Don Hansen 2016-03-12 07:22:05
Who Gets the Credit?
HARRY S. TRUMAN let us know a long time ago that “It is amazing what you accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” It’s a great soundbite but is it practical in today’s micro-metric-driven business environment? At Regents Capital Corporation, we have taken some of Harry’s wisdom and put it to work. We discovered the more collaborative our approach, the more success we achieved. We doubled every key metric between 2014 and 2015 and our goal is to produce the same result this year—together.
Collaboration for Survival
Regents Capital is still an early-stage company. We launched in December 2013 with a small but dedicated sales team with various levels of experience. Each new business opportunity was essential to our survival. I remember having a specific discussion with our president who leads the sales team about a new transaction developed by a newer sales team member. It was a complicated transaction that needed someone with experience to ensure it flowed smoothly. I communicated to him that it didn’t matter if the president of the company had to do most of work himself to win and keep that transaction—let’s win the business, compensate the sales representative (even if he did not do most of the heavy lifting) and keep our doors open.
We replicated this process on a few transactions. As each successive opportunity moved through the process, it became very clear that this “team” approach to transactions has extra benefits. Fewer mistakes are made, which results in a better experience for the client. More teachable moments occur in real time with live deals, which helps develop junior-level talent faster. Most importantly, a stronger sense of collective responsibility begins to permeate the organization. The individual transactional wins become the team wins with the collaborative approach. Every person that is involved is a stakeholder in the opportunity.
Your organization may be more mature than Regents at this point. However, you may want to reflect on the following. What is my sales team’s current mindset about individual opportunities? Is there a sense of urgency or importance placed on individual opportunities? Do my policies and corporate culture allow for or encourage collaborative approaches? If not, I would recommend looking for areas to break down barriers and get people together.
Collaborations for Growth
Regents enters 2016 with some aggressive growth plans. To meet those goals, we will continue to elevate the team-oriented approach. Implementation of these ideas is critically important to our hiring and training goals.
We have found that we can achieve a high level of success by recruiting and developing new talent. New talent is developed with a very hands-on mentorship program. New hires are immediately teamed with a senior sales leader who coaches them on every step of the process. These senior managers are there to ensure two key objectives: 1) the success and development of our new team members and 2) the client experience is the best we can deliver.
Each participant in this relationship earns a direct benefit. Our clients have a positive experience with a dedicated sales team handling their needs. Our developing sales representative earns valuable real-time experience though direct participation in and observation of how to handle new situations with different transactional variables. Th eir earnings are also positively impacted by the increase in sales that may have been lost due to lack of experience. Our compensation structure also rewards the senior sales leaders for their role in the process. Alignment of our compensation policies to reinforce our collaborative approach ensures high levels of buy-in and adoption.
These ideas are not groundbreaking by any stretch. However, the basics sometimes get lost as policies develop and silos emerge in organizations. By breaking down barriers and committing to more team-based processes you might find the lift you need to make 2016 your best year yet.
Don Hansen is Chief Executive Officer at Regents Capital Corporation.
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