“There can be only one!”

You may recognise this “immortal” phrase from the film “Highlander” (1986) starring Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert. However, when applying this phrase to people’s attitudes to sales within an organisation, there can be only disaster (or at the very least, painful awareness of the “mortal” nature of the organisation).

Allow me to explain: It’s come to my attention that there is still a great deal of silo mentality within companies, even in small organisations. The “that’s not my job” attitude, where sales is simply not their concern. The lengths that some people will go to in order to avoid helping make a sale for their company beggars belief.

Most disconcerting, however, are company receptionists and other staff that sometimes don’t even know the core products or services that their company provides! After speaking with these people, I’ve been horrified to discover that either looking through the company website or asking a colleague would have sufficed. And in many cases, these people are permanent staff! Perhaps it’s too much to expect people to discover these things for themselves, or HR and training budgets are non-existent. Whatever the case, it doesn’t inspire confidence in potential customers and spells lost opportunity for the business.

Simply put, without sales and customers, there is no business. Therefore, what justification is there to support the idea that people in non-sales roles should take no part in, or be ignorant about, the sales process within their company? Shouldn’t this be especially relevant to those people that are worried about the effects of a looming recession on their business?

So, if the sales department is the “only one” responsible for generating sales opportunities, how does a company function at the sales level when its sales people are away attending training, conferences or expos? Can the remaining staff create, detect and capitalise on sales opportunities? Emails, website enquiries and the telephone will present these opportunities.

For a great many of us, the summer months mean holidays. Holidays mean absent staff. Absent staff can often mean that mistakes are made and sales opportunities are lost. Will this be the case for your business? What would it be worth to your business to invest in a little sales training for the people in your organisation that aren’t part of the sales department? Whether the training comes from the sales management at the company (internal) or from a reputable external source, the return on investment will speak for itself. After all, if the majority of your people (non sales department), aren’t trained to create, recognise and make the most of sales opportunities, what might the cost be to your business?

If any of these issues affect you and your business, call Shaun on 0044 208 133 0702 or email shaun@phoneforbusiness.com

“I’m a travelling salesman of ideas” - Bono

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