I have been following a link on Linkedin that has asked the question; “how would you fix the economy?” That just seems to be a great question for our business community. Recently I had the privilege of meeting with a small business owner in Reno, which has enjoyed a great life cycle of success in her business. She made the most interesting statement about how bad our economic climate had become, she said “ I don’t have sales people calling on me any longer.”
I was stunned at first by this revelation, as she proceeded to describe how sales people have stopped calling because the manufactures have stopped making items for them to sell. Which bring to light my question, “The chicken before the egg or …..”
How do we fix this economy? How about we sell our way out of it. Create demand and the factories will start making those wonderful widgets, creating more jobs, creating more income, creating more sales, and creating more demand… I love that circle of life. Ok I know that is simplistic approach to a very real problem, however it begs to be asked, where are all the sales people? Have we lost our sales talent or have we created sales mangers, which can’t motivate and encourage in this business climate?
About 12 years ago I read a book by DR. Orv. Owens, The Psychology of Relationship Selling, that I believe needs to come back to the reading list for most sales manager and sales people. I have seen so many sales managers in the past five years revert to cookie cutter sales management tactics, not accounting for the personalities they hired. They make the mistake that believing sales people can all be motivated and encouraged to find success in the same manner. Sale mangers have forgotten that their primary client is their sales people. Have you ever worked with a sales person that was great at the sales when they did not believe in the product, company or manager?
I the last 7 years I have worked with three fantastic sales companies in the Newspaper industry. I myself have struggled to keep my focus on my sales people and have got caught up in looking at the bottom line. Recently I left the newspaper business over this very topic, as I challenged the practices of a fellow manager in the way sales people needed to be motivated and trained. There are a lot of issues in our market place that are making sales more challenging, and bottom lines increasingly challenging to make. However the simple fact is that salespeople, employees and customers are complex personalities that cannot be taught, motivated, encouraged or sold to the same way. We must understand the psychology of the staff, the individual and how it relates to the end goal.
So I ask you, how do we get the economy moving? Evaluate the practices internally, take the pulse of the sales team, Invest in the people that will make a difference, empower them and motivate them as individuals then you can inspire greatness from the team. In these economic times we need great salespeople and managers that can empower them to be their best.