IT'S ABOUT MORE THAN SALES

Organizations are always quick to put sales on a pedestal. Sales is the lifeblood of the organization they will shout from the rooftops. Much effort and money is put towards annual sales conference, sales training, "President's Club" trips, etc. etc. etc.

A stellar sales force is extremely important to a company, because obviously without revenue generation there would be no business. But focusing most efforts on sales is like saying you only need a frontal lobe in the brain, there is no need for the rest of the organ to think and make the body function.

So what about Supply Chain, Procurement, Finance, HR, Marketing, IT. Research etc.? Could sales actually put together proposals, sell to the client and deliver excellent service to that same client without these so-called support organizations? Of course not. Yet because these are what are typically referred to as "back-room" functions (or even worse - cost centers) they are taken for granted.

Some organizations get it and celebrate the contributions of stellar individuals or teams outside of sales. But most do not. They will slash other budgets while putting more into sales, not recognizing that the other aspects of the organization are in fact the "client retention" part of the business.

I will address Supply Chain and Procurement specifically here because that is what I have the most experience with, but that is not to diminish the rest of the "support" functions...they are equally important.

When dealing with  product distribution, Supply Chain defines the client experience. From having the inventory available, to delivering the right product, to the right place, at the promised time, in one piece. If you think about whether you would want continue to deal with an organization that never had the product you wanted available, and never delivered to promise, well, you would take your business elsewhere, pretty quickly. 

Supply Chain and Procurement often work hand-in-hand with the sales force in structuring deals, whether in services or product sales. They may even be asked to go on client visits to give some credibility to the "team" approach of their company. I have also seen deals sold, where it was almost impossible to deliver to the promises made within the profitability matrix provided. That's when all the non-sales functions role up their sleeves and become creative on how to make this work. But at the end of the day it will be the sales rep who will get the shiny statue and maybe a trip to boot.

I could give more examples, but I think you have the basic idea. I am not dissing sales, far from it. I actually like sales people. They have a tough job, I mean they have to truly go through a labyrinth, with unknown obstacles hiding away, before they make a sale. So I think it is appropriate to recognize them and train them to do better.

Yet don't forget the rest of the folk back at the shop. They don't expect much, they are used to being overlooked. But if you really want a high-functioning organization, make a point of recognizing all the contributors to the achievements of the organization, and promoting that success is the net result of everyone in the team -- not just sales.