Written by Adrienne Mollor
How many sales people does your company have? So you’re thinking, hmmm… that person we just hired is in sales, right? You’re running the number in your head depending on the size of your company. But the answer is the same for every company, small or large. Everyone is in sales. Everyone represents your brand.
Each person’s approach to sales is different and unique to their role but still impacts your success or failure. For example, think about the job of your recruiter(s). They go to a career fair or host an event. They are selling your company. They are competing with your competitors not for business but for talent which in turn drives results. Your finance team has to sell your organization and its strategy to lenders, shareholders and the market. Think about any role you have and how that role interfaces with your customers either internally or externally. Your R&D team must be cutting edge and thinking outside of the box to anticipate what the market is looking for next. Think about how all of your employees are using and expressing themselves on social media, meeting people at events. What are they saying? How do they answer the question what do you do and how much do you like it?
With so many people in sales, how is your organization ensuring your “sales” team is working together and has a consistent approach? It is not as easy a company gathering or educating them on what you do. Working on team building, idea sharing and understanding team dynamics is a challenge but the returns are worth the investment. Do your people know the aspirations, vision, and purpose of your organization? Your strategy? How their role impacts the overall success, direction, purpose, strategy and vision of your organization? We call this employee engagement.
You may want to consider piloting a cross-functional team to help drive strategy and innovation as they are looking at opportunities and challenges from many different perspectives. Have them challenge the status quo and sacred cows!
MCG Partners has worked with many clients to address organizational and/or industry changes and found great success by gaining diverse insights with significant impact. Aligning your company’s employees at all levels and functions to sell your organization will keep everyone selling with the same goal in mind.
