An Easy Way to Increase Your Sales Footprint
We are living in perhaps the most challenging business climate that any of us, collectively, will experience in our working lives. We are faced with day-to-day challenges that seem to be out of our control. And we are impacted, either directly or indirectly, by a sweeping tide of change, forcing us to analyze our resources and our courses of action in different ways.
The pressures to improve the economies of scale within our firms, divisions, or departments are leading us to think of more creative ways of doing "more with less." However, simply asking our people to do more is becoming less and less of an option, in light of the already seam-bursting workloads that most are carrying.
One area that is a treasure-trove of possibilities lies with technical staffs. We are hearing from our clients that these technical gurus, be they IT, financial or engineering experts, must now be in direct contact with clients and customers, often at the client site. We are also hearing that these interactions can be challenging, because these technical experts are great at solving technical problems but not so great at communicating. Consider for a moment what might be possible if these technical experts were also capable communicators, acting as pre-sales agents, sales scouts, or as a sales triage.
Consider the value added to your organization if the technical experts had the confidence and skill to engage with department managers, directors, or even VP level management. Picture your technical staff engaging with senior level managers as trusted advisors, able to describe unrealized issues or opportunities, and propose possible solutions. Or to act as a catalyst to bring the right people within your organization together to discuss and resolve the issues that only they are aware of. By expanding the skill sets of your technical staffs, your organization can expand its sales footprint without adding to the headcount of the organization.
We are not suggesting that your technical experts fill the role of sales people. However, we are suggesting that with increased communication skills and confidence they could help your clients identify and solve problems. They would be highly valued by the client, and broaden the reach of your organization's sales presence through effective communication — identifying and facilitating opportunities for the sales team.
Consider our TechConnect™ program as your first step to expanding your technical sales footprint.