Companies look to thrive and grow. In preparation, leaders work with their teams to identify the bottlenecks, roadblocks, and/or weaknesses that will keep the company from exploding with success.
We start by asking “Why” five times to arrive at the root of the bottleneck. From there, it’s time to dedicate resources to put things back into motion and proper flow.
Option One: Exploit the weakness.
When you exploit a weakness, you’re adding additional resources to strengthen the flow. This may mean adding more salespeople to the department or increasing spending on marketing or advertising. The goal here is to grow the resources of the organization to only address the bottleneck.
Be careful with Option One because it tends to be more expensive and sometimes adds to the problem.
Option Two: Elevate the weakness.
When we elevate a weakness, we’re investing and improving the quality of existing resources. In most cases, this is the more affordable solution with long-lasting benefits. There’s no question. Creating additional productivity out of existing resources will always result in larger growth over time.
This can be accomplished through training and education, process re-engineering, and/or a shift in the company budget. For example, instead of adding new salespeople, you can educate and elevate the skill set of your existing team. Just make sure that they are trainable and have growth potential.
Looking forward to 2015, what is a major weakness you need to address with your sales force? Which option best fits for you?
- Jody Williamson
Executive Workshop Join us for this two hour interactive workshop. You will discover strategies to effectively manage your salespeople past the barriers that have been holding them back and onto the success they want and the success your business deserves. Learn More >>
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