Remember, the fish starts stinking at the top
That’s right, it always does. And when it comes to the sales process it’s not different. CEOs need to understand, embrace and support the sales process. If your CEO expects immediate results and you are stuck in a sales cycle that takes 3-6 months, guess what will happen? Your CEO will question you, your boss, your team and that’s usually where the panic starts.
Always get buy-in from your CEO
Why? So there is no surprises. While I preach that CEOs should not meddle with the sales process once it is established, I also feel that the process needs to be developed, agreed upon and fine tuned with the CEO in the room. It’s a cultural shift that will build a trusting environment where everybody involved in sales knows the parameters and the name of the game.
Everybody is in sales
Everybody within your organization should have a sales mindset. Why? Because you are constantly selling and building trust. Everybody who is client facing, and I mean everybody is responsible for the reputation of your company. It’s hard to sell when people don’t trust. If I visit a client and the receptionist is not friendly, that leaves a negative impression.
If I then talk to a customer representative and they are not knowledgeable. Guess how that will impact my decision to buy?
And if I then get referred to a sales person who pitches something that I don’t need, because they don’t listen, they just “sell” it will probably make me think about buying anything from that company. Right?
Your people are selling all the time, in a direct or indirect way. So, they need to understand that their livelihood is directly tied to their demeanor, mindset and behavior. Our training program helps companies to establish a common Sales & Service language. No matter who you encounter within the organization, they should all speak the “same” language.
Train your account people
When we think about the sales, we think about sales people, database management, phone calls, etc.
But, if your account people are charged with growing revenue within existing accounts and they are not trained to do that, they will most likely resist it. Most opportunities are right under our noses. It’s the trusted clients we work with who are most receptive to our new service offerings. But if your account people feel that they are only responsible for account management and they are uncomfortable talking about new business, the up-selling will be difficult.
Help your CEO with driving directions
CEOs are visionaries, they know where they want to end up, but it is up to his people to provide the map. CEOs often don’t want to be bothered with details, but if they are presented with a concept that helps everybody within the organization to become more focused on new business development (which will result in additional revenue), they will open up their ears. Our most successful training programs are the ones where the CEO agrees with the philosophy and his/her leaders drive the direction.