A VP of Sales ($1b?) Calls My Bluff!

•  
  may0810/14/08 Report as spam
  1

  Why strategy matters

  I agree with both the reader and writer - but I'm going to side with the reader a little more on this one.
  
  I have worked at - as an employee therof, not a consultant - at many companies in my career and I've seen the good, bad, and "so so" when it comes to sales.
  
  I believe the good - and truly excellent - companies I've seen do have a thread of strategy running through all they do. That this strategy may be seen as the focus of the organization. The entire organization - not just what one seasoned sales guy is pitching today.
  
  I find that if sales is running off the preverbial ranch, the problem then develops that they are in it alone. Nothing is supporting this perspective really - not in printed collateral or in how the organization runs to support that pitch.
  
  Meaning, I've seen the "bad" have sales people be forced into this situation and then be left to hang dry when a customer is calling into the organization on other matters and learns that the pitch was just that - pitch. That the engineers hadn't really designed the item to meet that specific need, and in fact had no clue it could even meet that need to be honest. And therefore service had no idea that it needed to stock replacement parts for that type of a use/failure. And that customer service was being asked if the product had "this or that feature" - which basically called the salesman's pitch into question.
  
  If the pitch is harmless and needs to organizational backup - sure it can live on its own.
  
  But if the pitch will eventually fall back into the organization or product in ways the organization is not currently prepared to support - it just makes sales look desperate and really, out of touch.
  
  Instead the best companies I saw would take the input from sales as a solid percentage of what formed the strategy. That to me is where the fault lies - not in having a strategy - it is in developing one that lacks any sales perspetive - which happens more often than not in my experience.
  
  Once that strategy is laid out the organization can figure out what TO do , but conversely what NOT to do. What we do NOT support, what is NOT in warrante, because - contrary to our perfect world - an organization cannot be all things to all people. That is the point of the strategy.
  
  However, if sales is off running their own strategy without the net of the organization in tow, this gap will widen to the point the prospects and current customers see it and will rather leap to a new company to purchase from, rather than keep leaping over your gap in strategic alignment.
  
  I'm not a sales professional - I do sales now but have not all my life. I'm also not a strategist. I'm the "peanut gallery" if you will so please understand these are just my own observations of what makes the company #1 in its market (among many other facets) and what makes it struggle to simply make a profit.

•  
  GaryMcCarver10/14/08 Report as spam
  2

  RE: A VP of Sales ($1b?) Calls My Bluff!

  I haven't replied to one of your rants in the past ... but have enjoyed virtually every one of them. However in this case ... I needed to add by support to the responder.
  
  Your comment "... I???m not buying it. In my experience, when a corporate strategy (as in product positioning, messaging, etc.) doesn???t make sense, the sales team quickly stops pitching that message and positioning, and start pitching one that actually works and generates sales." ... relys on sales professionals that have the attitude "hey I was looking for a job when I got this one" ... because in the financial services, investment and other sectors that actually have "compliance" departments, manuals. rules, guidelines and "guardians" (for the lack of a better term) that command that products and services are sold "the right way" ... if you stray too far from the approved script ... you will be fired. Sure ... you wouldn't want to work for a company like that anyway ... I hear you say ... but these days it is nice to be working and sales people are not immune to paying rent/mortgages and car payments.
  
  So as much as I would like to agree with you ... we do not live in that perfect world that you somehow live in ... the writer was expressing the real world concern of someone wanting to do a good job, for their company (as you can't make even incremental changes if you are fired), their clients (as you can't help them after you're fired), and their family (by staying employed you protect those most important to you).

•  
  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine10/14/08 Report as spam
  3

  RE: A VP of Sales ($1b?) Calls My Bluff!

  QUOTE from GaryMcCarver:
  in the financial services, investment and other sectors that actually have "compliance" departments, manuals. rules, guidelines and "guardians" (for the lack of a better term) that command that products and services are sold "the right way"
  
  
  This is perfectly true. However, if a company has mandated sales messages that don't work, nobody makes any sales, and the company quickly goes out of business. So the point is moot.
  
