Year end results are in and they look great!
Before you pat yourself on the back, you may want to ask why
Just landed a huge deal! Last years results were the best ever! Her closing average is higher than anyone’s in the company!
Celebrate? Or Study?
Companies spend so much time on researching problems and mistakes that there is a line item on many P&L’s for “cost of quality”. Whether or not it’s a manufacturing defect, labor issue, shipping problem, or scrap, Quality Control & Cost Accounting departments do deep dives into what happened to cause this problem. 5-Why’s, Look Across, Fishbones, and numerous other problem solving techniques are deployed.
How often do you look at your successes the same way?
Your team may have followed the sales process to a tee. But what made this prospect turn into a customer? What one thing made them say yes? Did you ask them?
Was it a commercial they saw? Something in the presentation? Maybe you did your presentation in the morning, and the competitor did theirs in the afternoon? Yes, maybe you just got lucky!
Luck is defined as ‘when opportunity meets preparation’ - Seneca.
How often are you looking at your successes and doing deep dives? Are you revamping and improving your sales process when there is a new technology that can be deployed? What happens to the sales process when step 6 is skipped multiple times in a row, yet you still land each one of those customers? Oh, you didn’t know you were missing Step 6 did you?
Operational efficiency goes for both tangible processes like manufacturing, and subjective processes such as sales & marketing. You want continuous improvement in sales so you can increase your top line. Remember, everything other than sales in an organization is a cost. Sales is your only revenue account. Spend time an energy looking at what you are doing well, tweaking that process, and doing deep dives.
There are a lot of companies (and governments) comparing results of 2021 to 2020 - what was different in 2020? Are they using 2020 as an excuse or the reason? Or just glossing it over?
Ask, and Ask Again!
How do you get to the root cause of success? You ask. You do a 5-why with the customer. You map out the process with the actual prompts and responses that the prospect had at the time. You have an ‘entry interview’ with the new client and have the sales team document the process, much like you would do an exit interview with a departing employee.
We all know how to point fingers for problems, it’s time we start using that energy to find out what really makes your organization win. When you look at this as a problem to solve, your sales process and profits will improve.
Unless you rely on luck, and you don’t want to know the truth.
At the Kole Performance Group, these are the types of questions we go into during our coaching sessions. If you want to work hard for a better tomorrow, connect with us! Or at least subscribe to this blog …