Imagine a multi-billion dollar industry that invests
millions to get the best people, establish a respected brand and deliver a
product to the highest standards, only to leave delivery and client management
in the hands of a 12-year-old on a bike.
I started my career in journalism working for Newsday and The Daily News as a newspaper carrier in Malverne, New York. (Yes,
I am one of those dads who tells his kids “I had two newspaper routes, morning and
afternoon, and walked 2 miles uphill, both ways, to school! And instant
messaging was handing a note to a classmate and hoping the nun didn’t see!” But
I digress; and I digress from my digression.)
Later, when I was a newspaper reporter in Albany, I thought
about the newspaper business model and I realized: this is just flat-out
stupid.
The goal was to increase circulation numbers by getting more customers.
Increasing circulation would allow the newspaper to increase advertising rates
and generate more revenue. And yet, the newspapers put the least amount of
investment possible into the sales organization, which was the primary source
of helping to boost revenue: kids delivering the actual product.
The model has changed as newspapers lost readership (due to
the Internet and cable news; not newspaper carriers with poor aim) and have
switched to professional delivery services and responsive 1-800 numbers if the
paper doesn’t show up.
But many companies are still suffering from the same blind spot:
they don’t understand that without a well-trained and motivated sales team,
their business will never grow to its greatest potential. A company can have terrific
product that is easily differentiated from its competition. Without a
professional who is skilled in how to sell that product to the target market,
however, that product will be an also-ran.
Take a moment and think about your own organization: who is
the face of the company to your buyers? How are they trained? How are they
motivated? What kind of support do you provide to help them be successful? Sales
is the heart: it pumps revenue throughout the body of the company. Without a
strong heart, it is difficult to compete and to thrive. Take care of your heart
and the life of your company will be that much stronger.
