One day you wake up and give a thought to a very disappointing fact. You found a company and hired top-notch sales experts, but for some reason, you manage to sign more contracts (usually under more favorable conditions) than sales managers all together.

When that day comes, Do NOT fire your sales team in the heat of the moment.

The truth is that founders and CEOs initially have more advantages over mid-level sales specialists.

Look at this.

Fantastic Passion

Nobody knows the heart and soul of company products better than founders. They wanted to improve the world badly and it was the reason why the product came out in the first place. Potential clients always recognize and appreciate passion. Who else could talk more passionate about the child than its parents?

Big Guns

When top executives join negotiations, prospects get a message that they are significant. They are VIPs if a C-level manager shows up. Now prospects are ready to talk seriously.

Admiral Nelson of The Day

Founders are experts. They understand nuances of products. They have the whole picture of the corporate processes in their minds. Their experience is huge. Not surprisingly, they are able to convert prospects into clients at a higher rate.

It’s a common practice for top management to step into the final round of communication with prospects or come along from the start if a big contract is at stake.

However, it’s a waste to use founders and chief officers in daily sales operations no matter their conversion rate. Their time is so expensive, their set of skills is so impressive and cold calls are so numerous and time-consuming, that you don’t want to light a fire with memoirs of Dostoevsky instead of sticks.

I remember dining with a good colleague of mine while discussing ideas for B2B businesses to attract more customers. In the middle of our conversation, I complained how miserable I was doing so much stuff every day including sales. He interrupted, “Delegate selling to salespeople c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y. Accept the fact that they will convert fewer prospects for the sake of spending your time on more important tasks.”

I listened to my colleague and that’s what I learned since then.

Businesses can’t get rid of sales managers unless they are sole proprietorships. With no sales specialists comes no stable volume of clients. The company won’t scale.

The time of a founder is precious.

7% conversion rate of sales managers is better for a company than 15% conversion rate of a founder who is totally drawn in sales.

In this particular case decrease in sales ratio is a tolerable sacrifice.

Just make sure decrease in sales is not due to lack of enthusiasm and poor performance of sales specialists.





How to support sales managers and boost their conversion rate?

Go through the 7-point checklist for sales teams written by a co-founder who was massively engaged in sales (that’s me).

Make prospects feel they are in the hands of an expert and their interests are yours. Not only tell them so - follow this principle all along. Be as friendly as possible, but don’t cross the line. Get ready to go the extra mile to break the ice. Do some work for free. Do not believe everything prospects say. They may be mistaken or lie on purpose. No matter the cause, stand your ground and act like a diplomat. Create and update sales scripts. One’s ability to speak the same language with harsh prospects is valuable for others and can be conveyed through the knowledge base. Record every talk. Memory is quite unreliable in regard to project details. Also, recorded conversations allow analyzing communication tactics when emotions faded away. Stay positive. Prospects may give up on you now but come back three months later. At least, you both enjoyed the talk.

One last word of wisdom. My experience taught me that sales are both science and art. There is a balance between sticking to scripts and going with the flow. Leave these adjustments to your sales managers.