Are you an owner/operator responsible for a large percentage of the revenue in your company? Are you the lead Influencer in your company? The top evangelist? Are all the new sales leads from your efforts and your relationships?
Have you thought about what this looks like when you don’t want to work that hard every day?
I f you are 100% responsible for every lead and every sale, you should be concerned about the future.
This is an invitation to take a serious look at your sales lead flow and evaluate your vulnerabilities. It maybe that filling a specific sales role will stabilize your pipeline. Here are some roles to consider
Hunting Salesperson
Anytime a single source is creating awareness, fostering new relationships, and bringing fully qualified leads to your Subject Matter Experts to quote and close, you run the risk of your pipeline collapsing if that source is no longer available to produce.
A good Hunting salesperson will provide diversification with additional leads and opportunities. Their primary job is “identify & qualify” new opportunities for the company and the team and get them in the door.
This is the most difficult role to fill because good Hunters are never on the market long, if at all. They have to be recruited and wooed, which can sometimes require commitment and patience.
Subject Matter Expert
Maybe you are the quint essential “e-myther” ( link below),the expert who knows everything about the industry or technology your company offers. When you want to slow down, you will need to hire an “SME Salesperson” to fill that gap.
Their job is to take solid opportunities and formulate and demonstrate a plan to the prospect.
Someone needs to get up to speed on all that technology and somehow gather and digest your decades of specialty experience and knowledge. This is going to take some time.
The Closer
n the “closing” capacity at your firm, you have to touch every deal. They won’t close unless you are involved.
The closer is the one who identifies and overcomes objections, gives decisive answers, negotiates the final details, and gives the prospect the confidence to say yes.
It's not often that someone hires a dedicated closer, but it is a critical role, and it is important to know who in your company can handle that responsibility
360 Degree Salesperson
What if you handle all these (and other) sales roles in your company? Who’s going to do all that work when you want to spend less time at the office? Who will bring in new qualified deals, propose them, and get them over the finish line?
Now What?
Once you’ve identified what roles you fill in your sales process, it’s time to start looking for a salesperson or salespeople to backfill your position and bring in new revenue independent of you.
You can check out some videos we have published on the five different roles here.
If you aren’t sure where you sit in the process, or if you are concerned because you are everywhere in the sales process, drop us a note here and we’ll help you figure it out
Are you an owner/operator responsible for a large percentage of the revenue in your company? Are you the lead Influencer in your company? The top evangelist? Are all the new sales leads from your efforts and your relationships?
Have you thought about what this looks like when you don’t want to work that hard every day?
I f you are 100% responsible for every lead and every sale, you should be concerned about the future.
This is an invitation to take a serious look at your sales lead flow and evaluate your vulnerabilities. It maybe that filling a specific sales role will stabilize your pipeline. Here are some roles to consider
Hunting Salesperson
Anytime a single source is creating awareness, fostering new relationships, and bringing fully qualified leads to your Subject Matter Experts to quote and close, you run the risk of your pipeline collapsing if that source is no longer available to produce.
A good Hunting salesperson will provide diversification with additional leads and opportunities. Their primary job is “identify & qualify” new opportunities for the company and the team and get them in the door.
This is the most difficult role to fill because good Hunters are never on the market long, if at all. They have to be recruited and wooed, which can sometimes require commitment and patience.
Subject Matter Expert
Maybe you are the quint essential “e-myther” ( link below),the expert who knows everything about the industry or technology your company offers. When you want to slow down, you will need to hire an “SME Salesperson” to fill that gap.
Their job is to take solid opportunities and formulate and demonstrate a plan to the prospect.
Someone needs to get up to speed on all that technology and somehow gather and digest your decades of specialty experience and knowledge. This is going to take some time.
The Closer
n the “closing” capacity at your firm, you have to touch every deal. They won’t close unless you are involved.
The closer is the one who identifies and overcomes objections, gives decisive answers, negotiates the final details, and gives the prospect the confidence to say yes.
It's not often that someone hires a dedicated closer, but it is a critical role, and it is important to know who in your company can handle that responsibility
360 Degree Salesperson
What if you handle all these (and other) sales roles in your company? Who’s going to do all that work when you want to spend less time at the office? Who will bring in new qualified deals, propose them, and get them over the finish line?
Now What?
Once you’ve identified what roles you fill in your sales process, it’s time to start looking for a salesperson or salespeople to backfill your position and bring in new revenue independent of you.
You can check out some videos we have published on the five different roles here.
If you aren’t sure where you sit in the process, or if you are concerned because you are everywhere in the sales process, drop us a note here and we’ll help you figure it out
Before you get into the hiring process, you need to WHY you need to hire someone in the first place.
Are you adding a new role? Or backfilling a role that someone departed? Was it a surprise, or did you know it was coming?
The unfortunate reality is that more often than not companies don’t pay close enough attention to their employees and don’t realize that they might be sitting on several ticking time bombs.
They assume that if the work is getting done, then everything is great. This can be a big mistake.
Or, they assume that “HR” is handling the employees. Or that because they have a nice break room and offer benefits, that they have checked all the boxes, and everything will be fine.
Are you and your managers engaged on a 1:1 level with your employees? Do you know what’s going on in their lives? What excites them about their job? What annoys them about their job? Who they like to work with? Who they don’t?
You can’t leave it up to the HR staff or assume that a new ping pong table or vending machine will do the trick.
If any of that sounds familiar, then those time bombs WILL start to go off and send you into reactionary mode.
If someone gives you notice to leave, it should not be a big surprise. You should be able to see the signs before the resignation letter is on your desk.
Maybe they weren’t feeling challenged. Or they were feeling over-worked. Maybe they don’t like their boss, or they are under pressure from their spouse or family to quit.
Life happens and there are some things not under your control, but there are plenty of things that ARE under your control.
It’s easier, better, and cheaper to hang on to current customers instead of getting new ones; the same applies to employees.
It’s always wiser to invest in the current team members you want to keep rather than finding new ones.
The reality of the situation has hit you and you shift into problem solving mode–more money, more benefits, other changes to their job.
In our experience, 90% of the time it is too late for these tactics. The employee has made the emotional decision to leave and more than likely has another gig already lined up.
The moral of the story is to start the process of improving the way you hire by not having to hire.
Take better care of your people and your teams by being engaged in an empathetic and personal way.
And, when you do have to make a hire, have a plan and a process for the hiring process and the new employee.
If you relate to any of these challenges and need support to overcome them, we are experienced and ready to walk through them with you.