Successful selling has lots of proud parents. Missing sales goals is sadly a hungry orphan! Curiously momentum, also known as “Big Mo”, consistently influences information flows that influence positive outcomes. Big Mo identifies winners! Anyone who wants to compete and be recognized for work-related successes, probably has a co-existing alter-ego that is aggressively ready to be fed. To face the truth, first acknowledge that selling, business development, rainmaking, and revenue generation, all are tough businesses that require a lot of individual initiative and even more activity. Big Mo manages to remain inserted in organizational progress with information leading to valuable results.

Nevertheless, success in these feisty environments causes other competitors to salivate in anticipation of enjoying their own success. Then, when success finally emerges, the true innovator is eager to proclaim success. Because successful rainmaking demands many resources, inputs, iterations, and trials, the hard road to success can make anyone weary. However, success and its many parents are racing to get into the winners’ circle. The true business generator knows who was really involved in the victory and who contributed tangentially at best. Still, the true driver needs to keep all these minor contributors engaged so that they will be incented to work hard to become major contributors. Consequently, in order to maximize the contributions of these helpers, the real rock stars have to yield the maximum output going forward. In an environment, where coming in first place regardless of the truth or the competition becomes competitive in itself. Even if several people contributed, not all contributions are created equal. A key question always emerges: who truly gets the first call when announcing the Big Win!!!???

Whether rewards for sales support is structural in terms of contribution, or financial in terms of yielding monetary output, identifying the real contributors carries significant weight that goes beyond bragging rights! In the case of driven, results-oriented sales leaders from assistant managers through rainmaking executives, their rewards truly arrive when commissions and incentives are distributed. Considering that this reward sometimes aligns with whom benefits from the most lucrative territories, or the most profitable clients, the initial victorious announcement may logically go to that leader. After all, their superior incentive outcomes are supposedly based on the sales professional’s success. Then, the sales professional’s success benefits based on the assignments that the leader distributes. In this scenario, favor matters! Staying in the leadership’s good grace is essential to active, if not proactive, communication leading to favored status regarding opportunities. When leaders control that input, then the smart contributor makes that boss’ desires first regarding output!

However, that model is not the only one that works. Culture drives success, and different sub-cultures thrive when other information channels share good news with specified channels. As a dispatcher, it is quite likely that certain individuals get a disproportionately large amount of complaints and lesser amount of accolades. To stand out and remain top of mind, the contributor that thanks verbally and demonstrably this individual for feeding the right leads presents encourages emotional gratification. Gratitude toward that specific contributor before other quantitative contributors goes a long way toward emotionally connecting with gracious and compassionate teammates. In environments where gratitude represents a significant amount of the compensation, then the smart salesperson can go overboard regarding that individual with appreciation that features including them in the information trail as soon as possible. Even in the absence of cash compensation, leveraging highly valued information and favor with someone that is arguably disproportionately underpaid, will yield both opportunities and influence. Information can replace currency. Loyalty can establish position for success.

The third opportunity to “win friends” involves telling the person first that will get the word to the ultimate decision maker first. In many sales organizations, especially when geographically dispersed, strategic information is the currency. Value it accordingly! Especially when workers with influence may contribute to scheduling and access, keeping that individual at the top of the information chain empowers that individual to be more effective in their role, yet it does not necessarily disrupt the compensation model. In this situation, the administrative role may have significant leverage, beyond financial leverage. Also, savvy executives rely on individuals that understand the administrative priorities and guidelines, so that they big shot can focus on directing revenue growth. The details matter in organizations. Helping the administrative team matter more goes a long way when subjective decisions must be made in the trenches. The savvy professional is intentional in feeding information to specific individuals who can control outcomes. These administrative support teammates that have the proper ear or the proper responsibility to allocate resources can be the difference between winning sales awards, or greater compensation, or sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. Making the right call first can literally be the difference in recapturing momentum or making the next call to a headhunter.

By Glenn W Hunter

Managing Director, Hunter And Beyond, LLC

Author, Storytelling Wins The Best Engagements