I’ve been working on this post for a week; for some reason, it took a little while to pull it all together. I think I was making it too complicated, so here it goes:
- In 1971, my dad got his new pickup truck, a powder blue IH 1210.
- Dad “pimped his ride” by installing an 8-track player with Panasonic speakers.
- My dad was a slow driver. No matter where we were going or how far, he’d drive 45 mph even when the speed limit allowed 55.
- I thought it was a result of his old beater of a pickup.
- I thought for sure he’d drive faster with his new truck.
- Nope, he still drove 45 mph in a 55 mph zone.
I’ve been trying to connect this experience with the experience of watching sales organizations look for solutions to drive revenue growth. Like an engine that needs three things to run, your sales organization needs three things to run.
Spark, fuel and combustion are required to start an engine and make it run. If you have those things, the engine will run. Get all three at a grade “A” level and the engine runs really well. If you want the vehicle that the engine is meant to move to perform at “A” level, you need something else. You need a driver.
Not just any driver; you need a driver that has two things: Competency and Drive. Certainly, there are other contributing factors that determine if the driver is right for your vehicle, but basically speaking:
- Without competency, you might go fast, but there will be lots of damage, crashes and failures.
- Without drive, there won’t be any risk taken, no failures and, therefore, no success.
- Without drive, then there will be a lack of coach-ability and trainability.
My point here is this: The engine size, the transmission, the gear ratios, the tires, the steering, the paint job, the aerodynamics… none of these things really matter if you don’t have a driver or a team of drivers with competency and drive.
When you get ready to put your budget together and are considering where to invest money, time and effort in order to drive revenue growth, focus on three things:
- Sales Talent acquisition
- Sales Talent development
- A Crew Chief with desire, commitment and skills
CRM and other sales enablement tools are nice but, just like my dad’s new pickup, it doesn’t matter unless you want to grow and grow fast.
