SMB's Need Systems & Training

I just read and been inspired by Dave Kahle's blog post "The Three Most Common Mistakes Sales Managers Make."  The three mistakes are ...

1. Lack of focused sales structure.
2. Lack of regular and systematic direction and feedback for the salespeople.

3. Lack of an organized training and development system.

I work with small and medium sized business in which their are similar challenges to two and three above.  In many businesses of this size, the owner bootstrapped his or her way to their current level of success.  They wore many hats along the way including the business development and sales hat.  They did and are still doing what is instinctual.  They don't have a system.

There are two problems that come from not having a system.  First, sales revenue goes up and down like a roller coaster.  Second, you can't delegate chaotic sales activity easily.

The bootstrapper with these problems shows at least two symptoms.  They are tired because it is hard to sleep on a roller coaster and they don't have enough time because there is no system to leverage.

The other issue is similar and that is the sales skills of the organization are underdeveloped.  The result is that sales revenue plateaus and stays flat.  To maintain and grow sales beyond that market one could consider "low hanging fruit," the bootstrapper has to work longer and harder. 

To invest time and money into sales training is working smarter.

Systems and Skills are elements of Sales Habitudes.  To request a list of the Sales Habitudes for small and medium businesses, send an email request.

Photo on flickr by OliverN5

Comments

[Michael]

The self assessment at the end of the article should open some eyes. I feel strongly that an organization needs to have a focused sales structure. Furthermore, this needs to be clearly communicated (obvious right? - no).

The sales compensation plan for example, while often overlooked, is the most fundamental feature of the sales structure. When was the last time your company ran modeling on your comp plan and measured its effectiveness?

The author also pointed out how easy it is to accept the evolved status quo of the structure and not think to challenge it.

Good find!

[Jeff Garrison]

Michael, thanks for the feedback. I wrote this post almost two years ago and if I wrote it today, I wouldn't have to change anything. I would add my observation that many small businesses have often mastered the product or service component of their business, but the operations, finance, sales, and marketing pieces are disorganized to say the least. Naturally, I expect this because like all skills in life, these things must learned.