The holistic approach to marketing encourages employees within the whole organisation to focus on satisfying the customer in everything they do. Sales people are in the front line of involvement and influence over the customer. They should be strategically placed to achieve the best results for the company. This often calls for structuring customers into territories and appointing major account managers to increase key business and develop market intelligence.
Successful sales reps have been trained to know their product very well, can manage their own time wisely, and are results driven. Monetary incentives are the major driver in motivating them to achieve set targets. Top sales people are often the highest paid employees because of the value they bring to the business.
However, modern companies are beginning to recognise the benefits of teamwork throughout the entire organisation and introduce company-wide rewards that highlight the contribution of all parties to the overall performance of the business. This adds a sense of belonging (Maslow) and reduces the traditionally selfish behaviour of sales people which emphasizes "getting the sale over building the relationship." (Kotler Keller, 2012) Ihis strategy also aligns its employees with the company's long term objectives.
Unfortunately, sales force turnover reduces profit through lost sales, impact on other sales reps, and increased overheads through additional staff sourcing and training. Recruiting agencies often advertise for sales people with a "proven track record". Direct marketing is a highly personal activity and so often customers will remain loyal to a person, rather than a product or brand. In effect, customers may bond with and trust an individual sales person and prefer to continue to receive their service offering which they perceive as being superior. So when sales people leave, the customers often go with them.
Sales people can be attracted to opportunism when they are not connected to the rest of the organisation and there are inadequate internal guidelines. This can lead to bigger discounts, over generous payment options, unrealistic delivery and short-term benefits at the cost of long term resources.
Retaining sales talent involves more than financial incentive. Other factors like encouragement, recognition from peers and mentoring play a role in their success. When competing companies offer the same compensation, it is the underlying factors that determine the retention and effectiveness of sales people. Trust within the organisation is important, as this also saves time wasted on 'shadow-accounting' that sales people often do to check their commissions. We can see opportunity here for improved productivity. Technology is constantly improving the tools of the trade but companies should beware of cognitive overload and resistance to change. The outside sales force can be further supported inside the company by technical support people, sales assistants and telemarketers. All these things can facilitate effort, ability and strategy to improve sales performance.
Besides having the best sales team in the whole wide world, there are still some external factors which may affect a company's success. Good luck is defined as success apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions. I like to think of luck as a 'blessing'. We cannot control it but we may be able to invite it, like being in the right place at the right time. We can be in the right place but the 'timing' issue is not up to us.
