Our sales priority is hiring a salesperson right away. It’s really hurting us not having one. Why didn’t I replace our main sales guy when he left last year? Why am I struggling to do so now?
Thoughts of the Day: Think of sales priority as a team sport that helps the business drive up profits. Most business owners are good enough at sales.They’re willing to fill in the gaps in sales – to their detriment. Hiring salespeople can appear to be costly and risky. Finding the right salesperson can be challenging.
Sales priority is mission-critical
The ability to grow profitable sales consistently is an essential ingredient in any healthy business. Shoot for a 15 to 20 percent increase over the previous year’s revenue. Allow for a 5 percent decrease in current accounts to weed out problem clients. For example, this includes slow payers, low-margin customers, and buyers who make excessive demands. To clarify, this combined growth rate, 15 percent to 20 percent up and 5 percent down, net 10 percent to 15 percent, will allow your business to double in size in five- to seven-year cycles.
For example, very few businesses actually achieve this rate of growth. Keep in mind that the economy only grows at 2 percent to 3 percent most years. For instance, one survey reports privately held companies’ growth in sales peaking at 9 percent to 10 percent between 2011-12 and dropping to just over 5 percent in 2013.
Align goals with sales analytics
As any business grows, the amount of additional revenue needed each year increases in actual dollars. More sales probably mean more sales activity, more people dedicated to growing sales, and more marketing activity each year. How much time and effort does your company put into sales each year?
Likewise, to get the business off the ground, in the early stages of the business most owners put significant personal effort into growing sales. At some point that isn’t enough – for two reasons. Similarly, the owner has other demands on his or her time as the business grows, taking time away from sales. An increasing volume of sales is needed each year to meet growth goals, and one person can only do so much.
In the same vein, to keep any business growing, it’s important to boost sales activity by adding personnel committed to delivering sales. Unfortunately, hiring sales representatives is consistently reported in the top three of the most difficult positions to fill. Keep in mind that, unlike many other positions, there is no nationally recognized professional development track for salespeople. People don’t go to college to major in sales. Their backgrounds are varied and it’s often hard to compare success from one situation to another.
Cross-department collaboration results help
Figuring out who can and will perform in sales is tricky. Just as with any other part of the organization, building an effective sales team can involve trial and error. Manage risk by setting clear performance goals and measuring progress toward those goals. Stop hoping for what’s possible and accept the reality of the performance that’s presented to you by each person on the team. Be willing to make changes when you’ve made the wrong selection, be willing to invest to improve results when you see signs of progress.
In conclusion, look for people with ambition and drive, who don’t necessarily play by the rules, who seek out challenges and like to win. Check on backgrounds carefully. Focus on those who are curious and tech-savvy, who have a sharp eye trained on their targets, who are willing to use every tool at their disposal. Build a deep list of potential candidates by searching continuously. Find someone to help you search and select, someone who has a track record of consistently identifying performers.
To sum it up, keep at it, learning from mistakes and successes until your efforts are rewarded with a growing team of performers. Along the way pick someone to head up the team, someone who takes on the responsibility of reliably expanding sales results. Avoid the temptation, as owner, to believe you alone can fill in any gaps.
