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There
is a terrible, terrible thing going on in business today. It might even be
happening to you, in your very organization. Unfortunately, it is well
intentioned...but far too shortsighted. It
has always been my understanding that accountants are supposed to work with
numbers. That physicians treat patients. That teachers teach students. That
cooks prepare food. But
what about salespeople? Aren't salespeople supposed to sell their products or
services? How many salespeople do very little of that...and, instead, are
expected to wrestle with reports, data, paperwork, computers, delivery, customer
service, technical support, administrative or even operational issues? Over
the course of the last decade I have heard an all too familiar refrain. It
always seems to follow the same trend. And here it is, "I'm not selling
anymore. I've become a clerk." One of the culprits here? Commonly known as
"Sales Force Automation," salespeople have to spend inordinate amounts
of their time struggling with computer systems that start out as a simple, data
tracking tool for their benefit and end up as the source of information for
marketing, product management, pricing and more. Salespeople, as a consequence,
don't sell. Instead, they do everything but prospect, sell and service accounts. The
price that is paid is huge. Less selling time, resentment, confusion and
diffused effort on the part of salespeople. In its simplest terms, we have made
"results-oriented people" (salespeople) into "process oriented
people" (bureaucrats) who feel like they have been transformed into staff
people whose function is to provide services to people who need them. Does
that mean that salespeople are above such tasks? No. It simply means that
salespeople may not be providing the greatest value to their organization. Think
about this. How much face-to-face selling time do you or the salespeople in your
organization really get? I don't mean time preparing for appointments. I also
don't mean time in meetings, processing paperwork, handling details or inputting
data. I mean hard-core, nose-to-nose selling. Let's
take a look at a quick, not so scientific audit to analyze things. As a
salesperson, how many hours do you spend weekly: 1.
Handling paperwork? 2.
Inputting data into a computer? 3.
Attending meetings? 4.
Interfacing with support staff? 5.
Solving customer problems? 6.
Handling assigned, non-sales duties? 7.
Dealing with office politics? 8.
Providing information to others? 9.
Travelling? 10.
Prospecting for business? 11.
Face-to-face (or ear-to-ear)
selling? If
you are like lots of people I know, you are spending far too much time on tasks
that are not at all directly related to what you are supposed to be doing. I
have long been an advocate of sales assistants to help salespeople handle the
details related to sales. I have also been a zealot for simpler, easier sales
contact/automation systems. I have also urged
that organizations take a hard look at what non-sales related functions
are expected to be done by salespeople - and eliminate them. Easier said than
done, you say? I
don't think so. Let's take a look at some real how-to's here: 1.
Log
your time. Actually record, hour-by-hour, what you do with
your time for a one-week period. Be brutally honest with yourself. Determine how
productive you really are. 2.
Discuss your results with superiors. They may be shocked, too! 3.
Determine
how many sales opportunities have been lost - and what stole them from you.
Was it paperwork, meetings, unrelated requirements, customer complaints,
delivery glitches, computer problems? 4.
Determine
what the average sale is worth to your organization – and see how much revenue
or opportunity has been lost just for one week.
Then multiply it by 50 weeks per year! There
is no doubt that organizations and their complexity have both increased. Laser
printers and computers have made the amount of paperwork that can be generated
grow by leaps and bounds. Sales Force Automation Systems have, in many cases,
collapsed under their own weight if not carefully analyzed and designed
correctly. Unfortunately, the last ones to be consulted on their effectiveness
and ease of use are the salespeople who will be expected to use them. Analyze
your situation and determine if you spend your time prospecting and selling - or
if you are a clerk, meeting attendee or data gatherer for other people. The
answers might surprise you. |
