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Wearing Two Hats Costs a Sales Professional Sales
http://www.articleworld.net/articles/16282/1/Wearing-Two-Hats-Costs-a-Sales-Professional-Sales
Virden Thornton
Virden Thornton is the founder and president of The elling Edge, Inc., a sales consultingfirm specializing in sales, customer relations and sales management training and sales coaching. Clients include Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Bank One, Jefferson Pilot, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of 101 Sales Myths and the best selling Building & Closing the Sale, published by Thompson Learning.  
By Virden Thornton
Published on 08/20/2007
 
Its difficult at best to reprimand a staff member for poor sales performance, but almost impossible to do it when the reason for a lack of sales is that the representative was servicing a large account. If wearing two hats (sales and service) is not critical to your organizations success, why set up an impossible management situation.
Wearing Two Hats Costs a Sales Professional Sales

In many businesses and professional service organizations today, sales team members are asked to wear two hats--the sales promotion hat and the customer or client service hat. In some organizations this dual responsibility for the sales staff can not be avoided, but in those organizations where this sales and service function is not set in stone, you would be wise to off-load the service responsibilities from your sales professionals to members of a service team.

Sales managers dont need built in structural excuses for poor sales performance. However, by asking your sales team members to service accounts, you give poor performers a perfect way to excuse their lack of sales by simply telling you they were working on problems for their clients or customers and had less time to make sales or prospecting calls. For the 80 percent of sales professionals that sell 20 percent of the goods and services in the United States and Canada, the two hats role is an ideal situation. If they have a choice in the matter, they will always gravitate to servicing accounts and taking orders over generating new business from their selling activities.

 

Its difficult at best to reprimand a staff member for poor sales performance, but almost impossible to do it when the reason for a lack of sales is that the representative was saving a large account. If wearing two hats is not critical to your organizations success, why set up an impossible management situation.

 

It is vital that you take away every structural activity performed by sales team members that gives them an excuse for not being in front of decision-makers selling your products or services. In the long run, setting up an order desk and support staff are far more cost effective than taking sales professionals away from their primary responsibility of bringing in new business for your company or professional organization.