Reprint: R0607K
In recent years, sales leaders have had to devote considerable time and energy to establishing and maintaining disciplined processes. The thing is, many of them stop there—and they can’t afford to, because the business environment has changed. Customers have gained power and gone global, channels have proliferated, more product companies are selling services, and many suppliers have begun providing a single point of contact for customers.
Such changes require today’s sales leaders to fill various new roles:
Company leader. The best sales chiefs actively help formulate and execute company strategy, and they collaborate with all functions of the business to deliver value to customers.
Customer champion. Customers want C-level relationships with suppliers in order to understand product strategy, look at offerings in advance, and participate in decisions made about future products—and sales leaders are in the best position to offer that kind of contact.
Process guru. Although sales chiefs must look beyond the sales and customer processes they have honed over the past decade, they can’t abandon them. The focus on process has become only more important as many organizations have begun bundling products and services to meet important customers’ individual needs.
Organization architect. Good sales leaders spend a lot of time evaluating and occasionally redesigning the sales organization’s structure to ensure that it supports corporate strategy. Often, this involves finding the right balance between specialized and generalized sales roles.
Course corrector. Sales leaders must watch the horizon, but they can’t take their hands off the levers or forget about the dials. If they do, they might fail to respond when quick adjustments in priorities are needed.
When it comes to thinking about sales leadership these days, most executives just don’t get it. Chief sales officers—and even chief executive officers, who recognize that the sales organization drives top-line growth—often have an incomplete notion of the CSO’s job.
