• September 14, 2023
• Adrienne Botha
• no comments

Creating Winning Teams

The bold headline might seem abrupt, even a bit confrontational, and that’s entirely by design. It is meant to grab your attention because we’re diving into a critical topic. This blog is not about finger-pointing; it is about guiding you toward fostering a healthier, more vibrant sales culture that not only drives greater turnover but also provides solutions to mitigate risk. Yes, it’s absolutely possible! So, if you can spare a few minutes of your time, I will show you how we can implement innovative solutions.

The aim here is to shift your focus to the possibility of cultivating a robust sales team. One that thrives and excels in an atmosphere where they face challenges with confidence and pride – pride in their support from the rest of the team, and confidence in the product they represent.

Allow me to share a transformative moment from my own experience. A wise leader once proclaimed that ‘everyone is in sales.’ It was an ‘aha’ moment that changed my perspective on understanding and supporting the sales function. It ignited a sense of excitement and growth, altering my approach to thinking, teaching, leading, and doing.

Imagine this scenario: a salesperson puts in tremendous effort to secure a new deal, only to have finance or administration refuse credit, or the warehouse run out of stock, or logistics fail to deliver the order on time or deliver the wrong one. In many such instances, it is the sales team left in a precarious position. They bear the brunt of disorganisation and chaos within the business, often compounded by outdated policies. This not only demotivates the sales team but also leads to disgruntled customers – after all, they are the face of your business. Furthermore, inadequate systems can even result in salespeople losing commissions, which directly impacts their motivation.

This often leads to friction between sales and other departments, particularly the challenging relationship between sales and finance. This relationship encompasses credit-granting processes, credit control methodology, customer service expectations, query resolution, incorrect billing, credit holds, communication, and more. Sales teams often perceive finance as unsupportive, even antagonistic. Finance professionals work within a framework of rules and regulations, which is necessary to manage results and adhere to external reporting standards. Their focus is different from that of the sales team, which chases sales and tends to be more risk-tolerant and energetic. If your sales team does not exhibit these qualities, it is time for a conversation!

The key to success lies in aligning interests, fostering a deeper understanding between departments, and working towards shared targets. Yes, it is possible, and I will explain how shortly.

The process starts with a thorough diagnosis of past sales results and procedures, understanding the cost of lost business, reviewing current processes, and analysing financial history. This lays the groundwork for innovation and growth. This process demands an understanding of the business model, the global environment, and your internal support systems, which should also speak the language of finance. Team skill sets may need a revamp, including in-house training to realign their thinking. People tend to resist change, whether out of laziness or fear of the unknown.

I have conducted numerous scenarios for clients, illustrating the true cost of missed opportunities. What does that mean? It is about losing business to the competition due to weak links within your organisation, often related to credit granting and administration. Automating decision-making can lead to lost sales. The real need is to find ways to make deals work, and yes, it can be done.

Consider a credit application that was rejected by automated processes. A prominent construction company applied for a credit facility but was declined due to a small bad debt recorded for a municipal account. From the time of rejection until my involvement, they lost turnover exceeding R25 million to the competition. Let’s stop for one minute to think about the embarrassment to the sales team that was occasioned in this instance. 

Accounts like these do not just walk in; they need to be actively pursued and worked on.  Thankfully, we managed to salvage future business by doing a lot of explaining and grovelling to the client.  In these circumstances, the company will always be on their toes as they will naturally not have the confidence in your organisation that should exist.  It takes a while to build up the relationship to the point where it should have been – the point where an ACCEPT stamp should have appeared on the credit application. This carelessness simply complicates the relationship.

The converse situation, where accounts should have been rejected but were approved, is equally detrimental. I have diagnosed bad debt accounts of companies to determine their cost and worked with a manufacturing company whose impairment account rose by approximately 400% over two financial periods due to poor credit granting practices.

Let us look at the case of a listed company in the manufacturing industry that went belly up a few years ago.  A major contributing factor to their demise was the credit-granting practices and management of the Accounts Receivable team… 5,000 employees lost their jobs!

The risk model provided by credit agencies is often not applied correctly, and their data is underutilised. Information from credit bureaus should serve as a framework for intelligent decision-making, not a one-size-fits-all solution. Credit granting should not be outsourced but should be part of a vital team that celebrates wins.

The sales team already faces numerous challenges in the sales landscape – a volatile economy, tough competition, pricing pressures, product quality, and the risk of imports eating into profit margins. So, how do we implement a love story between sales and the team?

We do this by creating centres of excellence that support your sales team and building an all-encompassing sales culture throughout the organisation. The belief should be that ‘everyone is in sales.’ Sales are the cornerstone of the business, speaking directly to its heart, the profit centre. After completing a project like this, all departments should be excited about each other’s results, working toward shared goals, and eliminating discord.

Effective communication and information flow between sales and support teams are vital, all speaking the same language. Admin and finance teams should actively understand clients’ businesses and requirements, sharing intelligence. Imagine credit controllers passing new sales leads to the sales team – with the right systems and focus areas, this is possible and necessary.

Aligning goals and rewards helps create the right sales culture, but it is not that simple. A deep analysis and understanding of the current environment are essential to break down, rebuild, and enable sales growth. It may be time-consuming, but the results are worth it.

I have a unique approach to support the sales team, a process that’s thorough, inclusive, meaningful, and, when maintained with discipline, profitable and sustainable. It takes time and commitment from the entire team.

In my next blog, I will continue on the same theme, delving into how to manage bad debt – the ‘how.’ Together, we can change the status from ‘REJECT’ to ‘ACCEPT’ and watch your business bloom.

Remember, perception is reality. How would you like to be perceived in the eyes of your customers? Everybody wants to be part of a winning team.