Is your P&L stifling growth?

If you could sell an additional service to 10% of your accounts, what would that do to your P&L? It’s a question worth pondering for those companies that operate in ‘Silos’.

I was having a meeting with a new client recently. They were frustrated that their front line sales team always focussed on selling services from one business stream, ignoring the potential opportunity to sell the wider range of products available from across their group. I was quick to point out that this wasn’t a challenge peculiar to just their particular industry.

Structures that are built around divisions or business units have, for many companies, worked extremely well. It often means that the ‘Group’ function can be kept small, and the divisional heads are held to task to deliver on their P&L commitments. But such structures are rarely designed for customers and markets. The manner in which a company is structured, is often in place to service internal needs, not external.

A typical sales call in such an organisation might then be expected to engage a customer in a discussion about services and products relating to one division. So, again, this ignores the wider potential needs of the customer who may be interested in services from the other divisions. It is not uncommon therefore, to hear that a company can find itself sending several different sales people to the same customer. Not efficient for the customer or the supplier.

So, how do you get around it? There is no quick fix but some of the elements that can stimulate growth and improve sales efficiency are

• Leadership – The leaders set the growth ambition and have to lead by example, to show commitment to engage peers to put the team ahead, or at least on a par with the division.
• Culture – The visible commitment of the top team, and the encouragement they give to the wider sales force, will begin to permeate the culture.
• Targets and Rewards – Setting dual targets, one for the division and another for cross-division accounts. These are often key accounts and could be managed by the ‘Group Central Function’.
• Training – Both in the wider product/service set and improving on the skill of listening to and interpreting customer’s wider challenges.
• Celebrate success – Case studies showing growth will provide the evidence needed to push harder and faster to change from silo to team mentality.

With a bit of vision and commitment, great strides can be made that will unlock the growth potential of your business, without necessarily having to find new customers!