Business: Leadership to Grow the Business

Businesses will not hire more employees until they see more demand for the things that they sell.  Consumers--the biggest part of the US economy--will not spend more until they are more confident in their employment and financial security.

Which comes first:  the chicken or the egg?

This is a column about capitalism, free enterprise and business.  So let's look at a business idea that for most of the last sixty years has been considered mundane; today it might almost seem bold.

Here's the idea:  businesses should try a little harder to sell something, instead of waiting for somebody to come in and buy.  Business leaders:  go hire another sales person, and do something professional to help your sales team be more successful so that your business grows and it, too, becomes more successful.

Business exists to make a profit.  That is a "given."  However, selling is the one business activity that can most directly pay for itself, and that is also a "given."

During my selling career one of the professional foundations of the job, and one of the key leadership themes of the business, was to not wait for the customer to ask to buy; instead, it was to have us sales professionals reach out to the customer and learn what they would need to make them more successful, and then figure out what to sell in order to meet that need, and finally make the offer and close the sale.

And that is a short, simple description of something that is very complicated.

There is no "one size fits all" solution to accomplishing this, but many enterprises--especially the small and medium sized ones--can benefit from some guidance on how to most effectively hire additional sales people, and on how to get the most out of the salespeople who are representing the company.



The word "sell" used as a verb has roots in prehistoric Germanic languages--of course, it consisted of more letters at that time--and eventually found its way into Old English at least a thousand years ago, at which time it looked the same as it does now.  Its original meaning was to "give up" or to "hand over" an item; gradually, the word took on the concept of exchanging an item for money, and by about the 14th Century the original meaning was extinct.

Happily for our free enterprise system today, the archaic meaning of the word "sell" shows no sign of resurfacing.  So, the seller--a thankfully briefer term for salesman or saleswoman or salesperson--has a fundamentally powerful business tool merely by being able to say "I will sell you this item."  Someone who can authoritatively speak those words on behalf of the business brings a unique value to the enterprise.  There is no ambiguity about the intended outcome of the action proposed in that statement.

Finding a good seller can be difficult, and it is even harder to provide business leadership to get the most out of a good seller.  Read on for some ideas on what to look for in the person, and also in how to effectively manage and lead the seller.

Characteristics of a good seller:

• Honest, trustworthy and agreeable presence -- people buy from people they like and whom they trust, and that's the kind of person you want to have in your business, too.
• Aptitude for the business -- no matter what a person's education or experience, you will have to teach a new seller something about the products and/or services to be sold; employ someone who is able to learn.  Since products and services and business environments change over time, you want to know that your seller will be able to learn and use the new things as they develop.
• Ability to listen -- listening to a customer or potential new customer is probably the single most important thing that a seller will do during the business day, because that is when the customer states needs, requirements, objectives and goals.  If you can hire only one new seller, and your choice is between a golden-tongued orator who has difficulty in asking a probing question and then listening to and remembering the answer, and a somewhat awkward speaker who can ask "what do you need to do" and then listen to the answer and want to hear more and soak it all in, then choose the awkward sponge every time! 
• Money motivation -- people who sell do it because they want to make more money than somebody who doesn't sell; it is that simple.  A good seller is always looking for another selling opportunity.
• Writing skills -- at some point a seller is going to be in a position of representing the company in a written manner, whether it is a formal proposal or an informal email; you want this done in a way that is grammatical, concise and clear.  The same is true for internal communications, too.
• Supervision not needed, but wanted -- good sellers work successfully without the need for supervision; the best sellers are the good ones who know when to seek out guidance from the business leadership and work cooperatively with that guidance to achieve more than could be done without it.  Beware of the seller who is a lone wolf; real wolves are smarter than that, they know that they do their best as a pack.

Business leadership of the seller:

• Provide consistent support -- this includes education, training and "behind the scenes" assistance; the seller needs to know that these things are dependably available.
• Clarity of earnings opportunities -- most sellers will be paid on commission as a large part of total compensation so that business leadership can say "you sell more and then you will earn more."  The seller wants to know the mathematics behind that statement immediately, so do not say it until you know how to do the calculations under all foreseeable conditions.
• Implement an opportunity generation program -- feed the seller with a pipeline of realistic new business opportunities.  Make the seller a part of the development of the opportunity generation program so that the opportunities that are identified are as well-qualified as possible.
• Knowledge of future business developments -- let the seller know of future changes and improvements in what the business sells to its customers so that the customer does not become unhappy when "new and improved" is announced right after making a purchase.
• Set clear expectations and provide meaningful feedback -- performance expectations and leadership feedback on attaining those expectations should be timely, written and unambiguous.
• Motivate and reward -- offer financial motivations that are oriented according to the goals of the business; but also reward in ways that recognize the individual effort of the seller and contribute to a lasting working relationship.  Sellers sell for the money, but they enjoy positive public recognition, too.

There is much more to be said about this because effective selling and providing effective business leadership for the selling activity are two of the hardest things for a business to do, especially when the business is small or mid-size.  There are many consulting organizations which can provide affordable help in these areas.  Feel free to contact me with any questions and I will be happy to help, too.