In many businesses and professional service organizations today, sales team members are asked to wear two hats--the “sales promotion” hat and the “customer or client service” hat. In some organizations this dual responsibility for the sales staff can not be avoided, but in those organizations where this sales and service function is not set in stone, you would be wise to off-load the service responsibilities from your sales professionals to members of a service team.
Sales managers don’t need built in structural excuses for poor sales performance. However, by asking your sales team members to service accounts, you give poor performers a perfect way to excuse their lack of sales by simply telling you they were working on problems for their clients or customers and had less time to make sales or prospecting calls. For the 80 percent of sales professionals that sell 20 percent of the goods and services in the United States and Canada, the two hats role is an ideal situation. If they have a choice in the matter they will always gravitate to servicing accounts and taking orders over generating new business from their selling activities.
It’s difficult at best to reprimand a staff member for poor sales performance, but almost impossible to do it when the reason for a lack of sales is that the representative was saving a large account. If wearing two hats is not critical to your organization’s success, why set up an impossible management situation.
It is vital that you take away every structural activity performed by sales team members that gives them an excuse for not being in front of decision-makers selling your products or services. In the long run, setting up an order desk and support staff are far more cost effective than taking sales professionals away from their primary responsibility of bringing in new business for your company or professional organization.
Wearing Two Hats Costs A Sales Professional Sales - To learn more about this author, visit Virden Thornton's Website.
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Virden Thornton
(Visit Virden's Website)
VIRDEN J. THORNTON is the founder and
President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. a 23
year old firm specializing in sales,
customer relations, personal coaching and
management training and development.
Clients have included Sears Optical,
Eastman Kodak, IBM, Deloitte & Touché,
Bank One, Jefferson Pilot, and Wal-Mart to
name a few. Virden is the author of
Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success,
Organizing For Sales Success, 101 Sales
Management Myths, A Realtor's Success
Formula, and two best sellers 101 Sales
Myths and Building & Closing The Sale. He
also has a video/audio tape training
program entitled Close That Sale,
published by Thompson Learning. He has
also authored a Self-Directed Learning
series of sales, coaching & team
development, telemarketing and personal
productivity training guides. To obtain a
substantial discount on two of Virden's
new manuals, 101 Sales Myths and
Organizing For Sales Success, just go to
www.TheSellingEdge.com/book1.htm
Note: You can contact Virden at vi
rden@TheSellingEdge.com. You can also
see an expanded biography at: www.TheSellingEdge.com/bio.htm
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