Sales System Pitfalls
There are many sales system pitfalls that can slow down or stop the growth of an organization. ("System" refers to policies and procedures, not necessarily an electronic system.) Here are three pitfalls that I look for right away.
1. No Sales System
Obviously if everything is done randomly and inconsistently, loads of opportunity will never be captured. This occurs a lot with small businesses that market to get leads, but don't have a pre-determined method for working with the prospect to turn them into a client.
In an attempt to handle every detail and contingency or to capture a lot of metrics, the sales system can get in the way of real productivity, especially in smaller businesses where there may be little to no support such as a customer service center. The sales person can wind up spending a lot of time navigating non revenue generating activity.
When designing the system, was it designed primarily as a support tool for talented sales people, or was it designed primarily to monitor the activity of of average sales people? Be careful, a lot of policies and procedures are created in corporate America to try and compensate for poorly trained, poorly motivated, and poorly hired employees.
3. Inflexible Sales System
This has to do as much with sales management as it does with the sales system. Three successful sales people selling the same product for the same company in similar territories can achieve their success by employing different tactics.
One may be extraordinary at prospecting with tools such as Linked-In or Twitter. The second is extraordinary at prospecting IRL (in real life). The third gets extraordinary results cold calling.
All three have leveraged unique strengths and styles that get great introductions that lead to sales.
A system developed with prejudice towards one style will obviously impede the other styles. For the small business, it may cause them to go through several high potential sales people until they find one that fits their rigid system.
With a large businesses, it can cause the sales force to become homogeneous. This may be appropriate in some businesses and even support a brand, but in others it may crush the diversity of your client portfolio creating some risk management issues.
It seems like common sense, but developing and managing the use of a sales system can be a real balancing act.
What are your thoughts and experiences regarding sales systems? Does your company have one? Is it supportive and flexible or is it cumbersome and inflexible?
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