Editor’s note: Paul Kirch is CEO of ActusMR Inc., a Lewisville, Texas, business and sales consulting agency. Kirch can be reached at 214-295-6111 or at pkirch@actusmr.com.
Throughout the history of marketing research, many research firms and suppliers survived – and even grew – without a dedicated sales team. Because of this, it’s no wonder that there is still some resistance to the sales process by so many industry veterans. Most companies have come to accept needing a sales presence but that doesn’t mean they’re fully committed to it. I’d argue that sales-driven agencies are still an anomaly. After all, many well-established firms have either no dedicated salespeople or they have a small team whose effectiveness they question. To be fair, in some cases the teams may not be that effective but in others, the level of effectiveness is not apparent because the firm has no real way to measure the impact.
Sure, you can track sales. However, I often hear comments such as, “We don’t really know how much the salesperson had to do with bringing that business in.” Would you have received it without the salesperson? Did someone from your technology, operations or research group have to help with the process? Are you going to make this argument about every new door opened or every project awarded? The reality is that salespeople in our industry are often not given a great deal of credit with regards to their efforts. It’s the doers (i.e., operations analysis, and project management staff) that have always been credited with keeping customers happy or with keeping a brand “customer-centric.”
The feedback generated from keeping your clients happy can create great word-of-mouth promotion, which has often been all some agencies needed to get business in the door. We’ve all seen it, right? Companies that have millions of dollars in revenue and their growth came solely from referrals and reputation. If there were a sales function, it was probably an owner or someone very senior who took an inbound call or maybe picked up the phone to call a friendly – someone who was a referral or someone another person suggested you call. These are not the hard calls to make. In fact, those are what most seasoned salespeople consider a slam dunk – or at the very least low-hanging fruit.
Be proactive
Today, however, it’s getting harder to rely on soft opportunities. You need to be proactive in keeping your company name top-of-mind. It’s often thought, especially among operations staff, if you do a great job on a project, the client will be back. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. It is true that a good performance increases the probability of more business, which, in time, can turn into customer loyalty. However, with so many competitors going after the same business, many of whom have strong messaging and very solid follow-up, loyalty is tested every day. After all, your customers are busy and often have several vendors or research firms they’ve been talking to.
It’s uncanny how many times throughout my career I would call someone who just received a bid and only gave it to me because I called. Not because they didn’t like working with me or not because they didn’t like my company but because they often chose the supplier who was top-of-mind.
A risky approach
Is your company top-of-mind with your entire customer base? I’d be willing to bet that many of your competitors have their business cards on your customers’ desks. If you haven’t reached out in a while, but your competition has, who gets the opportunity when it comes in? Are you willing to sit back and wait for your phone to ring? Is that something that has worked in the past? Is that how you want to attempt to grow long-term? That seems to be a risky approach.With people moving around in their careers, you can go from having a client who is a fan of yours, to having no one who knows you within that same organization or to having a new person with their own go-to vendors.
You can literally go from all to nothing overnight. This is especially true if that person wants to make a name for himself by cutting costs or bringing in a new provider that he trusts. There are also the other challenges, such as your customer wanting to explore services you don’t offer. That could include moving away from traditional methods to try new ways of gathering research data. These are just a couple of ways business may be lost despite an excellent performance record on the operations side.
Opportunity to succeed
Now more than ever, it’s important to understand what limitations exist in a model where there is no one to actively engage clients when projects are not running. That’s the challenge, right? Without a sales team, how do you stay top-of-mind? You could spend a fortune on marketing or advertising but there are no guarantees you’ll accomplish your goal. By having a team of professionals who can perform the task of keeping customers informed of your offerings while, hopefully, convincing them to use you, you have an opportunity to succeed.
However, having the right people in place is the key to success. Choosing sales professionals with capabilities and experience levels that align with the firms needs is an important step, although how the team is managed can be the difference between success and failure, even with the most skilled sales professionals. If you’re using a manager with an operations background to grow your sales team, it’s highly unlikely they’ll ever achieve great results. It takes someone with a sales background to understand the needs and challenges of the sales team. How to develop the team, motivate them, incentivize them and keep them armed with the right tools to succeed are important for any sales manager. It’s also important that your sales team be kept informed of success stories and failures overcome, which can be powerful messages for them to use when speaking with clients.
A shortsighted way of thinking
Probably one of the biggest challenges facing a high percentage of salespeople in research is that they are not part of the operations team. Operations often believes they’re doing all of the hard work. They’re in the trenches every day and have to deal with all project-related issues. Therefore, they believe that the salespeople don’t have anything to do with keeping the client engaged or satisfied. This is a shortsighted way of thinking but when it’s fostered and promoted by senior staff, it can be toxic to an organization.
When your sales team is made to feel insignificant or is constantly treated as if their efforts don’t matter, you’ve got a dangerous recipe for failure. If your job is to call clients and prospects all day long in hopes of finding new opportunities, wouldn’t it be much easier if you felt motivated and supported? Anyone who is a decision maker within a company with sales staff should make every effort to make those individuals feel motivated, supported, driven and important to the organization. Don’t you want your sales team fired up to do their job? Instead, salespeople are beaten down or made to feel as if they are not responsible for growth.
Think about the message
If the words, “We probably would have gotten that business anyway,” come out of any of your team members’ mouths or if you’ve said it yourself, think about the message you’re sending. I recently heard a senior executive state, “We grew just fine without a sales team.” Great! Then perhaps your business model is one where you’re willing to risk proceeding without one. Chances are you’re not willing to take that bet. Therefore, if you’re going to continue growing or having a sales team, that kind of dialogue needs to stop immediately. It does damage to the spirit of your salespeople and spreads the wrong kind of message internally.
In my opinion, that kind of dialogue is very irresponsible, no matter whom it is from or directed toward. I personally believe in building up the individuals working under me. Whenever possible, help them see that they’re making an impact. And if they aren’t? Find out why. If it’s something that cannot be changed, it’s probably time to find someone else for the job. That kind of thinking should apply company-wide.
Get committed
If you’re going to have a sales team, it’s time to get committed to the process. Training and support are important elements that any sales team needs on an ongoing basis. Also important is helping build a team atmosphere across your entire organization by making sure everyone sees the value of the other individual’s role.