Learn Exactly How You Can Build a Better Sales Culture
Sales executives – let me ask you a question.
How much sway do you have over your own management team?
When you speak up in an executive staff meeting do people listen?
Do you come from a position of authority?
I believe that effective sales executives MUST be able to greatly sway both the culture and the strategic direction of your organization.
I say that from the perspective that you bring (or, at least, you should bring) something to the table that no one else can match: market knowledge.
The Staff Meeting
Consider a typical staff meeting conversation centering around a customer care initiative:
Operations Manager: “I think the market is slowing down.”
Finance Manager: “I think the market is picking up.”
Customer Service Manager: “I think the market is flat.”
YOU: “Our customers think it is time to buy, but only if we can keep our price where it is and provide more customization selections. The strong majority of prospects are optimistic about the economy and they believe in our brand message. They are not, however, particularly fond of the promotion we’ve been running of late – they find it misleading.”
Sales executives play a vital but often underutilized role in a healthy culture; they represent the voice of the customer. And that voice trumps all.
Becoming the Authority
Of course, if you want to represent this all-important opinion you must dedicate yourself to learning just what the customer wants to say to your company.
That means a part of each week should be dedicated to hearing directly from customers.
But here’s the catch: you want to talk to customers who are not hacked.
The problem is that those customers who are really upset will find you. Those who are so-so will just go on with their lives.
Go find the so-so’s – those neutrally satisfied customers who will neither throw you a parade nor torch you on social media.
This is where the lessons are to be found.
Whether they are current customers or just prospects looking to make a move, interviewing these people directly is one of the smartest moves a sales executive can make.
Three Questions
At our sales leadership summit LevelUp 2015 we will be talking at length about how to influence culture in an organization by representing the voice of your customer. For now, just get out to meet with a prospect and ask these three questions:
1) “Do you think it’s a good time to buy? Why or why not”?
2) “What is the most important factor in your decision”?
3) “What one thing can a company do to win your business”?
Represent the voice of the customer and you’ll change the culture of your company.
We’re going to spend more time focusing on the topic of building a high-performance sales culture at my annual Sales Leadership Summit: Level Up 2015.
I hope that you will join us in Chicago on September 10-11 as we take a journey into the future – your future – to define what excellence and success look like when you take your sales culture to the next level.
