Selling is every employee’s job. Employees may not believe that’s the case. In fact, when asked, most employees will give their job titles. Selling or sales would not be mentioned, unless of course they worked in the sales department.
However, even though it’s not spelled out in writing in their job descriptions, selling is every employee’s job. For example, an employee might say, “I’m a file clerk.” Another might add, “I’m the stockroom assistant.” And, still another might say, “I’m an administrative executive.” They may be telling you what their job title is, but in reality, they are also a key player in the company’s sales force.
Everyone is a Salesperson
In a small business, staff members wear many hats of responsibility. They’re not performing only one task or job. Whether they realize it or not employees are company representatives. In fact, employees are identified by who they work for. It may not be in the job title or job description, but every staff member is basically a salesperson for the company. From day one on the job, management must convey to the staff person that regardless of where their position ranks in the company’s organizational chart, everyone is a company representative.
Employees may reject the fact that they’re company salespeople. Of course, there are employees who deal directly and complete the actual sales with customers. Nevertheless, every employee, no matter what their job title may be, are part of the company’s sales staff. It’s impossible for a business to be successful only with its sales department and no other staff members.
In reality, the sales loop for a business incorporates a wide variety of employees that usually follows this track:
-Supplier to the customer,
-Return to the supplier for another order or orders, and
-Right back to the customer for more sales.
At the same time, inside this circle are a host of staff members, ranging from production employees to warehouse workers, needed for a business to function.
So, when you begin to outline all the jobs in a business, the circle highlights how “sales” is everyone’s responsibility from the owner to the stock room employee. It’s important for every staff member in the business to do the job to the best of his or her ability. When the business succeeds, the employees benefit from job stability and more money. It becomes a “win-win” situation for everyone!
Meanwhile, when business is slow or it’s losing money, everyone in the business suffers. It becomes imperative for management to clearly explain to staff members how critical their jobs are to the overall success of the business.
All for One…One for All
The term, “all for one and one for all,” was best known as the slogan for the title characters in the book The Three Musketeers. That motto can also pertain to an accomplished business. Every individual staff member is vital to the success of the business. However, everyone’s job function and responsibilities are interconnected with each other in the big picture of the organization. Therefore, running any business is a team sport. When the organization wins, every employee wins. When the organization loses, every employee loses.
Messaging
Running a business in today’s environment is challenging to say the least. Therefore, management needs to clearly state the importance of teamwork to everyone in the organization.
We’ve all heard the following sports cliché many times – “There’s no I in team.” So, each staff member must understand how a collective teamwork approach leads to organizational prosperity. To make this become a reality, selling is every employee’s job!
