We hear from the
economists and the Office for National Statistics that although the UK economy
is growing even post Brexit, national productivity is still lagging behind
other countries, productivity being defined by GDP divided by the number of
hours worked or alternatively Output per Unit of Input.
Remember the three-day
week? During the tenure of Edward Heath
as Prime Minister in early 1974 there was a spate of industrial action primarily
from the coal miners that led to fuel shortages and reduced electrify output. Accordingly
the decision was made to reduce the working week for commercial users to
conserve supplies.
Guess what;
production scarcely reduced even though the effective working week was
drastically reduced.
We are talking
here about measurable output in the way of Gross Domestic Product but have you
ever though about the productivity of other notionally non-wealth producers in
your business?
I recall once
going to a large and, on the face of it, successful engineering company to
discuss their sales operation. We looked
at the total orders received, the number of quotations sent out, the conversion
rate, and all the other criteria that go to measure the effectiveness of the
selling effort.
In an interview
with the Sales Manager I asked him how many actual sales calls, that is eye to
eye contact with the customer, were made in a given time and he hesitated.
“I try to make one a week”, he said.
“And the rest of the sales people?” I
asked
“Much the same” he admitted.
Even though the
way that selling is organised these days is different from then, the point
should still be made. The best way to
generate sales is by personal face-to-face contact with the customer and by
using professional selling methods.
Let’s make it clear.
There is
absolutely no point in expecting the sales people to do all the background
stuff such as market research, quotations, follow up telephone calls, general
sales administration and eve call planning and at the same time demand from
them a high return in order levels.
Sales are one of
the areas of business that are genuinely measurable and there is little doubt
that given good quality and service it becomes something of a numbers
game. The more you go out and sell then the
more successful you will be. It really
is as simple as that.
So why do so many
businesses persist in expecting their sales people to undertake all the
peripheral stuff to the detriment of the face-to-face time with the customers?
The most
effective sales force I ever encountered was 120 strong of good engineering
sales people, flat salary above market rate, no commission and a backup team to
do all the necessary administration for them.
We were measured
on not only sales successes but also on the expected number of calls per day at
around eight. That was deemed a fair
number for the market we served and most of us managed to achieve it. It wasn’t a demand, just an expectation and
could always be overridden when the situation demanded it.
Paperwork for the
sales team during the working week was limited to Friday afternoon hence the
joke at the time about the salesman (or woman) who would park the car, open the
windows and the roof and “do the
paperwork”. This was defined a “getting a layby tan”.
We normally pay
sales people a significant amount and naturally expect them to produce. It makes no sense then to have them undertake
activities that divert their attention and effort from what they are employed
to do; to go to see the customer and sell the product or service.
Increase the
productivity of your sales force and just watch the increase in sales. Worth it or what?
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