An Effective Sales "Team." Does it Exist?
Since the inception of O3 World we have had sales representatives, business development people, sales consultants, and sales assistants come... and after too long, eventually go after a period of time without success. We have tried all sorts of different salary set ups, and commission plans and incentive programs to spark ideas, create enthusiasm, and hopefully finalize some deals in the process. And all of those efforts have absolutely, positively, (not even sort of), but totally, failed.
Because of that, the sales efforts have continued to fall back on us as owners. Fortunately, the strength of our relationships with clients and the quality of work we've produced have enabled us to have continued success and growth without a sales team. And while I have no issues with continuing to take on that responsibility to some degree, it would be nice to focus on other things in the process... like running the company, or opening up a new office location, or working on marketing concepts for clients, or writing a blog post perhaps...
So what is our problem and can it be fixed?
Over the years we have looked at all types of different solutions for our issue. We have posted on Craigslist, and posted on Career Builder and posted on Monster. We have blogged about it, tweeted about it and sent requests through Linked In about it. We've hired through recommendations, and we're hired on experience, and we've hired based on hope, taking flyers on smart, hard working people. We have avoided quotas as much as possible to try and encourage growth in the position. We feel a lack of strict quotes show we have faith in the individual, and that we don't look at them simply as a piece of meat with a dollar sign hanging from them. We have hired consultants to help us map out our sales process, worked with a CFO to map out our forecasting plan, and they each came back with the same recommendation... you should put a sales team together. Yeah... thanks. Now I know I have a career in consultancy waiting for me after O3.
My biggest questions are:
1. Where is this "sales" team and "sales" members and how do I connect with them? (And I don't mean headhunters, because they are just not a smart solution for a small company already taking a chance on a salesperson)
2. Are there any sales people that truly understand what we do? Do they understand the digital space and understand how the web development process works and can justify the amount of time and money associated with projects like this? Can they explain how we're different than Joe Web Team? Or do they at least know what SEO and CMS stand for, and do they have a Twitter account with more than 6 followers and 3 tweets.
3. Are there sales people out there that are actually interesting to be around and not full of so much b.s.? (My wife is a sales rep, so I know this is a general statement. I also don't think she reads my blogs)
4. Has the sales process changed so dramatically that traditional sales people can no longer have the same success as they did in the past? Are the people with all of those life long contacts also the same people that are connecting via Twitter, Linked In, Facebook and Tagged? (I think Tagged actually may be more of a dating site... but they have 80 million subscribers, so there's gotta be a lead generation opportunity in there somewhere!)
5. Are WE the problem? As an answer to that last question... we certainly may be. Being a custom development agency, we don't exactly have "packages" that we sell. We also don't have salesforce or a customer relationship management tool to work from. Or... maybe I'm just no fun to work with and give poor direction. I don't think so... but hey, who knows?
I have spoken to many small business owners that experience the same issues, and since you're small you can't just keep throwing money at the problem. There needs to be a strategic, well thought out plan in place... and that plan is in place at our company... but the people to sell it certainly are not.
Is your company experiencing the same issues? Have you had success through certain channels, or would you recommend ideas? We're always open to listening...
And two more things: Are you a good candidate for this role? Drop us an email at info@o3world.com. And no, staffing firm x, y, or z... we're not interested in working with you. Nothing personal... well... maybe a little...
We've experienced the same. It's a big problem with businesses offering 'custom' packages. Most people with sales experience have little or no ability to offer a potential client experienced answers about web design or development, so it's difficult for them to get passed the cold calls. All in all we've found that we're our biggest sales reps, and fortunately, at least one of us has the personality to sell. Spending the time and money to hire someone has proved not a good investment for us, so we're glad to hear you've experienced the same. I will def check back to see if your wife comments! :)
Hey Bill. Thanks for your feedback! We have not tried those recommendations. I'll make sure we look into them. And you're right that it always starts with the right people. We have had a lot of good people, just probably not the right fit. Stay tuned for our follow up post a few months from now....
I feel your pain and have been through similar experiences. Have you had any experience with DISC profile and Divine Matrix as selection tools? Getting the right people is the first challenge. You will never be successful with your sales team without the right people. Have you ever looked at Sandler Training? I have been engaged in the Sandler system for 15 months and would not go back to the old way. Success is about a clear understanding of what you expect from your sales people, choosing the right people (based on the attributes that are most important to you), training them on a successful system and holding people accountable. I "debrief" each of my sales people weekly which is part of our accountability program. This is tough work and the only way to get the business to the next level unless you want to work 20 hours a day rather than 16 hours. Maybe there is a little something in this that might be helpful. Good Luck