It's exhausting reading all those articles about marketing, product development, public relations, motivation and every business discipline one can imagine. Every so often there's an article that discusses sales or something relative to selling. All of these authors and motivators have their priorities backward. Identifying and targeting customers is certainly a necessary endeavor, but again, nothing happens until something gets sold. Capturing business as a result of motivating and creating excitement will go just so far, the key is to close and fund the transaction.
I've traveled the country training and consulting in sales and it would astound most managers to learn how inept and inefficient their sales force performs. Few decision-makers view the sales process as an art and discipline. There are basically two mindsets in the executive suite.
The first school of thought believes a proficient sales manager and/or sales department can achieve sales results with the tools from within their organization. When approached by an “outsider” who offers sales assistance, they will invariably point to their success and achievements and eschew the idea that their results can significantly improve. What they won't admit to is feeling threatened by an outside source.
Then you have the second school of thought. This school enjoys satisfactory sales results, may recognize the need for “outside” input, but believes they can't afford to hire an outside source to improve sales. The sales department will point the finger at marketing and/or advertising as not successfully generating enough leads and/or interest in their product of service. Or, they will site operations for lack of efficiency or a pricing disadvantage.
“If you build a better mousetrap the world will not beat a path to your door!” Not really. You need to communicate (marketing, advertising, etc.) that your company has indeed got this product. Now what? Without an efficient, effective sales team, capable of converting this interest into closed business, all the other efforts are just a wasted, costly, corporate activity. Always keep in mind that nothing happens until something gets sold.
Anyone can sell $5 bills for $4.50, and when they do it, they won't earn much in compensation. The key is to sell $5 bills for $7.50 and turn a fair corporate profit. Selling is a discipline that is necessary for any organization, group, product or service. Like most disciplines, it takes training and input from a professional, successful sales trainer to improve sales success. Effective sales training should include repetition and follow-up by the management team. The management team should focus on improving sales and worry less about feeling threatened by outside trainers.
We all sell something while we're on this earth. If it's not a product and/or service, it's an idea, a person, thought, philosophy, concept or belief. Everyone sells something at some point. Only effective sales training will result in successful selling. Nothing happens until something gets sold.
