How it looks from the field…
It’s no exaggeration to say that sales is the primary focus for manufacturers and dealers alike these days, with both big and small decisions often being put on hold until sales improve.
Prospecting, competing better, attempting to differentiate, improving skills, diversifying product and service offerings—everyone is scrambling to get sales in the door.
In some cases it has become so frenzied that organizations are operating in a totally reactive mode.
Planning has given way to ‘seat of pants” responses, with the timeframe for forecasts limited to weeks and days. Given the economic climate we are living in, all of this is understandable.
With sales first and foremost on everyone’s agenda, I began to question how those efforts were being led and supported.
Sales people today are very much on the front line and doing battle under very challenging conditions. How well equipped are they, I wondered. Do they have what they need to win or are they winging it at each meeting and with every RFP?
Do they have strong, knowledgeable leadership behind them or are they left to figure things out on their own? Are they in a good position to compete or are they floundering in chaos?
In order to get at the answers, under the condition of anonymity, I interviewed seven sales people that are in positions of dealer sales, manufacturer’s rep and manufacturer sales.
They are all excellent at what they do, they all strive for success and usually achieve it and they are valued as key employees. And they were all generous with their time and opinions.
Their responses to my questions were revealing, with some being fairly consistent while others differed greatly depending on the position and company. Either way, for organizations that want to increase their chances of winning, it’s worth hearing what the feet on the street have to say about making sales happen.
Question 1: Do you have the appropriate sales support materials, such as sales collateral, web site, readily available materials for bid responses, etc.?
“The tools I use are good and getting more automated although they aren’t quite there yet. The more automated they get, the better (and less time consuming) they will be.”
“The tools I am supplied with are fabulous and always being updated.”
“As a manufacturer’s sales person my tools are good and luckily, so are my dealers’. Not all the dealers, however, have good materials and it slows down the process considerably for everyone.”
“In regards to bid responses, every response is a reinvention. It is totally inefficient and takes me out of the field for two weeks every time. Then I have to catch up on the sales calls I wasn’t able to respond to during that time frame.”
“My bid responses are done at the home office, which is a huge help as the process allows me to stay in the field.”
“We have a lot of good materials and are getting more efficient, but bid responses are still time consuming and cause a lot of brain damage.”
“Neither my firm nor the manufacturer I rep have much of the things you asked about and, what they do have is little and of poor quality. I have asked, but nothing ever happens. I have to create my own materials. It’s time consuming and not very professional, especially when compared to the competition.”
Question 2: Do you get training to improve your skills, has the training been helpful (vs. just a few nuggets of information) and do you use the training you have received?
“Training could be improved upon. With budget cuts, there are fewer people to help us. There is a lot of product training but not much sales or professional development training. It would be really helpful if we had that—it’s always good to learn and improve.”
“As with any training, I take what works for me within my own style. I get a lot of product training and my boss helps me when he is in town to improve my skills.”
“The large manufacturer I work for is aware of the need, but nothing is being done. When I was hired (five years ago) I was simply expected to figure it out and that hasn’t changed. There is a shotgun approach at the home office that says if you call on enough people, you’re bound to get something. Problem is, I’m expected to call on people that I know aren’t my buyers which is taking time away from calling on qualified prospects. I’m very frustrated with the lack of strategy involved—it’s just faster and harder. Quantity doesn’t equal quality.”
“I have received no training on either product or sales past the first indoctrination into the company. I also haven’t been to the factory and my boss visits only every 5-6 months.”
“My sales training was horrible and very antiquated. It wasn’t strategic for a manufacturer’s rep at all, but focused on increasing the number of cold calls and ironing out my elevator speech. It was a waste of time.”
“My company has a lot of good training and programs that are available. They really make the effort to develop people within the organization including their sales people.”
Question 3: Do you get help, support and guidance from your boss or management? Are they able to help and give you ideas to sell more effectively? Do they get training?
“My boss always makes himself available and I always get help.”
“No. Everything is on the fly. They haven’t received training to my knowledge.”
“My boss is too political and slow to respond. My company has focused on taking waste out of the process but has failed to recognize that the client relationship is still time consuming. With fewer resources, I am now being asked to do things that negatively impact those relationships and ultimately my sales.”
“Most sales people in this industry are farmers. Management needs to have more experience to teach people how to dig for new business, train, coach and generate fresh ideas. You can’t just give sales people a quota—you need to show them how to do it.”
“Thank goodness I’m not new because there is no one available to train or mentor. It is management by crisis—everyone is jumping from one fire to another. There is no long term strategy.”
