companies experiencing growth or sales performance
problems. Executives at these companies seem to hope
their growth problems are localized or are isolated to a
few simple “levers,” primarily in the sales organization.
Of course, in many cases the sales organization’s issues
and problems are contributing to the shortfall. It’s not that
improvement initiatives like sales training don’t help—
sales training to a business is as essential as boot camp is
to the foot soldier. But, sales training cannot single-handedly
carry the initiative. Individual combatants don't win
wars; armies do. Behind every modern-day soldier lays a
vast systemic support system that provides initial training,
continued learning and reinforcement, standardized methods
and practices, up-to-date critical information and
direction, continuous logistical support, and technology
assistance—all aligned around the goal of optimizing the
effectiveness of each combatant and optimizing the effectiveness
of the whole army. Battles are typically won or
lost due to a combination of multiple factors.
Similarly, in selling, the difference between winning and
losing is rarely the result of a single factor. The research
firm Primary Intelligence (www.primary-intel.com) has
performed thousands of win-loss analyses, and its studies
vividly illustrate this point. The sales performance trap lies
in confusing symptoms with the actual causes for performance
breakdowns. Most companies invest in improvement,
but as Rob Jeppsen, chief strategy officer of Primary
Intelligence, notes, “Our research indicates that most of
the time, companies guess wrong about why they aren’t
winning more often.”
Part One: A New Sales Environment