemisms for poor performance, almost as if we are actively trying to ignore the problem. We’ll describe low sales in any number of ways, describing the market symptoms in detail or going through the numbers in detail, but rarely coming out and declaring the problem out loud.
“We’re not making enough sales” is a confronting statement to make.
This is a curious problem with a nefarious impact, as it reinforces the mistaken belief that sales performance is due to factors outside our control. More critically, it distracts us from the simple problem hard baked into many businesses. The absence of dedicated sales resources.
A sweeping generalisation, I know, but hang in there. Most companies that I work with undercook their sales commitment - insufficient sales capacity for the size of their growth ambition. This happens far too frequently to be ignored, so what is going on in the boardroom?
Now, I don’t believe we’re afraid of sales, far from it. Rather I think we may be scared of the investment in sales. And there are perhaps two reasons why.
Maybe it’s historical? We know recruiting and running a great sales team takes specialist experience and commitment. But we’ve all had bad experiences with underperformance and rogue actors, selling to us or selling for us. It’s easier to believe that sales is too expensive and distract ourselves with busy work than imagine how your organisation can make it fly.
Or perhaps it's personal? Leaders can’t abdicate the responsibility for sales. As I said, it’s binary, either the sales team you invested in are smashing it or an expensive failure that everyone can see.
Either way, it’s plainly the fear of failure that is holding us back. And now I’m on a mission to point it out every time I witness it because a lack of dedicated sales resource impacts you strategically as well as financially.
In my opinion, dedicated sales teams are the most effective strategic tool inside your business. They provide real time feedback from customers on your products and propositions, providing the richest insight for product design and market positioning.
Nothing validates a market faster than a well informed, well motivated sales team driving deep into a market and telling you what customers value most.
So when we fail to adequately invest in sales resource, we’re also choosing to ignore the needs of our market and how that will help us grow faster than the market.
Remember, ambiguity is a strategic choice. It’s over to you to make that point crystal clear inside your business.
