What Does Sales Have To Do With Quality?

The dreadful truth about the Slimy Sales Guys

Over the past 5 years, I have visited hundreds of facilities throughout the US and find that there is one particular discipline within a company, large or small, that you either love or you hate - Sales. It is no secret that cash flow is king. Without an effective sales process, you may have a great product or service with a poor ability to realize your talents and convert them into cash. Subsequently, the improper execution of the sales process may set an organization up for failure right from the start.

Approximately half of the organizations I visit have Sales personnel that understand their role within the overall operations of the business they represent. The most effective Sales groups have objectives that are in-line with organizational goals and policies, rather than "goals with blinders" that only focus on gross revenue or other sales indicators.

The other half - the half that might actually deserve the title "Slimy Sales Guys" - seem to be given the organizational freedom to fish for business using whatever method that works, irrespective of the methodology or promises that have been made. This portion of the sales profession is often gauged on gross sales revenue over an established timeline with rewards based on incentives that drive this short-term focus. To make things more complicated, many of the owner, Presidents and CEOs of organizations I visit have grown as an Expert selling a specific skill-set in their niche-market, to the top executive of a multi-million dollar organization. The problems are introduced into the organization when the top manager refers to himself as merely a "Sales Guy". Not all Sales Guys know how to manage people, projects or long-term organizational success.

So what is the problem from the perspective of an ambassador for organizational improvement and business development? From my observations, the problem boils down to two common mistakes. First, Sales traditionally has the "Director of First Impressions" role that is often not connected with other processes that they strongly influence, such as value-added manufacturing, on-time delivery, profitability based on expedite (overhead, premium freight, etc.) vs. standard process time, and so on. The sales process, and subsequently Sales personnel performance, must be based on the overall service provided to the customer and the organization, not simply the initial sale. The second common mistake, observed primarily with small to mid-sized companies, is caused when the top manager switches between a sales role to the executive director role without proper education, skills, training or experience in managing his or her team. When the top manager focuses on growing the business while ignoring elements necessary to strengthen the business, negative long-term effects are often felt in customer retention, management system quality, employee retention and the bottom line.

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