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Creating a culture of sales failure
Not too long ago I was at a luncheon of local business leaders. At my table were two of the
owners of the city’s automobile dealers. Referring to the practice in the Detroit area of
advertising cars at the employee discount price, someone asked them what percentage of cars
they sold to the employees of their particular make. One said in a boastful fashion, “somewhere
between 80 and 85%”. The other was asked the same question, replying, “about the same for
me.”
It was shocking to see how proud they were to have such a high percentage as these sales are
at the lower end of the profitability scale.
My thoughts immediately turned to the local Toyota dealer. How many of his sales are to
employees? Not 80%, not 70%, not even 50%. None, zero, nil, nada, zip sales to employees.
Are his sales only 20% of the sales of each of the other two? I doubt it. Not with the glitz of
his showroom.
So what’s the problem?
The problem with the proud pair is that they are accepting their current results. They are not hungry enough to go after more
profitable sales. They accept the ratio of sales, projecting the same expectations onto their sales force. I am confident they have
passed on this doomed feeling to their sales people, probably saying that it is not worth the effort to try to get the higher margin
sales – after all everyone in the Detroit area works for one of the major automobile manufacturers.
They have created a sales culture focused on failure!
Once it is accepted to have a specific sales level, most salespeople lose their motivation and drive to exceed it. Commission is not
the driver as they are led to believe that certain types of sales are unattainable – so why bother? In the case of these dealers, they
taught salespeople there was such a small likelihood of selling to a non-employee that it would take too much effort, time, and
energy that could be better spent on the easy sale when an automotive factory worker walked through the door.
Entrepreneurs can also fall prey to this thinking by assuming certain types of sales would be unattainable. This is especially true
when it comes to opening new cultures.
Actually case story
I know a lady that was at an Expo in Dearborn, Michigan, a city known for a high Muslim population. Her goal was to sign a
people for home cooking parties. When the expo was over she had not signed up even one new party. Her conclusion was to
blame the Muslim population based on the myth that Muslims would not buy from non-Muslims. Firm in her belief, she declared
she would never attempt to build business in Dearborn again because it was closed-minded, in our opinion.
Do you want to know what really happened? To entice people with the great food, she selected bacon-wrapped scallops not
realizing Muslims don't eat pork products.
What about you?
Are you creating a failure culture for yourself or others? Take an objective look. Better yet, get a mentor or coach to help you!
Not too long ago I was at a luncheon of local business leaders. At my table were two of the
owners of the city’s automobile dealers. Referring to the practice in the Detroit area of
advertising cars at the employee discount price, someone asked them what percentage of cars
they sold to the employees of their particular make. One said in a boastful fashion, “somewhere
between 80 and 85%”. The other was asked the same question, replying, “about the same for
me.”
It was shocking to see how proud they were to have such a high percentage as these sales are
at the lower end of the profitability scale.
My thoughts immediately turned to the local Toyota dealer. How many of his sales are to
employees? Not 80%, not 70%, not even 50%. None, zero, nil, nada, zip sales to employees.
Are his sales only 20% of the sales of each of the other two? I doubt it. Not with the glitz of
his showroom.
So what’s the problem?
The problem with the proud pair is that they are accepting their current results. They are not hungry enough to go after more
profitable sales. They accept the ratio of sales, projecting the same expectations onto their sales force. I am confident they have
passed on this doomed feeling to their sales people, probably saying that it is not worth the effort to try to get the higher margin
sales – after all everyone in the Detroit area works for one of the major automobile manufacturers.
They have created a sales culture focused on failure!
Once it is accepted to have a specific sales level, most salespeople lose their motivation and drive to exceed it. Commission is not
the driver as they are led to believe that certain types of sales are unattainable – so why bother? In the case of these dealers, they
taught salespeople there was such a small likelihood of selling to a non-employee that it would take too much effort, time, and
energy that could be better spent on the easy sale when an automotive factory worker walked through the door.
Entrepreneurs can also fall prey to this thinking by assuming certain types of sales would be unattainable. This is especially true
when it comes to opening new cultures.
Actually case story
I know a lady that was at an Expo in Dearborn, Michigan, a city known for a high Muslim population. Her goal was to sign a
people for home cooking parties. When the expo was over she had not signed up even one new party. Her conclusion was to
blame the Muslim population based on the myth that Muslims would not buy from non-Muslims. Firm in her belief, she declared
she would never attempt to build business in Dearborn again because it was closed-minded, in our opinion.
Do you want to know what really happened? To entice people with the great food, she selected bacon-wrapped scallops not
realizing Muslims don't eat pork products.
What about you?
Are you creating a failure culture for yourself or others? Take an objective look. Better yet, get a mentor or coach to help you!
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| January 11 2008 |