Babette Ten Haken

Contact Babette
  • Home
  • Programs
    • Keynotes
    • Breakouts & Workshops
    • Professional Innovation Coaching
  • Blog
  • My Story
    • Testimonials
    • Honors & Awards
  • Resources
    • White Papers
    • Do You Mean Business? – The Book
  • Contact Me!
You are here: Home / Collaboration And Convergence / Your Sales Hand-Off is Slippery

Your Sales Hand-Off is Slippery

June 10, 2015 by Babette Ten Haken Leave a Comment

Your sales hand-off to the professionals who implement what you’ve just sold sets your table for renewal business.

Can your company truly execute and sustain service quality on what you’ve just sold?

The buyers were skeptical, in the first place, about their decision to select you as their vendor-partner of choice. You overcame that hurdle and were awarded the contract.

The decision makers expect excellence in service quality delivery. However, they anticipate disappointment once their project comes into your house, based on past history with other suppliers.

Your sales hand-off to internal project management hinges on your succinct articulation of the buyers’ expectations, anticipations and specifications.

Is your sales hand-off slippery or rock solid? Are your specifications sketchy or crystal clear? Are your internal capabilities able to deliver on your sales promises?

Your sales hand-off to the people who will design, develop, implement and support that contract is critical to the long-term success of your company.

How many of the folks who implement what you’ve just sold are involved in pre-sales activities – and not just to demo?

The anatomy of your sales hand-off involves a hard look at the interface of the hand-off between executive management, sales and engineering.

It’s more than closing the sale, making your quota and earning your commission.

One company I worked with involved their entire company in every sale, from start to finish. Engineering input and oversight, although outsourced, was present from the first customer dialogue. Even the individuals answering the phones and manning the loading dock understood their importance in maintaining the company’s revenue stream.

Yes, there was a can of worms we identified, explored and respectfully opened. Employees wanted training and certification to grow into bigger roles within this organization. The Executive Team committed to investing in their company’s future by investing in their employees’ futures.

Everyone was important in this internal- and external customer-focused scenario. The company grew and sustained themselves due to the value of their business outcomes to their customers.

That sales hand-off was consistently rock-solid.

Another company I worked with functioned as order-takers to a group of manufacturers’ reps. Regardless of their internal titles of President and Vice-President, in actuality these individuals served in accounting and engineering functions. They executed what was sold and handed-off. Sometimes the contracts were well-executed and specified, sometimes not. Sometimes the contracts were profitable, sometimes not.

The sales reps were the rock stars and true executive team in this internally-focused, self-serving scenario. The company grew in its primary function: to sustain the reps’ revenue streams. They left the internal teams holding the bag regarding service quality delivery. The focus of the company on their own commissions and profits made them vulnerable to those competitors offering more fully-integrated, customer focus.

That sales hand-off was inconsistent and slippery.

How would you describe your own business case scenario? Is your sales hand-off slippery or rock-solid?

This post was brought to you by IBM for MSPs and opinions are my own. 

Babette N. Ten Haken is a business leadership coach, management strategist and consultant. Her Workshops create Playbooks for individuals and companies who want to grow, expand and sustain their businesses, but wrestle with unpredictable revenue streams. Her Playbook on practical collaborative leadership and business development strategies, including tools, Do YOU Mean Business?  is available on Amazon.com. Contact her here. 

Enjoy this post? Please share it!

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare on EmailShare on Reddit

Filed Under: Collaboration And Convergence, Customer Experience, Success, Loyalty, Retention, Human Capital & Industrial IoT Workforce, Professional Development Tagged With: engineering, sales, sales hand-off

About Babette Ten Haken

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hire Babette to speak at your next conference or corporate meeting.

https://youtu.be/Yf-h80O_QZ4
Sign up to receive posts via email
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz
SalesProCentral
Customer Experience Update

Categories

  • Collaboration And Convergence
  • Customer Experience, Success, Loyalty, Retention
  • Human Capital & Industrial IoT Workforce
  • Professional Development
  • Trending Book Reviews
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • Target Working with the Best so You can be Your Best!
  • Your Post Pandemic Career Strategy Evolved. Now what?
  • 3 One Millimeter Mindset Professional Goals Blog Posts
  • What Is Your Professional Career Voice: Leader or Follower?
  • Why Your Professional Core Capabilities Limit Your Value

Archives

Storytelling for STEM Professionals and Left Brain Thinkers Speaking Programs. Learn more....

Contact Babette
Sign up to receive posts via email
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz

Recent Posts

Target Working with the Best so You can be Your Best!

Your Post Pandemic Career Strategy Evolved. Now what?

3 One Millimeter Mindset Professional Goals Blog Posts

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on LinkedInFollow Us on Instagram

Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions

CATALYST FOR PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION: Storytelling for STEM Professionals and Left Brain Thinkers Speaking Programs.
Sales Aerobics for Engineers®, All Rights Reserved 2021 ©
By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies