«
»


Why aren’t the dogs eating the dog food?

Posted by Robert Beauchemin on Apr 1, 2008

Many organizations throw sales people out on the street in the hope they will make their companies successful. Although sales success is not possible without great sales people, a lot more than hiring great sales people is required to achieve sales success.

Sales leadership starts in the office of the CEO. The office of the CEO must induce a culture of strategic selling to the whole organization. Selling strategically means implementing a Sales Governance Model and developing competencies at 3 levels: Sales Governance, Sales-Cycle Management and Sales Execution.

As you look at the list of competencies an organization has to develop, at various levels of its hierarchy, it is not surprising that there are many weak spots that need serious attention.

Bad sales leadership is just as lethal as ineffective closing skills. Going after the wrong market is just as ineffective as delivering poor customer presentations. Keeping underperforming sales people is just as expensive as working on unqualified prospects.

A great sales person will manage his/her sales cycles to mitigate other weaknesses in the organization's selling paradigm, but it would be a mistake to believe all your sales people are at that level of efficiency and effectiveness. Less than 10% are.

To make the other 90% of their sales people more successful, organizations should look at their sales model in a holistic manner. It is my belief that organizations are responsible for the success of their sales people, and not the other way around.

You can read more here… GOOD SELLING !