We are all overloaded. No one has the capacity. We are running around with our hair on fire. Essential things are slipping through the cracks. Our sales team is booked for weeks. There simply isn’t enough time in the day! Sounds like a list of good problems to have! Not really, especially when this is the case, and there is little to no profit to show for it. So where is the issue? If we are all so busy, then shouldn’t we be profitable?
One of the most common reasons for this conundrum is that your team isn’t working in their highest and best use. You have the team you need and are investing in them to perform; however, they are focused on the wrong activities, which prevents the company from growing and you from realizing profitability. If your sales team is booked for weeks, then most would believe that more salespeople are needed. Before making that move, let’s first look into what the sales team spends their time doing. Encourage your team to track their time (everyone loves this!). You can then determine if they spend their time selling (their highest and best use) or drowning in admin activities. You will likely find that they spend much of their day booking meetings, scheduling sales trips, creating basic proposals, etc. More entry admin labor resources can efficiently perform these activities. That said, you don’t need another expensive salesperson; you need a rock-star admin! By making this move, you can clear the deck so they can sell and generate income. Now, repeat this for all admin/management positions on your team. In doing so, you may add a small amount of labor along the way, but the benefit is a company that becomes unstuck and can now produce a multiple of what it once was.
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