Sales Management: I don’t have a team but a zoo!
We hear references to “The sales team” every day, along with that wonderful impression of a cohesive team of professionals working tirelessly towards their sales targets. But what happens when the team you inherit resembles a zoo more than the A-team? And quoting one of my managers.”…and I have one of each animal!”. Sound familiar?. Now that you are in-seat you no doubt have a better understanding of why your sales team was not meeting expectations!
With the frequent mergers and acquisitions of modern business it most likely that you will have too many of one skill in one location and not enough of another somewhere else. But let’s be realistic, you can’t just replace everyone, so you will need to play the cards you have been dealt..at least to start with.
In this situation, what are your options?
Before reaching for the hatchet, reflect a little on why the situation is the way it is. What has happened (or not) to allow it to arise?. Was it a lack of vision, poor management, or something else? There’s a fair chance that one major factor was the absence of a coherent and communicated plan, resulting in a team uncertain of what was expected of them, or how they individually fit into the bigger picture. Few people intentionally come to work simply to go through the motions, and as adults, we do want to feel that our efforts are not wasted. To compound this, the absence of a believable plan often results in significant changes in direction and/or micro-management, neither of which will motivate your team.
I can hear you groaning already; you don’t have the time to go through a sales planning exercise; you are under pressure to deliver results straight away. So don’t embark on a full sales planning exercise; instead spend some quality time aligning your existing target outcomes to the activities of your team. Along the way, establish intermediate objectives/milestones along with metrics to keep you on track. If (!!) you’ve been given aggressive sales targets, where could the opportunities come from and for which business lines?. Who in your team is best placed to deliver them, and what non-financial progress milestones can you identifyf or your team. Turn your zoo to your advantage. As Manager, you are uniquely placed to know who within your team is better at closing deals quickly. Assigning clients or geographies arbitarily is like tieing one hand behind your managerial back. Allocating opportunities based upon aptitude and skill will always be more effective, and within your control.
What soft skills will you need to develop your target business, and who has them today? Look at the natural aptitude of your personal zoo. Many may be technically strong, comfortable in making convincing technical arguments, but who would run a mile if asked to cold call. Others may be natural door-openers who never close a deal, let alone negotiate commercial terms. It is not inefficiency to have several people involved in a single opportunity, but engaging at different stages in the buying cycle.
What support will you need either from within the team or outside. How can operations teams identify new opportunities for your sales team to develop, what scope do existing contracts have to grow? These are all “low-hanging fruit”. It’s a convenient fallacy that any sales rep should be capable of selling all products and at all stages of the customer’s buying cycle, but some require more technical engagement than others. However a single sales person can achieve much more if they know that they can call on the relevant technical support as required.
Finally you need to build your development plan, but to do this you have to forget about the team you have today and think about the profiles of the team you need for the future. This may seem a waste of time, but if you build your plan around the current residents in your zoo you will always build a flawed plan. When ready, undertake a competency assessment such as the Mbrace Commercial Maturity evaluation. This will help you identify gaps in the teams skills but also provides a useful analysis of the team’s perception of it’s own performance. It is quite likely that many in your team will respond positively once they know where they fit in and how they contribute. Those who don’t may well form your list of future changes.
So a bit of quality reflection goes a long way and can help you transform your zoo into the efficient operating unit you were promised.
