One of my favorite actors is Jack Nicholson and my favorite role (other than the Joker, of course!) is the character of a Marine Corps Colonel that is put on the stand to testify about his complicity in the death of a private (Private Pyle, if memory serves) that was receiving platoon discipline by his peers.
After much probing, adversarial questioning and cross examination, the Colonel explodes and shouts to the entire courtroom… ”You can’t stand the truth!!” For us who have spent any time around Marine officers, this is an entirely plausible response!
Well… here is another ‘inconvenient’ truth…that few business owners and sales managers want to hear….
Last year, for the first time ever, more that 50% of all salespeople did not hit their quota!
What makes this even worse is that most initiatives that we have seen to correct the problem are either poorly conceived, extremely costly or… just plain stupid!
Every day we see companies of all levels of corporate competency that continue to insist that lead generation is a sales job. They know their salespeople are best when they are ‘in front’ of prospects and yet insist on demanding that high dollar salespeople spend their time calling prospects that have no interest in your products or your company.
It’s like asking Frank Sinatra to move pianos!
Here is another way to think about it…let’s say that one of your salespeople has a $2M quota and they have 2040 hours to meet that quota. That means that if your salesperson is not engaged in activities that are worth $1000 an hour there is no way he/she will hit their numbers.
So here is the question ….does it make sense to have a $1000 an hour employee creating and mailing prospecting letters, creating and sending emails that end up in the spam folder, spending hours on social media sites, addressing labels to send out brochures or making ‘busy work’ prospecting calls to disinterested prospects?
Here is the ‘inconvenient truth’:
Lead generation is not a sales job; rather it should be a back office support function that puts your salespeople ‘in front’ of the prospect – when they are ready to buy!
How do I do that?.. you might be asking….here is the formula:
- Define that territory that you want to sell into. The territory can be geographical, vertical markets or assigned accounts.
- Select the prospects within the territory that fit the profile of a prospect that has a need for what you sell.
- Design a systematic process (campaign) to stay in touch with the pre-defined targets integrating multiple channels of communication. All content should be informational rather than ‘salesie’ (I made that word up..!)
- Nurture all of the pre-fined prospects – until they are ready to buy!
- Get your salespeople out of the office and in front of prospects that are qualified and interested.
- Repeat the process.
It might be ‘major surgery’ to convince yourself that prospecting needs to be a marketing function, but companies that have made this transition cover more territory with far fewer salespeople! The obvious result is more prospects, more opportunities and more sales (sound familiar??).
Please let us know your thoughts and experiences.
