This is the time of year companies most often talk about sales goals. They should. Without adequate sales, we can’t write paychecks.
There is also another important part of sales that is easy to overlook: The ability to consistently deliver the products and services we sell. That is production capability. For our business to grow so must our people. Unfortunately, many growth opportunities are missed in favor of expediency.
Here is an example:
Let’s say you have an important project to do and you are considering who you can delegate the job to. Here are your options:
Person “A” – Someone who is highly experienced and competent for the job.
Person “B” – Someone who has potential to do the job, but not the level of skill or experience of “A””
Person “C” – Someone who does not have the experience or potential to do the job.
Which one would you choose? Probably not “C”. That would be a set up for failure. Many would choose “A”. We want to “get’er done!” Employing person “B” would require more coaching and monitoring, but if we were to make the investment, we are increasing our production capability. When possible we should build the “B’s” to make them “A’s”. In my experience with expanding companies, the organizations that grow in good health do everything they can to cultivate the “B’s”.
