rather than adding value. Furthermore, only very rarely does any review process exist. As the requirements of the company evolve, there is no means of accommodating these changes in the CRM application and even when sales suggest a better way of doing things they are told that the you can't do it with the CRM system. What you end up with is a company that runs for the benefit of the internal sales processes as opposed to addressing the needs of the customers and the employees. In addition, the company and its employees forget why certain sales processes even exist and, worse still, nobody questions why.

Trusting Your sales Team

Processes are important, but they must add value to both the sales teams and the company. If we get down to basics, why do we need all of these sales processes anyway? Quite simply, to generate a sales forecast and hence, to accurately predict the revenues in any given period. In reality this is actually not that hard to achieve.

The key to it is TRUST YOUR sales TEAM.

Now consider the Sales and sales management team. They have been recruited, trained and developed at enormous expense to the company (check it out and add up all the money that has been spent to develop these people) - perhaps they even represent the single largest overhead for your company. Your have hired these people because they know how to do the job. Shouldn't they be allowed to do it and remove all of the obstacles to productivity? They are the vehicle for the company's products and services and the means of communicating the 'go to market' strategy. These are skilled executives whose income potential is in the top 5% of the company and they are surely by definition, trustworthy!

So why do companies insist on imposing such pointless processes on their sales teams? If anyone knows about sales processes surely it must be the sales teams themselves. Companies also need accurate sales forecasts. This is a sales management task. Focus on these processes to establish the probability of the revenue opportunity rather than just getting sales teams to input information that, in some cases, may never even be used. By ensuring that the sales team has the responsibility and accountability for sales forecasting and setting their own objectives, you may be surprised by the results - These people will often set goals for themselves that are far greater than those you would set for them.

Sure, other departmental functions have their specific requirements, but this must be put in context. The most important characteristic is to ensure that everyone is clear on exactly why the process is there and feedback must be provided to the sales teams on a regular basis.

What you should be looking for?

Creating an environment addicted to imposing sales processes for sales process's sake is particularly destructive. If sales teams believe that their ability to do the job is restricted with administrative tasks, their morale will be impacted. Sales people do require motivating on almost continual basis and they also need lots of feedback. If companies insist on demanding information and adherence to processes without offering feedback, they should not be surprised at the outcome, which will include reduced productivity, low morale, cynicism and high staff turnover throughout the sales and marketing function.

A view I recently heard from one employer was that, with the current unfavourable economic conditions, they can do more or less what they like with the sales team. Some companies believe there are currently more sales people available than there are jobs to go round. This is very arrogant and this particular type of narrow-mindedness will on

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