I started my career in Operations and was very good at it. I took great pride in being able to manage difficult projects with successful results. The logistics of time, labor, tasks, and budget were my domain. I developed a solid reputation as an Operations Manager who could do extraordinary things. There was only one problem. Those damn salesmen. They would say anything and hope that he would somehow make it happen. His bosses always seemed to have strong political influence, so he knew he couldn’t completely ignore them. Instead, I developed a clever “cat and mouse” game. I played well enough to keep the playing field level and survive politically, but I didn’t give in to their crazy demands unless it was absolutely necessary. Frustrated, I managed to keep even the most impossible of their promises and kept complaining about them.
Then one day when I was around 24 years old, the District Manager, Dave Oliver, came up to me and said that he wanted me to fill the vacant Sales Manager position. At first I couldn’t believe it. Why did you think I should do this job? He explained how well I did with clients who were selling (a dirty word at the time) our services on sales calls. Hell, he was just hanging out in front of customers to stop the salespeople from giving away the store. He then went on to tell me how much he thought about the new Customer Service Program he had put together. Although pleased with the praise, I finally had to admit, “You are asking me to handle the people I have the most problems with and the least respect for: the enemy.”
Then Dave said something I would never forget and it changed the course of my career forever. He sat me down and said, “You will never progress in business to your potential if you don’t understand the sales side of the fence.” He even went further to clarify the point; Not only did he need to understand sales, he also needed to adopt and be able to lead sales. He closed me off saying, “You know … your job doesn’t even happen until the sale is made.” So, with no sales experience, I became the Sales Manager for 12 Sellers, 3 of whom were in the Top Ten of the company’s National Rankings.
By taking the job, I carved out a little territory where I could learn the trade of cold calling, presenting, and the like. And very quickly I began to see the other side of the fence. Wow, that wasn’t easy! The need to differentiate ourselves from the competition and the need to say “Yes” to the emerging demands of our customers was revealing. I found myself guaranteeing clients the same services as just a few months before, cursing the salespeople for giving up. For the first time, I saw what Dave was talking about. The business did not exist, so I was able to perform skillfully in operations. It existed to meet the needs of our customers. It didn’t matter what he could do, what mattered was what they needed. And we could do it better than anyone.
Years have passed and I have spent a lot of time Leading on both sides of the proverbial Sales vs. Purse seine operations. And I have come to a conclusion; there is no close! There is only the customer. And whichever side of the fence you think you are on, your job is to figure out what your customer needs and deliver it better than anyone.
By now, the sales managers reading this are hopping around with my conversion story, and the operations managers are crouching down and disapproving: “We lost another.” None of you are right. You must understand that Sales is the most important part of the business and that everyone is in Sales.
Many companies have embraced this ideology and started calling themselves a “sales organization.” In most situations, this great inspiration falls on the rocks of a very poor implementation. The program is usually advertised and the new language of “Sales Rules Now” takes over. New sales programs are launched and new organizational structures are formed. A change of power is perceived and there is a struggle for power. Sales Managers adopt their new Sales Organization charter with new demands from their “subordinate” Operations Managers. And Operations slides into a passive-aggressive war of wills, believing that once this new fad passes, they will once again regain the power they rightfully deserve. Because after all, without them nothing will be done.
Instead, this supposedly excellent sales organization becomes a stalemate where sales targets are often not met and operational quality declines. Who to blame? Just ask either side and they’ll be happy to point fingers at the other. Some companies add to the chaos with Matrix Style organizational structures that further disperse and divide responsibility. In the end, instead of a Sales Organization, they have successfully created a No Responsibility Organization.
Whether you are on the Sales or Operations side of this epic battle, you must realize what I came to know many years ago. Sales are not about salespeople or operations people; it’s about the customer. A sales organization is one in which everyone, regardless of their position, is focused on acting for the customer.
Here’s the part that counts: There’s the “First Sale” and there’s the “Last Sale.” Too many emerging Sales Organizations put all their focus on the “First Sale” and persuading the new customer at the door. Activities are focused on this goal and battle lines are drawn as Operations is mandated to better “support” Sales. But if you want to grow your business, you must keep your new customers satisfied and develop residual business opportunities. This is what is meant by “Last Sale”. You are reselling your business to the client every time they ask you to perform for them. And in today’s competitive arena, ANDor are they as good as your “Last Sale”. Very few business models can be successful with a one-time sale. The residual business creates healthy growth and a profitable business. So who is really making the sale? Everyone! All time!
If it is necessary for Operations to support the “First Sale”, then it is Sales who must support the “Last Sale”. Instead of a Sales Organization, you should focus on the idea of a Customer Centered Organization. Both sides (all sides) need to support each other for short-term and long-term performance. The idea that one side has an advantage over the other is a silly power struggle that leaves the door wide open for the competition to defeat you.
Your job as a sales or operations leader is to make sure you understand the support your “teammates” need to make the “first sale” or “last sale.” Then you must guide your team, by example, to deliver 100% of what the customer needs. You should stop talking about how they are setting you up for failure or they don’t know what they are doing. You need to stop talking about how top management has lost the roots of what made this a good company to start with. You must aspire to reach new heights and deliver unreasonable results. You must begin to perform the most basic function for which you are responsible as a business leader: GROWTH. First and last!
So if you are an operations leader, get in the car with the sales staff and help them say “Yes!” To customers. Take a sales training course. Train them, encourage them, and thank them for making that first sale. And if you’re a sales leader, spend some time in the back office and understand how things really work. Get involved in offering deliverable solutions. Understand the systematic pitfalls, the resources available, and thank them for making the “Last Sale.” Ask each other, “How can we make this customer love us?”
These exchanges are not to understand and accept the inadequacies of your organization. You cannot win by accepting sales or operational failures. The goal is to discover the sales and operational challenges your business has to meet customer needs and then work together to bring innovative and paradigm-shifting solutions. Your competition is struggling with the same customer demand issues. Solve the problem and jump in front of them! If you do this, you will discover, as I did with Dave Oliver, that your enemy is not the Sales group or the Operations group. They are on your team! If you want to be a Street Smart leader, you must put political infighting behind you and figure out how to unite and turn your company team into a first-class competitive machine that wins new business and then keeps it growing.