“I’m experienced and tenured. What I need is for my boss to help remove obstacles so I can do my job. It doesn’t happen.”
“My boss is a really nice guy. He wants to help and tries, but doesn’t really have the experience.”
Question 4: Do you have opportunities to grow professionally, and is that important? Does your organization think that this is important?
“Being in sales is like being in my own business and my company is there to help. There is no training, but if I found a training class, they will consider it and usually support it.”
“No. They say there is, but there are no opportunities. They are not investing in people—it’s all about short term survival.”
“It’s important, but everything is on hold now. It’s starting to hurt our efforts.”
“It’s a flat organization and there is not a culture for growth. I haven’t even had a review in over two years.”
“As people are getting laid off, a lot of young people are being hired, probably for financial reasons. It’s a mess. Loyalty is becoming an issue. When the economy turns around, there will be a lot of people jumping ship, including me.”
“Personally, I have opportunities to grow. And my organization recognizes that opportunities for growth are important and there needs to be more of them in general.”
Question 5: What percentage of your time is spent selling vs. doing administrative stuff?
“20% selling, 80% doing administrative, time posting, etc. When the economy was good, those numbers were reversed. If they want me to sell more, they need to let me sell.”
“85% selling. My company is completely set up to support the sales process.”
“50-50. There is too much duplication in the process and we can’t bog down sales people with too many hand offs. We shouldn’t worry about what drives the back office—we have to be fast when it comes to getting from point A to B.”
“90%-10%. My company has simplified many processes for sales people. It’s very nice.”
“60%-40%. Wish I had more time to sell.”
“30% selling-70% administrative, and I’m being generous. If I could spend more time selling, I would be more successful. I can’t be successful if I can’t be in front of opportunities. There are new business opportunities out there, but if you’re bogged down taking care of stuff that support people used to do, you can’t win. I have less time to network and dig up business.”
70% – 30%
75% – 25%
Question 6: Does your organization ask and listen to what you need to be more effective?
“They ask, but there are too many political agendas. I’m not sure anyone really listens. And when we are asked, I have to be very careful about what I say. Again, it’s the political agenda thing.”
“What?”
“Yes.”
“Yes. Periodically they will check in to see if what we have is working, often one-on-one. They listen. It’s a huge company, but has a small company feel. There are no politics per se.”
“I was given a questionnaire to complete, but there has been no conversation. I haven’t seen anything since.”
“Yes, they’re pretty good about it.”
“No. It’s too bad because I have a lot of ideas. Any ideas must have an immediate return. It’s whack-a-mole reacting to whatever pops up. It will be interesting to see what it’s like around here in two years.”
Question 7: What would help you, as a sales person, to be more effective and to win more business?
“I wish my company would listen to salespeople more instead of paying so much attention to the home office. Sales people are in the street and talking to buyers. They need to back up the sales people if they want more sales.”
“I need more face time with prospects, because I’m totally bogged down with admin stuff.”
“I have had every type of sales training imaginable over the last 15 years. I would be more effective if I understood the company’s strategy—if there is one!”
“Manufacturers need strong dealers to survive. As a manufacturer sales person, I understand that right now it’s particularly hard for dealers and they can’t count on manufacturers for help, especially the weaker dealers. We allocate our resources where there will be a return, and that is with innovative and entrepreneurial dealers.”
“With all the cut backs, etc., now commission structures are in play, and I’m not getting compensated for some of the business I’m doing. Now that is being taken away. I have lost trust in my boss and my company and will be leaving as soon as I get the right offer.”
“Too many people think sales people are prima donnas, but people at the home offices aren’t out in the field and don’t understand. We are working harder than ever (and I’m OK with that because that is what this economy is about) but home office thinks that selling is easy. I just wish it happened like that.”
“I’m working as smart as I know how and my company supports me—just hang on I suppose.”
It’s important to remember that all of these people are successful and committed professionals who are working very hard and doing their best in a challenging time. Each are passionate about their careers and were anxious to share their opinions, experiences and in some cases, frustrations. All intended for their comments to be helpful – they want to make a difference and hope that their comments are heard and taken seriously.
Even though it was a smaller group, their comments echo throughout the industry and need to be heard.
Sales people are the engines that keep our companies running. If we are to weather this recession, we must consider the needs of those on the front lines.
More than ever they need support, tools, fresh ideas, education and leadership in order to be successful.
If companies want more sales—and who doesn’t?—it might be helpful to ask some of the sales people on the team what they need to win. It could mean the difference between surviving and thriving.
What do you think? Do you have some great ideas?
