I served at QuaverMusic (now QuaverEd) for 11 years, starting as an administrative assistant and reaching the position of Director of Implementation. I was the pioneer problem-solver for the organization, finding lean solutions to ever more complicated problems and breaking through barriers to growth. One of my most valuable skills was to act as a “Universal Translator” between all the different disciplines within the organization: executive, accounting, marketing and sales, product design, customer service, operations, media production, legal, application development, client account management, training, and more.
Managing a team of developers, I designed and built the custom CRM, sales, and reporting infrastructure that enabled a relatively small sales force to drive rapid adoption of the company’s products and exponential growth for the company. I worked closely with the sales team and was regularly called upon to help close deals, and so developed a strong sense of the unique challenges sales team members face from day-to-day.
Sales reps are traveling constantly and rely on their phones for information and as their primary conduit to do work. As such, their information and tools need to be available, simple, clear, and accurate.
Due to this frequent travel, sales reps can become isolated and out-of-touch with the pulse of the company. Deliberate efforts to assimilate the front-line information the sales reps provide, while also providing timely support and informative updates they need, is crucial to maintaining an effective sales effort.
Sales reps are short on time. They are resistant to any activity that they do not understand or perceive to be relevant to advancing and closing deals. Reps were happy to follow procedures when they understood how they helped others in the organization.
Management and Executive teams are right to insist on tracking performance metrics and KPIs, but do not always do the best job explaining or negotiating them with sales reps (see above bullet). Defusing tense situations can often be accomplished by facilitating productive negotiation between these stakeholders, while digging heels in tends to lead to resentment and authoritative decision-making. There is no reason that both parties can’t get what they want, especially since in the end, everyone wants the same thing, which is to sell more.
Nearly everyone under-estimates the importance of documented and well-communicated policies, procedures, and plans until the moment they need them, which is often in the midst of some kind of emergency or urgent situation. Not ideal!!
There’s a consistent solution to these challenges: disciplined communication. And the problem is, when a sales team is spending 80-90% of their time away from the home office, disciplined communication goes right out the window. I believe that by providing simple, reliable, and useful structures and processes to exchange information between the sales team and the rest of the organization, we can improve relations inside the company, increase the efficiency and speed of closing deals, and ultimately increase revenue.
Surve doesn’t just devise campaign strategy or produce media. We also foster effective communication among all stakeholders so that everyone is on the same page and knows what to do next. And that is why Surve will be your secret weapon.
