Despite the top management of organizations doing all that it thought was good enough, Many times, the sales numbers the field force brings back, create a course for worry or create black holes. Projections and objectives have been set based on trends and the current realities, but it appears the foot soldiers are familiar with the art of always missing the mark.
The under-performing field guys are ever ready for defense during the monthly or quarterly reviews. A few of the usual reasons are;
- There is a glut in the market – my customers are not selling, hence they can’t place orders.
- Some customers exceeded their credit limits so I could not supply them.
- I did not have the right mix of SKUs to supply my customers.
- My customer is not happy with the management and the company.
- Our competitors are giving betters deals in the market.
- Customers are complaining about our prices and quality.
- Many of my customers were not around during my visits.
- My vehicle/delivery van had problems.
- There were always some forms of trouble in my territory.
Without any form of contradiction, these issues represent the ‘black holes’ where sales are lost without any trace or hope of retrieval. They could be real or sometimes made-up! From my over 10 years’ experience in the field of selling, I can submit that more often than not, they are either made-up or their effects not real. Salesmen do this to shift the management’s focus from their personal in-competencies or inefficiencies!
However, the onus is on the management to be able to put systems and structures in place such that can mitigate some of these seemingly black holes.
A well developed and deployed Field Force can help the management resolve some of them (black holes in sales) and contradictions that happen when the sales numbers are not turning in well thereby optimizing the sales force.
I am for mobility in business!
