Business Strategy | We Can't Do That

Conform (verb / kənˈfôrm)
Comply with rules, standards, or laws. Behave according to socially acceptable conventions or standards. Be similar in form or type. Agree.

You don’t have to go too far before you hear some mutation of the phrase “we can't do that here”. At first, it almost seems believable but with some thought it's more of an auto-response. It becomes part of the fabric of the organization. No new ideas is often next in line.

One phrase I hear almost daily is; “we don’t need marketing, we need sales" and it reminds me of what a colleague once said to me. He often boasted that "employees are overhead, customers are profit". Yes, dinosaurs walk among us.

Underspend To Success

Sales training is not a simple process and it's not free. The process to master the art of sales usually takes a few years and a lot of expense. If short-cuts are made, a company can be decimated. There are few quicker steps to failure than an inexperienced sales team on the street with a product or service that isn't ready for customers who have never heard of it.

So before you feel compelled to say “we can’t do that”, one suggestion is to put the company on the hoist to expose waste before you make cuts on essential items such as people and letting customers know you exist. Companies often bemoan decreasing results but think they can cut themselves into the black. Or worse, do nothing.

What are your thoughts?

Kneale Mann