The only way for a company to stay in business is to bring in revenue. No revenue means no business, and no business means no jobs. As the landscape of sales continues to change and consumers have more control over how they buy and who they buy from, it is more important than ever to make sure your customers and clients are thrilled throughout their entire relationship with your company, not just during the sales process. In my experience with both account management and sales, much of the work happens after the new client has already agreed to buy from you.
A great way to set your company apart and outperform your competition is to cultivate a sales culture throughout your company, not just on the sales team. It only makes sense that the higher the percentage of your employees that are “selling,” the more revenue your business will generate per employee, but the benefits don’t stop there. Here are some ways that developing a sales culture throughout each of your departments can take your business to the next level.
1. Winning together builds and strengthens teams.
In business, just like in sports, there are winners and losers, and I’m sure we all agree winning together always feels much better than losing together. As you begin to develop a sales culture across the different departments in your business, you are promoting positive conversations among employees about how to solve the most common client issues heard by each department. As communication is increased throughout your organization, a common vision and message are shared by each department. Sharing a common vision and message equips each of your employees to represent your company and communicate a similar message whether they are interacting with a current client or even another parent at their kid’s sporting event. Business leads come from a lot of different places and during a lot of different times, not just during the 9 to 5. The more consistent your messaging is throughout your organization, the better your chance for closing new business.
If you’ve ever been in account management for any length of time, you understand how much more smoothly projects go when each team is communicating well together with the end goal of providing value during every client interaction. When your team is working well together, that positivity is passed on to your customers who in turn feel good about working with your business.
If you’re in a business that provides ongoing services, customer retention is even more important because your relationship with each customer depends on how well you can meet their needs on an ongoing basis. If each of your employees is “selling” their value during every client interaction, issues will be resolved more quickly and the focus remains on providing the best customer experience possible.
The more you can encourage communication across departments in your business, the more seamless your teams will work together. A great way to boost communication across departments is to encourage business generation ideas to be shared and rewarded. Not only will this help foster communication across organizational departments, but you’ll also bring in more business as you have a larger percentage of your team selling and generating leads. It doesn’t have to be complicated and can be as easy as brainstorming ideas over lunch. The main point is bringing together your different departments with a shared goal: to bring in more business.
If you’ve been involved in sales to any degree, you know how important it is to have a 30-second elevator pitch of what you sell and what problems your company solves. However, a short pitch is also important for each department because it helps create consistent messaging about who you are and what you do. If you can’t explain your business in 30 seconds and make it easy enough for a child to understand, you need to work on your messaging. The more consistent your messaging is across departments, the better your employees will understand your business and their roll within it.
As you grow your business and develop your employees, don’t forget about what got your business started in the first place—paying customers. A solid lead generation system that incorporates each department is a sure way to stay ahead of your competition and become a market leader in your industry.
If you’d like to discuss more ways to encourage growth and develop communication in your organization, please contact Propel HR today.