Speaking of gross mistakes in technical sales, it is interesting to stop at one that is very recurring and that is usually made by new managers, or who are not strong in organizational matters, but who have the power to do so, especially General Managers and / or company owners. They combine power, lack of knowledge and experience and, above all, despair to achieve quick results. All these factors are potentially explosive and can damage not only the results of the company, but the structure of the sales area.
Let's review the most recurring. Technical sales have sales cycles ranging from three to six months, so any measure or action taken today will result in results three or six months later; Under this premise, the wrong decisions fall into the perfect trap, because in the immediate future they do not seem to have much impact, but then comes the debacle. It is usual for a General Manager to think of selling technical products, services or machinery, equipment, etc., to his technical service personnel; According to a short-term perspective, it has several advantages: people know the products, or equipment, etc., they are directly and functionally related to the customer and can receive extra remuneration for this work, which saves the company time and money.,and the Technical Service people see no problem in earning more. So far, things seem very good, especially since it is the perfect solution to compete with inefficient sellers.
What is ignored is that the post sale or technical service is a complementary task of the sale whose great value is to solve customer problems and build loyalty, not sell. The sale is much more aggressive and often requires harsher contextual relationships and opposed to the post sale; It is common in sales that things fail for various reasons, so the last line is after-sales in order to avoid that a customer is irretrievably lost. So, in order to understand why the consequences of such a decision are so dire for the company, we must review the long list of disadvantages:
- A technical service operator will never be a sales manager, especially if you are not trained in sales and are guaranteed exclusive sales duties. This means that you will be able to take orders, but never sustain the sale in time because the technical service tasks complement the sale and not the sale itself. Just as the technical service has random work cycles, the sale has very stable cycles, which complicates productivity in both jobs. Nobody can be running after hours with the tools and then present themselves to the client as a competent seller, it is not normal or looks good, because such disorder, lack of specialization, and above all lack of resources on the part of the company that uses them people for such different tasks.The important client usually decides in silence and without notifying the company that no longer interests him, especially because he is aware that he has the responsibility to choose what he sees best in the open market. A seller will never be a good technical service without technical training adequate and without the adequate technical basis. In this way the reverse phenomenon to point one occurs. The intellectual and physical tasks are given in proportion, then it is the specialization in one or the other that generates productivity. There is always a choice, the client is suspicious of any technical service that he sells. It removes seriousness and category and transforms it into a simile of a master chasquilla who is always looking for the opportunity to sell something else, taking advantage of a context, sometimes conflicting, such as the technical service tasks that are dedicated to installing,repair, etc. This is the best way to discredit the technical service and dilute the competencies of those who perform this role by offering sales commissions. They are no longer focused on loyalty and therefore over time they will prefer what is easier to earn money, completely missing the objective of the technical service and, in all cases, weakening it and generating rotation in normally stable and competent teams. There are companies that have gone bankrupt for this especially when their customer loyalty depends on a good and exclusive Technical Service function. The biggest threat goes through the saying »breed crows and they will gouge out your eyes»: It is much more common than an operator technical service that learns to sell stands with a competitive business that stays selling in the company that forms it.This is because the technical services business in general has no barriers to entry and the only thing that the intelligent operator lacks is to understand how the market works to immediately found his own company if things happen. It is rare for a salesperson to do so, and it is rare for a technical service operator to be a good salesperson while maintaining the base work. In the event of a breach of the sales function, or a failure of products, equipment, machines, etc., sold by a technical service operator, there will immediately be a discredit of the operator who mixed the sale with his job of repairing, or installing, etc. It is much more common for a technical service operator to discredit himself for "getting into the legs of horses," than if he remains faithful to his specialized role,Above all, it is a vital requirement in highly technical markets, such as mining, medicine, production lines, etc. The vendors of the company that decided that its technical service operators compete with it, will feel little valued by the company and will they will eventually withdraw companies that have a stronger sales structure and that are not based on the "poor circus" doctrine, on which there is no specialization or focus. Staff turnover will increase and specialization will decline, and the image of the company will drop sharply. In the Technical Service area, those who are the best to sell will naturally be better sellers than technical service operators and will try to switch to sales, losing themselves maybe a good technical service operator and winning, often a mediocre salesperson,that at the first difficulty in the results, he will try to return to his old technical service function that is much more secure in terms of income, even if he