Discussion of Chapter 1
A New Perspective on Sales and Marketing
In chapter 1 of Sales Process Excellence, I describe some alarming errors of sales and marketing managers. Perhaps you have experienced similar situations and are searching for ways to avoid them. Or perhaps you simply want to make managing your B2B company less difficult.
Regardless, if a book is to be of value it must explain and simplify things. This is notoriously difficult in the field of management. I am reminded of an old joke, which I repurposed to illustrate the point:
A CEO questions his VPs of Operations and Sales. “Ok boys, the growth we need is not happening. What is the problem?”
The VP of Sales looks over at the VP of Operations saying, “Well, it’s not a sales problem.”
The VP of Operations glares back. “Well, it’s not an operations problem either!”
Exasperated, the CEO stands up. “Well, what the hell is it then? Is it a spiritual problem? … Do I have to call Ghost Busters on your asses?”
Of course, management is not a spiritual problem. It is very much an intellectual one however.
The managers whose alarming errors I related on page 6 and elsewhere knew their goal was to stay in contact with the facts – with reality. They believed they were being scientific. Their aim was to create value. Yet, they created waste instead.
They “mistook motion for action”, to paraphrase the Hemingway quote at the beginning of the chapter.
And that is the trouble in sales and marketing. If management is notoriously difficult to simplify and explain, sales and marketing is at the core of that challenge. This is because at the center of both management and sales is a set of beliefs about human beings and the world we live in.
The Western mindset has enabled scientists and businesspeople to begin conquering the physical world. They can produce the values – the food, shelter, products, and services human beings need to thrive. And as our civilization advances, the values we want to achieve, and the problems we must solve to achieve them are increasingly intellectual as well as physical.
This should not be a barrier. Ever since the Greeks discovered reason we have worked to grasp the unseen mechanisms of the universe. We know that learning begins with observation, and that critical thinking and experiment can enable us to identify the “hidden” causes at work.
Both physical and intellectual knowledge have two forms – facts, and values. In a modern manufacturing context, that may be a flaw hidden in a mold (fact), that is only apparent when a certain operator sets their machine to their preferred setting (value). In sales, it may be the customer’s lack of knowledge (fact) that motivates a prospect to ignore the qualities of a certain product (value). Or, that a certain salesperson’s lack of active listening skill (fact) prevents them from developing relationships with decision makers (value).
Regardless, the core issue is always, “How do you know this is a fact, or that is a value?” In other words, what is the proper way to use your mind? And here, the law of rationality is paramount: Conclusions ought to be justified by adequate evidence.
And this is why process excellence is not just something you “try.” It is not a cost-reduction ploy (like replacing brochures with a web page), a motivational technique (like compensation), or a best practice (like sales training). All these get process excellence – rationality – backwards.
The right question leaders should ask is, “What evidence makes you think such a change will create improvement in the first place?” If knowledge is a value, then process excellence is the virtue, the motive, the pursuit of that knowledge. It is the voluntary commitment to do whatever it takes to identify, and adhere to, reality.
Fortunately, every successful business is built on solid insights and acumen. Unfortunately, every business culture also includes myths and falsehoods that need to be pulled out by the roots, especially in the slippery, emotional world of sales. In this world, what constitutes “adequate evidence,” how to obtain it, and how to create improvement is not as widely understood as it is in manufacturing.
And that is the subject of this book. In the coming chapters, you will be introduced to the perspective – the mental frameworks, concepts, and tools – required to understand sales and marketing functions well enough to make changes that will continuously improve sales results.
The good news is that your marketers, sellers, and servicers are probably more than ready to start this journey with you.
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As you begin exploring process excellence in sales, what are your biggest concerns? And, what are you hoping to find in its pages?
I’ll be on the lookout for your comments. And to provide timely responses.
MW
