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• When Sales Objectives Collide: Management v. Salespeople by Jerry Hocutt
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When Sales Objectives Collide: Management v. Salespeople
by Jerry Hocutt

In an article in Sunday’s Seattle Times there’s an interview with Jim Sullivan, the top negotiator and #3 man for the Marriott Hotel chain. One of his key principles is the same as all top negotiators. As he puts it, “building a bridge from his objectives to your objectives.” A good negotiator will get you to do things and give concessions when you’d rather not, but only if it’s for your own benefit as well.

How do you apply the same principle to a company and its salespeople? In bare bones terms, what are the objectives of sales management? Isn’t it to motivate their salespeople to find more new customers, keep the ones they have, and increase their sales while cutting costs?

What do salespeople want? They want to make money. That’s a good motivator. They want to find more new customers – so they can make more money. Admirable. They want to keep the customers they have so they can get add-on business and introduce new services and products – to make more money. I’m with you.

But what management and salespeople say they want, and what they mean, can be seen in what they do.

The Governor’s rule
Getting both sides to do what it takes to reach their objectives is the tricky part of sales. Too many on both sides subscribe to the Governor Jon Corzine rule: do as I say, not as I do. You should buckle your seatbelt. But I’m not going to because (pick one): I like having my face become a bug on the windshield of life; I’m just going a short distance down the road at 90 m.p.h. – what could possibly go wrong; or, the rules don’t apply to me?

Management and salespeople want the same thing: customers, sales, and money. But they don’t always want to do what it takes to get them. Both groups are selective as to what they’re willing to do to meet their objectives.

Show time
Many managers would rather tell their salespeople what to do, rather than show them and lead by example. They tell their salespeople they need to cold call, network, and get referrals to find new customers. But they avoid customer contact, don’t know how to cold call themselves, and have never had a plan for getting referrals they can pass on. They tell their salespeople to increase customer retention by building stronger customer relationships. But they don’t invest in the tools that will do it.

Salespeople, on the other hand, want to do the glory things in selling: demonstrate products, educate customers, and close the deal. But they don’t want to do the “dirty” jobs of what it takes to find and keep customers. They’re reluctant to take the initiative to contact strangers.

And salespeople don’t have many options under their control to connect with customers. Mainly cold calling and networking. Management almost has to threaten their salespeople to get out of the office and into the field. But salespeople would rather wait for customers to call. Colliding sales objectives.

The majority of salespeople won’t work at building relationships. Even if they’re given a proven sales tool that does it (see www.YouveGotContacts.com), they still won’t use it because it takes effort. Further, companies should be encouraging their salespeople to improve their sales skills and learn more about the psychology of selling. But the sad truth is that most companies won’t even invest in a company sales library.

Good ideas, like laws, need to be enforced
There are some good CRM (customer relationship management) packages on the market like ACT! and Goldmine and others. The designers of such packages have the right idea. Make it easy to keep records on customers to be able to follow-up.

What these software designers don’t grasp is the conflict of sales objectives. Far too often, sales management won’t insist their salespeople use the programs. They should be more like Harvey Mackay who demands that his salespeople complete and keep current his Mackay 66 customer profile (http://www.harveymackay.com/pdfs/mackay66.pdf).

But salespeople also have a conflict with records management. They hate record keeping because it’s mundane and tedious. That’s what they say. But what they mean is that record keeping makes them accountable. They’d rather not have their activities monitored.

Keeping score
Many civilians want to get into the sales profession because it looks easy. It’s not. Selling is all about DO-ing. Like a ball game, selling is one of the few jobs where you see immediate results from your efforts and the score is flashed onto the scoreboard for the world to see. In selling, there are no ties. You win. You lose. To quote our Galaxy’s Director of Sales: “Do, or do not. There is no try.”

Salespeople want to make money without making the effort. Management wants them to make the effort to make money. Sales conflicts that require negotiation. Somehow both sides have to build a bridge to achieve their objectives while helping the other side achieve theirs. They both have to make concessions and do what they may find unpleasant or uncomfortable while getting the other side to do the same. It’s a call for leadership and cooperation. Your money’s riding on it.

About The Author:

Jerry Hocutt is the author of Cold Calling for Cowards: How to Turn the Fear of Rejection into Opportunities, Sales, and Money.

Attend Jerry’s FREE 45-minute Cold Calling for Cowards® webinar July 26, 2007. Get customers to call you! Register at his website www.ColdCallingForCowards.com and see 14 reasons why you should be there. Registration is limited. Reserve your place before your competitor beats you to it!

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