Just kidding. Of course they're important! More like vital. Essential. Your business will close down without them.
Interestingly, I've watched companies with approaches towards sales that nearly thwart the laws of gravity.
One company hadn't had a sale in a year. Not one. How does something like that slip through management's watch?
Another company was so frustrated by the poor performance of the sales reps, that they shut the whole company down without trying to make improvements.
And yet another company went through the motions of trying to make sales, but didn't monitor the sales staff, require them to go through constant training or goal-setting, and basically wrote the sales team off as a whole.
The interesting thing is, all of these companies continued for a reasonably lengthy period of time without bringing in any cash. No sales= no revenue.
This isn't to say that the company owners weren't concerned and pressured (and pressuring) about sales. They were.
But, in all of the cases, the reaction to no sales was:
1. Ignore the lack of sales for 1 year.
2. Shut down the company immediately.
3. Go through the motions and/or write off the sales team.
I'm curious as to why none of these companies addressed the real issues-- being that sales were not happening and the people in charge of sales were either not performing, not motivated, or not capable.
It seems that many times management teams bring in an all-star salesperson to run sales, and then wash their hands of the responsibility. And yet, even the best salesperson isn't necessarily an effective manager or motivator.
Jill Konrath, of Selling to Big Businesses, writes an interesting view on "If You Hate Sales, You're Doing Something Wrong". (I completely agree with that title, by the way.) She really likes doing sales. How would it change results if a business were to adopt that philosophy as their new approach to managing sales?
Can a company, especially a new startup, afford to look the other way while the company income and thus lifespan of the organization is sabotaged by a weak sales effort?
Apparently, some can, but why would they?
