The Sales Growth Conundrum
Profitability vs Top Line Growth
Over the last 20 years, many companies have developed a core competence at managing profitability. Unfortunately at the same time, a similar rigor around sales growth has not kept pace. As a matter of fact, many companies are finding it difficult to get the kinds of growth that the markets expect year over year. The fact is, there is a tried and true process not only to identifying your pinch points, but that will help you to gain buy-in, build commitment and drive sales growth. Following this stepped approach makes all the difference.
Here is where you want to be:
From A defensive, profit is king mentality…..an unsustainable strategy
To A sales and growth driven mentality…leading to increased profits and shareholder value
Top Line Growth is Achievable
The good news is that these things are very fixable. I remember a story that was told once about a high school reunion. Well into the evening the typical “I wonder what ever happened to……” discussion ensued. The discussion turned to the one person that was voted shall we say, “most likely not to succeed.” Just about then a stretch limo pulled up and out popped this same guy. He was wearing an Armani suit and displayed prominently a very expensive (and large) diamond stick pin on his lapel. Everyone began asking him “Wow, what happened to you.” He said, “Well I found out early I was not too good at sports, and school was definitely not my thing. I was a good talker though, so after graduation, I went into sales. I found out that if I could buy something for $1 and sell it for $5 that 4% added up awfully fast.” All kidding aside, having done sales effectiveness work all over the world, some things have become very apparent. “jump-starting” sales growth is not as hard as one would think and many of the things that have the biggest impact also cost little to nothing. This is where that “4%” adds up awfully fast. The same tools work in the U.S., Japan, Germany…you pick a country. Once the tools and discipline are woven into the fabric of your organization, they become a real competitive differentiator as it is not easily copied by others.
The Process for Achieving Sales Success
There is a continuum that describes the process to achieve sales effectiveness and a truly customer focused selling culture. I find that many companies cannot “fix” their sales issue in isolation. Often it requires a three-step process that can all be initiated simultaneously, but will take varying lengths of time. Usually there is a burning platform to make the budget (something must be done now). Then there are those mid-term things (3-6 months) that will make a difference, but not right away. These are the small hills, if you will, that need to be climbed. Then there is the mountain. This is creating a really shift in mindset and culture. These efforts can take 12 months and longer.
Phase 1: Set in place a new rigor around sales growth and the drivers of that growth (Make the budget)
Phase 2: Get your sales force in tip-top shape
Phase 3: Create a company that is customer focused and founded on a “healthy culture”
One of the first things we do is to develop a picture of what a customer-focused company looks like. Secondly, we develop a picture of what a very effective sales organization looks like. This model becomes the foundation for all the data gathering that needs to take place in order for you to “confront the brutal facts” in your own organization. Over time, using our own STAR method (Sales Targets Always Reached), we develop some key success factors that would result in a high likelihood of success. This becomes the basis of our tool around, “Are you ready for STAR?”
Key Success Factors for Jump-Starting Growth
You will find that to successfully jump-start your sales organization, there are some key things that need to be in place. Over the years, the ones outlined below have become important to me in any large-scale sales effectiveness effort.
- Committed senior management where there is a galvanizing “moment of truth” that forces the “confrontation of the brutal facts” and creates the sense of urgency around needed changes
- A real change in behavior of leadership that begins at the top
- A globally consistent process that is followed with rigor and is run by strong central steering committee
- Use of the empowered work team concept to get buy-in from local leaders
- Use of fact-based, data-driven decision-making (do not make decisions on what you think, but what is)
- Assign a “facilitator” to each work team to ensure there is an extra pair of hands to get the work done. Use the business leaders for their thinking power and have someone else do all the slides, setting up of telecoms etc. Many times, deadlines are missed because people have too much to do in their “day jobs” and this is especially true of your sales generals.
- Adhere tenaciously to timelines and deliverables
- Begin building the sense of urgency and the hard work of changing the culture right away beginning with a culture audit
- Cascade an all employee program into the organization that focuses on tools and messages to change behavior that uses your own influential line managers as facilitators
- Do deeper work with first line managers to anchor the changes in the management culture
- Set the expectation and provide tools for all your leaders to change, but the reality is that some will either not have the skills or the desire to do so. You will have to make some tough calls to exit people
- Begin working with high potentials and new hires right away so that as people leave or get promoted, you don’t revert to the old culture
- Insure you begin a strong methodology for gathering employee feedback that sorts out your drivers of employee engagement and customer loyalty and begin holding managers accountable for engagement actions
- Get your key leaders together at least twice per year in the first years of the change to refuel their gas tanks for change