does not earn as much as in sales. Many times this ends with the resignation or dismissal of the person because he tries to return to technical service with the seller's pay, which is generally much higher. And in this the Labor Law is clear when it comes to fighting. Over time the only thing that is achieved is to deteriorate the organizational structure of the company, to increase the technical service salaries that are used to earning an extra for a function that they do not It corresponds, they generate rotation both in those who do not like to sell and in those who like to sell, since some will want to leave for a company that only requires their technical service function,and the others because they will migrate to exclusive sellers. And since they know that the company does not have exclusive sellers, since it mixes them with technical service, they will surely go to a more serious company after a while. As the management principles are clear, it is very likely that all these actions will be taken, by those who have the power to do it, surreptitiously, without informing the head of the respective sales area and, in other cases, communicating it as a form of punishment because they do not do things well, therefore they will place a parallel team that will do the competition and show them how sales are made. In this way, a General Manager appears in the short term as strong, but in the long term he realizes that he damaged the company by weakening the structure, violating the principles of division of labor,that causes damage to the specialization and productivity of a company; not respecting the principle of duality of command, where all sales decisions must be channeled together with who directs sales and not in parallel, and finally, passing over one of the most sacred principles of the General Management of a company, which is to ensure that the company, in terms of human resources, remains united, avoiding rotation, deterioration of the organizational structure, controls, hierarchical lines and, in general, assertive decision-making. What is more serious, validating practices that clearly aim to deteriorate the concept of productivity. It is very common for these types of managers to mistreat their people, but defend them parentally when they think others are mistreating them.Many reactions in fact generate immediate rotation of people who resign with any excuse to be freed from the instability of a General Manager who acts by arming and disarming organizational structures without taking into account who he appoints as delegates to manage a certain unit. For example, a General Manager should never directly rebuke, challenge, or compel a subordinate of an area manager; the correct thing is that the head of the area himself does it, therefore the correct thing is that the General Manager speaks with the chief of that subordinate so that he acts. This error often generates covert rotation and instability among those who witness it, not to mention that it weakens the hierarchical structure and formal organization.disempowering the bosses who support the structure and gradually destroying it as a consequence. The height of a weak organizational structure is that it is handled as a bowling alley by who should empower their organization by empowering their managers and subordinates and promoting specialization instead of internal disorder where rumors, organizational abuse, instability, etc., they create unease among the most capable who tend to migrate, offering a safe place to people who do not want to be measured, controlled or directed, because the big boss knows what he is doing. Normally, general managers with these practices are convinced that they are strong in this way, unaware that it is the exact definition of a weak boss with leadership disconnected from what he wants to achieve for his company: unless he wants to harm it.Pride even makes one proud of it and disqualifies any criticism. They are usually very stubborn and the most difficult are those who believe that good education saves them from any risk or error: a superhero trying to run with the long cape ahead. Over time, determined by the cycles of the technical sale, the The general manager realizes that he made a mistake and will discover that he has to start again to regain the results that never came from deciding to embark on an adventure sponsored by ignoring the basic principles of running a business. Nothing is free.a superhero trying to run with the long cape ahead. Over time, determined by technical sale cycles, the general manager realizes he made a mistake and will find he has to start again to regain results that never came. for deciding to embark on an adventure sponsored by ignoring the basic principles of running a business. Nothing is free.a superhero trying to run with the long cape ahead. Over time, determined by technical sale cycles, the general manager realizes he made a mistake and will find he has to start again to regain results that never came. for deciding to embark on an adventure sponsored by ignoring the basic principles of running a business. Nothing is free.
recommendations
For a company to achieve results and sustain them over time, it must strengthen its organizational structure, keeping it faithful to the strategy it designs for the period. A strong structure, not only has its areas well defined, but its managers are well empowered and it methodically strives to work with quantitative control systems that allow it to make reliable, integrative and coordinated decisions with its trusted management personnel. In fact, it must adequately use the knowledge and tools of administration and management available, subordinating its people to it, until the proper work culture change occurs over time. Otherwise, the CEO will be your company's main problem, rather than the solution.
It is never too late to ask for help. Business people know that the company is all their capital to survive and make money, and unless they have effortlessly inherited an organization or are a not-so-trusted high-trust employee, when companies go down they often lose their shirt, and if it is not enough until freedom. Take note because top management mistakes never cause minor damage. It is a matter of time.
