It doesn’t matter what company, what industry, or who their customers are. There is often a disconnect between sales and delivery. We hear it all the time from the client delivery/service/production staff…”Sales is over-selling! Why would they promise that? How am I going to get that done?” And sales asks us, “Seriously, what do they do all day? I needed it yesterday!”
How does t
his disconnect affect the productivity of your company? What is it costing you to have these two departments battling it out?
his disconnect affect the productivity of your company? What is it costing you to have these two departments battling it out? For one thing it wastes time. For another, it creates additional tension in a work environment that has enough other stresses.
What can you do? A mutual understanding of each other’s departments would helpful, but how?
Recently we sat down with an entire team from a company with similar issues. When we broke down their processes, we found opportunities for simple, low-cost solutions. One of the areas for improvement was the sales meeting. If the salespeople used a simple process: a standardized form with questions (many added by the delivery team in our meetings), we could solve many of their issues. As long as the sales team remembered to bring the checklist to each sales meeting and used it to lead them through the meeting, details were not being missed. This is working so well that it is now the company standard for all salespeople to use the checklist in meetings.
The end result is less time being spent going back and forth to each other to get answers and waiting to hear back, as well as less complaints and frustrations. It moves the process along much more smoothly and saves the company time and money in the long run. Sitting down with both teams and seeing their role in the entire structure of the company gave each area a better understanding of how their roles contributed to the overall goals of the company. Only when you break down the details of a process together can a team identify areas where the process isn’t working and opportunities for improvements.
Do you have similar issues in your company? Try to estimate your team’s wasted time and use this calculator to see how it’s impacting your bottom line. If you find that your team is wasting valuable time, consider trying a process mapping session at your company. Be sure to find a place with a large whiteboard, get everyone that touches the process involved, and make sure you spend time on solutions - not complaints. Let me know how it goes!
Nicole