Support Your Support Staff

All of us in business know the importance of selling. Clearly this is our main function and we give it and our sales staff main priority, it is only natural.

Fewer business people, however, stop to think very often about the staff behind the scenes that are helping our sales process and our sales team work smoothly and effectively. I consider this to be a mistake. Just because a member of staff is not frontline in the sales stakes does not mean that their contribution is not just as vital to making those sales.

The chances are that these are the people that are doing the tasks that free up the sales person to do what they are best at and what you hired them for. There are so many other tasks beside the actual sales that need to be done efficiently for your business to be successful. Marketing, after sales paperwork, making appointments and manning the phones are all tasks that are done on daily basis at most businesses and it does not make sense to have a sales person doing them.

Take the people in the front line of your business for example. Unless things are very quiet it simply does not make sense to have trained sales staff answering the phones, it would be a waste of a very specific resource. But the person who answers the phone to potential customers is that customers first contact with your business. We all know how vital that first contact is. If they do not sound friendly as well as efficient then your business is on the back foot from the start. The potential new customer may not even make it as far as your gun sales people.

Most business owners have regular meetings and training for their sales staff and yet they never think to extend this practice to the people who are the customers’ first point of contact. I have found that training and meetings for this sector of business is just as important as the emphasis we put on our sales people.

How often do you reward your behind the scenes admin staff? Only at Christmas? A lot of sales staff are rewarded with bonus incentive schemes and commission but the people who are the strength behind the sales team are rarely recognised in that way.

For my mind, in order to create cohesive teams that work together and towards the same goal, it is very important to let all of your staff know what their role is and why it is so vital to your business. If you fail to do this you risk accidentally creating destructive resentment among your team members. This is never a good thing. Trust me on that one, I learned the hard way.

If you want a strong and steady team, value your support staff and show them and the sales team that they are valued. Reward them and train them, they are vital.

Support Your Support Staff