Improving Sales through Non Sales People

Most companies spend a tremendous amount of sales time and money trying to cultivate new customer relationships while overlooking the potential pot of gold within their existing customer base. As a sales person (and possibly owner) of your business, it is obviously important to form new customer relationships. But is everything possible being done today to bring in business by the people that are in constant contact with your existing customers?

Several years ago, some of my best sales leads came from the other sales people I worked with. However, I could not figure out how to “motivate” our service department to help with leads. Finally I asked the head of service what it would take and he simply replied, “A six pack of beer for the service people would mean a lot”. I quickly learned that what motivates others is something that can not be pushed on them. If you want your business to grow, take the time to ask people closest to your customers what would motivate them to bring in sales opportunities.

The philosophy of everyone helping a business grow is as old as business itself, yet most efforts fail with responses from non-sales people like “I am not a sales person and I am here only to service the customer” “I don’t want to be pushy to our customers” “Sales is the sales person’s job”. These arguments (among many others) prohibiting the growth of your company are actually valid if the right people are doing the wrong things to bring in business opportunities. To ensure you are doing everything you can to improve sales through your company’s non-sales people, try these suggestions:

Simply ask “What would motivate you to help bring in sales opportunities?”

• This is a tricky question and is sometimes best asked by a third party. If you are in sales or the owner of the business, beware of how you ask the question because it might come off as self-serving. However, you need to find out from the person you want to motivate what is important to them. Just like I found out that a six pack of beer is motivating to some, you might be surprised by the answers you receive.

“Train” others on how easy it is to bring in sales opportunities and discuss what is in it for them

• People will appear pushy if they try to “become” sales people in order to bring opportunities to the business. Help them develop a few questions they can ask the customer that will open the door for your follow up and talk about how their effort will benefit both them and the company.

Keep the process simple

• I once tried to pass a lead to a salesperson and he told me a about several resellers of his product that I could contact. He never received another lead from me. If you want your non-sales people to bring in leads, keep the process as simple as possible. Long forms and complex processes are NOT the way to encourage everyone to contribute to the sales effort.

Track the results and celebrate the success you will enjoy with everyone’s help

• As your business really takes off, recognize the efforts of those that have helped you succeed. Set up a process to track who has provided you with leads. Without some sort of tracking system, you will not remember who has given you what and you will soon develop a reputation as a “black hole” of lead collection. Provide feedback to people giving you leads even if the leads do not become a sale. People need feedback and need to feel their efforts are appreciated so be sure to celebrate everyone’s success by remembering those that have helped you.

In summary, everyone who is in contact with a customer should be bringing in sales opportunities. The non-sales people in your business could be the key to opening the door to new opportunities with your customers. The right motivation, training and rewards will help you tap into this often overlooked resource for your business growth.

Bob Riess is the President of The Customer Connector and can be contacted through www.thecustomerconnector.com or at (859) 240-2550.