The Chief Sales Officer | WHERE HAS THE INFORMATION GONE?

To the CSO – Complete Sales Optimization

The sales cheif executive is charged exclusively with delivery results, managing erosion, revenue shortfall as well as commitments.  He or she must also manage a pool of individual with differing productivity,  performance and personalities.  They are charged with maximizing results, ensure that a positive environment and seen as true leaders.

The pressurized cauldron pot of sales is a demanding one for the Chief Sales Officer in that there are possibly multiple targets to achieve, and making sure everyone in the teams achieves them is a challenge.  Ultimately, the Sales Director needs to be aware of all the key performance indicators that affect the overall target earnings well before sales are concluded so that he or she can address any exposures can be properly managed.  One common problem is that so much time is expended making sure every sales person makes his/her quota of sales that only afterwards are other factors discovered which affect the department. 

We’ve all been there – it’s approaching the end of the quarter and everyone is in a frenzied hive of activity making sure that the deals they have forecast come in.  As one of my former regional manager's once said, this is a time when "unnatural acts may occur".  And The Sales Director is the hub of all this activity and in many cases facilitating much of the action in order to help get those deals signed.  Afterwards, when the dust has settled, expected deals fall through the cracks and many of those deals have hidden flaws in them:

– Margins within the sale aren’t enough to justify the expenditure in getting the sale; this affects the commission of the sales person and the Sales Director!

– Resources within the company haven’t been allocated correctly so that the sale
drains technical teams and operations – this seriously affects the Operations Manager’s job who then
puts pressure on the Sales Director.

– Or the solution does not quite fit the customer’s requirements without extensive extra work which has not been accounted for in the quote affecting the profitability of the deal.  In some instances,  basic targets are achieved at all costs – which ends up costing the company; and eventually the Sales Director employment!

To effectively manage the situation whilst also focusing on maximising the profit of the sale, the Sales Director needs to know relevant information before it is too late to do anything about it.