Walking the talk as a customer focused business

Not so Fast

Picture the scene. A fledging business has just acquired its first, large client. This validates the big idea and provides welcome financial breathing space.

The founder envisages major expansion. The business must target companies that are similar to its new client. It’s time to hire a sales team.

Maybe the founder wants out of the sales process. They’re about thought leadership, partnerships and alliances. With their idea validated they can rub shoulders with business leaders.

The product sold once it will sell again. A sales silo is all that is needed.

Not so fast. One sale proves nothing, however large the client. The top sales people want a proven process and hot leads. This business has neither.

Business is Selling

Being in business means selling. A vision only becomes reality if businesses make profitable sales. Everyone involved in a company must understand how their role impacts clients.

Without this understanding, roadblocks appear when technology, administrative and operational staff refuse to adapt.

The sales process is to serve, sell and close. This means identifying client pain and positioning a unique solution, overcoming objections, and finalising a deal.

This requires product design, marketing and sales. A role involving any of these is part of the sales process.

Amazon prides itself on being customer obsessed, not just focused. Customer experience is at the centre of everything it does. This has enabled it to build a retail business on the finest of margins and a webserver business with wide spreads.

I worked with a service company full of marketers and consultants. They were good at serving but few went further. It also had a few glory hunters. These people hang around the most profitable clients in the hope of being paid more.

A couple of executives in the business took an expensive overseas trips to meet a large, potential client. One even talked of the hefty bonus she expected when the deal closed. But there was no one to close the deal.

The problem was the executive did not identify as sales. In fact, she went out of her way to deny this was her role. She wanted the trips and client meetings, but no responsibility for making money.

People buy from people they trust. If you spend significant sums serving clients with people who cannot close, your money is wasted. If you keep salespeople on the edge of the process, good ones will leave.

As this happens a lot, how can it be changed?

Assume an Identity

If you want to run a marathon then tell people. Opening up builds a commitment to succeed. Then go one level higher.

Tell people you are a runner rather than just running a race. Assume the identity of who you want to be.

On the flipside, avoid adopting a harmful identity. Don’t say “I am lazy” but “In this situation I was lazy”. Providing context creates room for improvement.

This is not a hard rule. Addicts must accept who they are. But it is a process of growth that is important, in particular in small businesses where people have multiple roles.

It is not always enough to be labelled as sales. The executive I worked with accepted the role and de-prioritised it. Another step was needed before she took responsibility.

Make sales part of every senior person’s goals. Pay them according to how well the business performs against those goals. Do not be satisfied with those who say “I did my job, it’s not my fault sales cannot sell”. A team succeeds or fails together.

Frameworks not Rules

There are no rules in business, only frameworks. These must be adapted to individual businesses.

A company does not need to be customer obsessed. The first CEO I worked with at Liquidnet, had a colleagues-first approach to create the conditions to serve clients best. The firm led its niche in large share trades and customer satisfaction.

Apple is often described as a product-led business. It is rigorous in testing those products with potential buyers however, and delivers excellent customer service.

Don’t make the mistake of claiming to be client-led and not delivering. Without the right goals and incentives, customer focus becomes a buzzword and is ignored. Do not silo your sales team.

You need sales people who close deals or you are not doing clients any favours. These people lead the sales process. Keep the glory hunters away until they accept responsibility.

After all, sales is the process and purpose of a business.

I’m Simon Maughan and I write The Profit Elevator as a guide for B2B firms seeking faster growth.

Closing deals is included in the Seize the Opportunity section of The P.R.O.F.I.T. Through Process Planner. For more details reply to this message.

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