  
  
  As for worrying about feeding your family, the simple truth is that any sales professional who can't get a good job even in hard times doesn't belong in sales. If you can't sell yourself and your abilities you sure as heck can't sell anything else.

•  
  #1 Listed Adult Beverage Recruiter10/14/08 Report as spam
  4

  RE: A VP of Sales ($1b?) Calls My Bluff!

  Simple world. Everyone wants to take credit for successful programs and all run to blame when one fails. I look at like this, Marketing presells customers, and generates noise. Sales ensures distribution,ensures that the products are easy to purchase through impulse positioning, and clear, competitive pricing. It's that easy. Remember, sales generates dollars, marketing and all the other positions eat at the company profits. Many sales professionals are treated poorly, and as if they are easily replaced. I wish all positions were treated the same as sales. The money suckers would respond in a urgent manner to the sales and market demands. Amazing, more companies would be successful.

•  
  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine10/14/08 Report as spam
  5

  RE: A VP of Sales ($1b?) Calls My Bluff!

  QUOTE: I wish all positions were treated the same as sales. The money suckers would respond in a urgent manner to the sales and market demands.
  
  Ahhhh... Wouldn't that be wonderful!

•  
  wkenneth10/14/08 Report as spam
  6

  RE: A VP of Sales ($1b?) Calls My Bluff!

  This subject did lead us to think more deeply into the role of sales and corporate strategies. However, I would like to point out that there are many different kinds or caliber of salespersons.
  
  Some are naturals. They are superstars that wherever you put them in whatever economic conditions, they will excel and they can do it solo.
  
  However, some salespersons really need support and teamwork. Corporate strategies, marketing, sales kits and even teamwork support and "help" these people to perform and improve.
  
  When you look at the big picture, there are not that sales superstars and companies cannot solely depend on them. Thus, strategies in whatever format are formulated to help the rest. After all, as the writer companies that cannot make sales will go down the drain.....!

•  
  ndlicht110/14/08 Report as spam
  7

  RE: A VP of Sales ($1b?) Calls My Bluff!

  About "blue Ocean", the book or as it says, the heck with strategizing to try and get a piece of the very crowded red ocean.
  
  Look at completely new and uncrowded markets where you can dominate because you are radically different and fill a completely new area of need.
  
  Does marketing try to do that? It should.
  
  
  Strategic positioning is a very valuable tool but only if it comes from what sales and techs in the field see.

•  
  barcodeguy10/15/08 Report as spam
  8

  RE: A VP of Sales ($1b?) Calls My Bluff!

  Too many companies do not believe their sales people when they are standing in the back of the room jumping up and down regarding opportunities and/or problems they see in their marketplace. Once a competitor is doing something with some degree of success (or failure), or a trade journal does a story, then management takes notice.
  
  Exploiting opportunities is the only advantage that small companies have as a competitive tool. The companies that are leaders in their industry, lead because of their pricing clout and marketing might, not because they are particularly innovative. The trick is to maintain the innovation and small company atmosphere that allowed them to become a big company in the first place. Ignore any one of those areas, and you send the salesforce out do battle with guns but no bullets.
  
  A salesperson offering commodity products, who cannot compete on service, price, or delivery, has nothing to offer potential prospects or hold existing customers. Existing customers they manage to retain, are the ones who are too busy to look elsewhere. But eventually they will.
  
  Whatever your pitch is, you had better be able to back it up. Your salesforce will detect the incongruity quickly, and become frustrated trying to live up to it in the eyes of their customers. They will also be wasting effort on activities involving damage control to correct the problem rather than on generating new sales. Less time spent on new sales effort, lower incomes, and higher salesforce turnover. Higher salesforce turnover, less customer loyalty. It's sad but true, the fact that many salespeople spend a great deal of their time covering up for their company's deficiencies. After many personal experiences with this, I came up with the following quote. "The mark of a truly great salesperson, is the one who can lower their customer's expectations, to where their company can meet them." In my opinion, a very sad commentary on how many companies operate today.
  
  A strategy without substance behind it and the will of management to make it work, is just useless noise.