“We are an organic growth company, not an active growth company.”
This is a verbatim quote from a recent client session. While there’s nothing wrong with these words, there is a challenge when relying on “organic” (or passive) growth when you want to double your sales revenue this year.
“Everyone lives by selling something,” according to Robert Louis Stevenson. We are all selling, all the time. We may not see it that way, but we’d benefit by taking a large part of the mystery out of selling. Keep the mystery in place and we don’t meet growth goals. Worse yet, we get into real trouble.
It's Not Magic
So how can you remove the mystery from selling if you’ve traditionally been a passive growth company?
If you follow these eight simple steps, you’ll not only mend some cracks in an existing sales department / function, but you’ll also relate to sales as a machine rather than as magic.
- Find a great sales manager; someone who is GWC (gets it, wants it, has capacity to do it) and will elevate accountability to ensure sales is a healthy function.
- Have a simple and clear marketing plan that includes a clearly defined target market, unique differentiators, a proven process, and a guarantee.
- Build a clear sales process that makes selling easily measurable, repeatable, and predictable no matter who employs it.
- Define your sales culture and approach; choose transaction vs. relationship; salary vs. commission; and define what you sell whether it's product / service / commodity / experience.
- Manage the numbers and activity so you can coach / change behavior before it’s too late; use a scorecard weekly.
- Ensure you have the right people in the right seats and that they're both a culture fit and GWC for sales (see Step 1).
- Ensure minimum standards are clear with all sales people including rules of the game, core values, and clear measurables.
- Insist on absolute consistency regarding process, materials / collateral, message, and goals.
Create a Sales Machine
You may have to look outside your organization for the right sales manager, but it will pay enormous dividends to have one person accountable for ensuring all eight steps are in place.
Make sales a machine rather than magic and you’ll see the double-digit growth you’ve always hoped for, but haven’t achieved.
Next Steps
- To learn more about how you can help your organization improve, take the EOS® Organizational Checkup.
- Download a free chapter of What the Heck is EOS?
- Order What The Heck Is EOS? for every employee in your company. Save 50% off the retail price when you order 20+ hardcover copies of the book from our publisher.
- Download our free eBook: 20+ EOS Terms Your Employees Need To Know
This post originally appeared on the TruePoint Advisors Blog on June 14, 2017.
