Rule #5 – It's Also All About Revenue
Taking care of customers goes hand in hand with sales revenue production. And yes, it’s also all about revenue. The best way to keep your job as a salesperson or sales manager is to keep hitting the sale numbers. Frankly, the only way that anyone in an organization keeps their job is for the company and salespeople to keep hitting their numbers. Without sales revenue, it all shuts down. A company can lower expenses or raise capital, but if sales revenue is not ultimately forthcoming, then all bets are off, or lost.
I had a sales manager/mentor communicate the following quip to his sales troops whenever they approached him with miscellaneous questions: “Besides revenue, what else is it you wanted to talk about?” He boldly and consistently instilled across the team that it was indeed all about revenue. This may seem so obvious to you, but stop and consider how challenging this rule can be.
There are many moving parts in a sales organization including: sales operations, forecasts, quotas, compensation plans, CRM functionality and utilization, lead generation, sales process, collateral, sales meetings, sales and product training, hiring, firing, territory assignments, customer database, etc. This carries over to the details of the jobs of individual sales contributors and their managers including those mentioned above and other issues relative to customer and internal communications, presentations, demonstrations, proposals, pricing, negotiations, closing, contract administration and collections. Certainly much to keep an individual and team talking and, even with good intentions, easily distracted with important matters besides the ultimate goal, bringing in sales revenue.
It takes a focused effort to do it all well. To care and know about the customer while proficiently knowing your marketplace, products and value proposition is a challenge unto itself. At the same time one must know how to maneuver a deal, whether simple or complex, and appropriately weave in the right resources and support team. The effective sales rep stays focused on all aspects of sales excellence toward the end of closing the customer on an agreement to transact business and purchase a product and service. The world keeps turning and the revenues keep flowing only if the deals keep closing. So stay on it, work it wisely by applying the rules reinforced here. But keep your priorities, because after all, other than hitting your revenue targets, what else is there you wanted to learn about?
Of course it’s a fine line for both salespeople and managers alike. It’s why you’re reading this book. We all want to be better and more effective, and these rules will clarify, remind and teach you the modern fundamentals of sales effectiveness. But the goal of sales effectiveness is more sales. Success is hitting numbers. Success is bringing in the revenue. In summary, the correct and effective sales perspective is this: the organization or individual salesperson may be good, intelligent and effective, but if the organization or individual does not bring in the revenue, then something’s got to change.
Are you focused on revenue?
