No Common Sales Language
Dive into the thirteen blind spots many organization leaders will battle at one point. In this series, our president & CEO, Dave Mattson, will provide guidance on how you can overcome these challenges.
This blind spot is no common sales language. It doesn’t sound like it’s a big deal, but think about what we’re talking about. Your sales department generates revenue for your company. Your company is going to judge success or failure, and probably you too, as a sales leader, based on do we hit our numbers?
So, it’s important that your sales department is a well oiled machine. Now, think about the common language part. Every other part of your organization has a common language. Let’s take accounting. They figure out the expense reports in a common way, they do your PNLs in a common way, they figure out your commissions in a common way. Can you imagine if you’re an individual contributor, and everyone in the accounting department figured out your commission structure differently? So you thought you were going to get $5,000 and you got $50, and next month you did the same number, but now you got $2,000, you would be confused.
Well, why isn’t that not true if your sales group doesn’t have a common language? I’m going to suggest to you that you get your people in a room, have them do the following: Write down the process that we follow, step by step, from the time that we prospect, to the time that we’ve already closed. And we’re selling additional products and services to our customer base. See how fast they can do it, I promise you, most of them will struggle.
The second thing that I want you to do is see if it’s … commonality, throughout the group. It won’t be. You’ve got to attack this problem. Because once you have a common language, it’s easier for you to onboard people, it’s easier for you to do pipeline management, because you know exactly what the probability is of going from state two to stage three in your company. It’s easier to train, and it’s easier to coach.
As a leader, I can’t talk to 15 sales people using 15 different languages, because they look at sales differently. I can’t take, when somebody says, “60%, boss,” from a close perspective, when we’re not on the same page. 60% for this person is probably 5% for that person.
The faster you get a common language, the faster you’ll see revenues go through the roof. Good luck.
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Up Next in the Series
Blind Spot #1: Not Having a Process for Hiring
Blind Spot #2: Improperly Onboarding People
Blind Spot #3: Failing to Tie Corporate Goals to Personal Goals
Blind Spot #4: Not Creating a Culture of Accountability
Blind Spot #5: No Common Sales Language
Blind Spot #6: Not Focusing on Lead Generation
Blind Spot #7: Not Capturing Best Practices
Blind Spot #8: Failing to Train and Coach Management Staff
Blind Spot #9: Not Building the Bench
Blind Spot #10: Not Knowing How to Coach
Blind Spot #11: Not Sharing the Vision with Those who Have to Implement it
Blind Spot #12: Fostering a Culture of Learned Helplessness
Blind Spot #13: No Methodologies and Systems
The Road to Excellence
The best-selling book by Dave Mattson helps you determine what, exactly, stands between your company and organizational excellence – and what you can do about it.
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