Do You Have Commissioned Salespeople Wreaking Havoc In Your Consulting Firm?
Do you know that Saharan silver ants can not only survive the highest temperatures, but they are also some of the fastest sprinters?
The highest temperature they can safely operate in is around 128.5°F (53.6°C), and they can achieve amazing running speed by pulling up their two front legs and trotting along only on four.
And the only reason I've mentioned this nipple-piercingly exhilarating factoid is because consulting firms that try to make a living by relying on commissioned sales forces may well need similar attributes to survive the heat and the mad rush of competitive bidding processes and the cruelty of price-obsessed procurement agents.
It has always been a huge issue for consulting firms to keep themselves fully billable, whatever that means, and in order to achieve that, many firms have chosen to assemble commissioned sales forces that are in charge of drumming up business for the subject matter experts, the consultants.
And over the years I've often seen otherwise reputable consulting firms gradually erode their brand and reputation by hiring commission-based salespeople for business development. Oh, yes. Not for sales. That's too crass and vulgar, and consulting firms don't do selling.
They do business development. Just look at the word "Sell" in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. What do you see? Sell: Transitive verb. 1) To deliver or give up in violation of duty, trust, or loyalty and especially for personal gain; betray — often used without "sell out their country".
Or let's look at the origin of "Sell": Middle English, from Old English sellan; akin to Old High German sellen to sell, Greek helein, meaning "to take". Well. Is it surprising that consultants are allergic to the word?
Most meanings of the word relates to trickery, deception and manipulation. Knowing that selling is the part business development, we can ask the question...
Which Type Of Business Development Do You Do?
And this is what we discuss in this month's brain-fryingly exciting episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, Do You Have Commissioned Salespeople Wreaking Havoc In Your Firm?.
Enjoy!
The highest temperature they can safely operate in is around 128.5°F (53.6°C), and they can achieve amazing running speed by pulling up their two front legs and trotting along only on four.
And the only reason I've mentioned this nipple-piercingly exhilarating factoid is because consulting firms that try to make a living by relying on commissioned sales forces may well need similar attributes to survive the heat and the mad rush of competitive bidding processes and the cruelty of price-obsessed procurement agents.
It has always been a huge issue for consulting firms to keep themselves fully billable, whatever that means, and in order to achieve that, many firms have chosen to assemble commissioned sales forces that are in charge of drumming up business for the subject matter experts, the consultants.
And over the years I've often seen otherwise reputable consulting firms gradually erode their brand and reputation by hiring commission-based salespeople for business development. Oh, yes. Not for sales. That's too crass and vulgar, and consulting firms don't do selling.
They do business development. Just look at the word "Sell" in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. What do you see? Sell: Transitive verb. 1) To deliver or give up in violation of duty, trust, or loyalty and especially for personal gain; betray — often used without "sell out their country".
Or let's look at the origin of "Sell": Middle English, from Old English sellan; akin to Old High German sellen to sell, Greek helein, meaning "to take". Well. Is it surprising that consultants are allergic to the word?
Most meanings of the word relates to trickery, deception and manipulation. Knowing that selling is the part business development, we can ask the question...
Which Type Of Business Development Do You Do?
And this is what we discuss in this month's brain-fryingly exciting episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, Do You Have Commissioned Salespeople Wreaking Havoc In Your Firm?.
Enjoy!
Labels: Consulting business development, Consulting client acquisition, Consulting rainmaker, Marketing consulting services
posted by Bald Dog @ Friday, December 27, 2013
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