| In the years prior to the global financial crisis, too | | | | they tend to think of sales as... a 'black box'." |
| many salespeople across the world had | | | | It would appear these senior executives have little |
| unconsciously fallen into the habit of becoming | | | | idea how sales works. So they simply set goals |
| order takers. In other words, many sectors of | | | | and demand improved sales, with no thought put |
| business were so good their products and | | | | into how to improve sales. The most indicting line: |
| services sold themselves. | | | | "Sales effectiveness is typically not seen as a |
| But no longer. The competitive environment in the | | | | competitive advantage worthy of executive |
| new global economy is cutthroat, and it's the sales | | | | attention." |
| force - not the product itself - that will | | | | But in today's market, your competitive |
| differentiate one competitor from another. | | | | advantage is your sales effectiveness. The article |
| Clearly, not all businesses have adjusted to the | | | | cites that sales effectiveness accounts for 39% |
| times. Maybe they're not capable of adjusting. In a | | | | of customers' buying decisions! |
| recent article from the Dynamic Small Business | | | | If your salespeople are as important to the buying |
| Network, Sales: A Strategic Boardroom Issue, we | | | | decision as the product itself, then it's time |
| see that businesses can become too focused on | | | | management embraced sales effectiveness, |
| sales numbers rather than the capabilities of their | | | | shunned the 'black box' view and invested in their |
| sales force that produces the numbers. The | | | | sales force via ongoing sales training, coaching, |
| reason cited in the article for this: "Most CEO's | | | | tools and support. |
| have little or no sales experience. Consequently, | | | | |