All performance vehicles have an engine, including businesses, and the faster the vehicle the more powerful the engine. In every successful business I see there is one common denominator – the ability to proactively generate new business.
Many businesses, however, lack skills and processes when it comes down to getting out into the market and stimulating interest and engaging new business. The key to a powerful business is a powerful sales engine. When cashflow is positive and business is profitable – innovation is encouraged, the teams’ spirits are high and almost anything seems possible.
Conversely when there is no engine, business becomes about cutting costs, zero innovation and delivering the bare minimum. It’s hard to build long success on those fundamentals, though not impossible. But there are faster and more exciting roads to explore.
I want to tell you a story about a manufacturing client recently that asked me to come in and help with their sales strategy and team motivation. I quickly gravitated towards the latter, because as I gained an insight into this business and the individual senior leaders, it became glaringly obvious that no one in the company enjoyed selling. Furthermore, no one wanted to put their hand up and drive and be accountable. This was a real problem for them and their business was going backwards, fast, and selling was getting tougher and tougher the further they slid down the sales hill.
In situations like this, I like to get to the root cause, instead of dealing with surface level symptoms, in this case: a lack of sales, no proactive sales process, and low team moral. In or first consulting and development session, I asked the four directors: “If I could wave a magic wand over your business and grant you one wish, what would that be?” Their response was nothing short of startling. One director, John the CFO, who wore thick goggle-glasses and a stern demeanour, retorted: “Blow this joint up, I reckon! Do an insurance job.” and then chuckled in a sinister tone, proud of his contribution to the conversation.
I stood up and said: “Gents I’ve heard enough, I can’t help you. Like John said, should burn the place down, because it sounds like you have already started the fire just nicely. You are in business and none of you want to sell? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Guys, you own a multi-million dollar company, one that from what I understand is a market leader, and yet none of you are proud enough of your company to even go and talk about it to people every day in a positive way?” What the heck is wrong with you all?” I then paused, and added, “It’s all rather tragic really…”
Another director named John, who had been politely nodding in agreement the whole time, responded: “Trent, I couldn’t agree with you more, as a director and person responsible for sales, I have to say, I don’t enjoy sales anymore. I did once, years ago, when we were flying. But business has changed; it’s not what it used to be. When we all started this business, there were one, maybe two people doing what we do. And if we weren’t doing the job, it wasn’t worth doing. Now there’s gotta be at least 20 competitors just in Australia. Twenty companies undercutting us overseas so that market is now dead for us and we’ve lost a bit chunk of our business.”
I looked at the four seemingly defeated looking men sitting before me while I took a couple of moments to regard my next contribution.
“Gentleman, there are two roads you can take at this intersection in time: The first you all know ? you can lay down and rollover and let your competitors with an inferior product and less experience beat you. And in the process invalidate the last 10 years of your lives…”
“The second is you can fight like men who have nothing to lose, and be the type of men that even the mightiest of men fear… Fighting as it refers to you, is selling! If you want my advice, and you have paid me for it, if you really want to turn this company around you need to change the fundamentals of this business ? down the very bowels of this company, from a manufacturing business to a sales-driven business. Everything you do together must be about sales and little else. And anyone who is not aligned needs to go. If they don’t want to fight for your collective cause, they are not needed. You can turn this company around but it needs to be a united force, everyone in the company needs to understand you are no longer a manufacturing company ? you are sales company ? from the top all the way down to the temp sitting on the front desk.”
I stopped talking and scanned their body langue for a response. Nothing, they all seemed shell-shocked.
I continued: “I tell you what, I’m going to step into the tea room for 10 minutes, and let you guys have a frank chat. After this discussion, if you all want to roll over that’s okay, better men have failed and sometimes quitting is a good strategy if you’re not passionate or energetic enough to see it through. If that’s the case, I will also give you a refund and tear up our contract, case closed, I’ll move on.”
They all looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
“However, if you want to fight and turn this company around and into a sales-engine, this will be a massive culture and leadership change that starts from the top and burns down into the very foundations. It won’t be easy, but you’ve all come this far, so that says a lot about what you’re all capable of.”
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Trent Leyshan is the founder and CEO of BOOM Sales ! a leading sales training and sales development specialist. He is also the creator of The NAKED Salesman, BOOMOLOGY! RetroService, and the Empathy Selling Process.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
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