The relationship between sales managers and other departments or the story of why number 1 has no place in business

Delegating all the work to the sales department and hoping that the business will take off is a disastrous proposition. Therefore, it is necessary to build communication so that salespeople do not work for everyone, but in conjunction with the rest.

What is the role of the sales department in a company?

Let's start with the basics and discuss what the sales department does.

One way or another, it is created for sales. And yet, before you see the client’s signature in the service agreement, the application must be processed. By application we mean an incoming request or lead.

But the competencies are not limited to lead processing. The main goal of the sales department is to ensure that the agency's revenue grows. This is what you need to start from:

• process the lead;

• make an individual commercial offer*;

• find out information through account managers;

• transfer the client to other departments;

• track the trail, etc.

*A commercial proposal is an individual story that includes points and calculations based on the client’s requests, wishes and preferences.

One salesperson can't handle this. Well-functioning communication with other departments will help him with this.

What role do neighboring divisions play in sales?

To sell an idea, it’s not enough to talk about it. The customer wants answers to specific questions:

• What will I get?

• When will I receive this?

• How many leads will I get if I invest N amount?

In other words, the client is interested in deadlines, money and forecasts.

Imagine the situation: you are a client who came to a call with a content marketing agency. The manager told you everything: how long they have been on the market, who they collaborated with, what reviews are on the website; said that they write articles in different formats.

Did you get the point? It is not clear for what period the work from the contractor is expected; the amount of budget that needs to be allocated for advertising; the number of leads that can come. Accordingly, it becomes unclear how much you can earn as a result.

Information from the sales manager must be provided in full and with specific figures. The problem is that salespeople cannot always provide information immediately and independently.

If we talk about context or SEO, then there are no questions here, since the cost is fixed. And in the case of the development department, you will have to work hard. Here the salesperson needs to contact the project manager so that he can evaluate the application, including providing specific data on time and money.

Only after this the sales manager will be able to return to the client with up-to-date information and a commercial proposal (CP), for example, in 5-7 days. Depends on the niche, scale and complexity of the work.

If the client is satisfied with the CP, the contract can be signed. The next step is communication with the account manager. It is he who will subsequently become the link between the client and the department. The account will entrust the client to the right department based on the information provided by the salesperson.

The main transaction cycle goes like this:

• Sales interacts with the client and, if necessary, contacts the account or project manager. After a while, the salesperson returns to the client with a commercial proposal, and then, through the account or project manager, transfers the project to the appropriate department.

Each stage of the cycle is interconnected with each other. If there is a blockage in one link, the entire mechanism will break down. That is why it is recommended to establish communication between departments.

And it’s even better to have several employees in reserve who, if anything happens, can replace a colleague.

Imagine you only have one sales manager or one account manager. Someone got sick, became less effective due to various factors, quit, etc. – what will happen to the chain? She will break. Accordingly, production will also stop. The result is a dissatisfied customer.

And if you had several managers, accounts and other employees who take part in the cycle, this would not happen.

What cannot be done in the process of forming communication?

To learn from the mistakes of others, and not from our own, we share tips.

This is the most common problem that you need to think about at the beginning of creating a business.

For example: the salesperson conducted all the calls, drew up a CP and passed on all the information to the project manager. He – without a dream – together with a specific department completed all the tasks. On the penultimate day of the project, the client began asking the account: “where is the search bar?” The manager is at a loss, since there was no such clause in the project. It turned out that the salesperson forgot to include this detail. As a result, the deadline was delayed, and the client formed a negative impression of the agency.

The CP has been formed, all actions have been discussed, the project has been sent to work. But the client was still dissatisfied. Why? It seemed to him that not everyone agreed with him, in particular the catalogue. It turned out that the client understood one thing, and the account – another. Inconsistency.

The result is the same: deadlines are not met, the project is delayed, the client is angry.

A sales manager may not always be aware of current affairs in another department. That is why, when setting deadlines in the CP, he needs to rely on what either the account manager or the project manager says. Otherwise, history will repeat itself – employees will miss deadlines.

For example, a salesperson took the number 20 out of his head, not knowing that the context department is now at 95% capacity. Of course, specialists cannot cope with such a load. At a minimum, they will do the work longer with a new client, and at a maximum with all the others. This entails huge losses in the form of money.

But if the salesperson had contacted the account and found out the deadlines before promising something to the client, the result would have been different: everyone was happy.

This is a classic story when there are many applications, but there are not enough people who will do this work.

• First, let’s remember the most dangerous number for business.

• Secondly, we think in advance about how many clients each department can take on.

• Thirdly, we are thinking about scaling or not loading production by more than 80%.

You won’t have enough time to hire a client and find a new employee who will so quickly adapt to the company’s standards and do everything efficiently.

What to do to…avoid mistakes?

1. Create a checklist for transferring a client.

It will include all the information that everyone involved in the chain needs to know.

Related information will also be written down here, which relates to the client’s communication style, his preferences, experience, etc.

This game format is convenient for both sales and account managers to work with. Information is stored in one place and is difficult to lose.

2. Call recording.

Disclaimer: of course, before recording, the salesperson must ask the client if he can record their conversation. Usually there are no objections. If something happens, you should answer that if you have a recording, you can return to it and resolve all controversial issues.

The account can also view the recording after the call. This helps to complete the picture of the project and not miss important details.

By the way, recording allows you to optimize your account. He does not waste either his time or the client’s time trying to find out information that is already known.

3. 2:1 format.

The format involves a call, in which not only the client and sales manager, but also the account manager take part.

At the very beginning, the dialogue takes place between the salesperson and the client, and at the end, if the account still has questions, he asks them himself.

Time is saved for each party. The result is obvious: the account is in full control of the situation, it is aware of everything.

If necessary, the account manager can be replaced by a project manager.

4. Regulations.

These are the very deadlines that employees can often miss.

With the help of regulations, employees know exactly in what period of time they must complete this or that work.

Emphasis in communication

First, you need to remember that one person cannot bring a huge profit without messing up. Any project is a team effort, in which sales, the account, and the project manager take part.

Secondly, in a transaction chain where the number of employees is one, you need to insure yourself. No one can guarantee that tomorrow he will not contract chickenpox or quit due to burnout.

• Time: personal and work, both employees and clients.

Keeping your colleagues in good shape is important and necessary. The success of the project depends on this.

The more you learn from the client at first, the easier it will be to work with him in the future.

Yes, yes, that same well-functioning communication. This is a story not only about transmitting client data on time and as completely as possible. This topic also concerns the respect of colleagues for each other.

Every employee needs to appreciate the work of another person. Don’t think that if you suck today, no one will notice it tomorrow. This will affect the work of another department.

The more sensitively a salesperson treats, for example, a project manager, the more effective communication will be. It works the other way around too.