“Get those sales guys – we have to hit today’s target.
Everybody pitch hard and bring me the numbers!”
Does that have a familiar ring to it? Am sure it does,
especially to all those working in direct sales, marketing or customer service
roles. We have all, at some point or the other had our supervisors and
team leaders “encourage” us to push the limits of our horizons and chase
targets with a determined frenzy. If by God’s grace you do achieve the coveted
sales– they top it off with “I’m so proud of you!”
Quantity has become synonymous with quality, profits with
caliber and money with success. More often than not, the ends justify the
means, and as long as the cash is flowing in, it little matters how it comes
in. And if your methods fail to yield immediate gains, your capabilities are
undermined, your sincere intent, genuine commitment and complete integrity
notwithstanding.
It’s this shortsightedness that, in my opinion, could well
prove counter productive and reverse fortunes of flourishing businesses. For
employees in sales and customer service roles, building a steady rapport with
the client fosters brand loyalty and ensures their long-term association with
the business. It reflects genuine concern for customers as against a typically
“salesy” attitude that reduces the customer to merely being an object to be
tapped into – a stepping-stone towards achieving the golden mark.
So single minded is our focus on short-term profits that we
prefer turning a blind eye to the real values intrinsic to the job at hand. If
there is nothing in the deal for us, customer queries and problems are simply
shrugged off or pushed behind in our agenda, to attend to “later”. So obsessed
are supervisors with attaining sales goals that they totally overlook
employees who may not have made a sale that day but have gone out of their way
to help a customer, solve his problem by clearing his doubts in an honest,
unselfish manner and earned his trust in the bargain. It is this employee who
deserves a pat on the back too – as he has paved the way for client retention
and brand advocacy – the true barometers of lasting success for any
business.
The corporate world urgently needs to come to grips with its
priorities and stop being swayed by superficial victories, which though heady
and intoxicating, will never be able to replace old fashioned principles. We
cannot raise the bar for profits by forgetting the larger objectives. The hare
may out pace the tortoise – but only in the beginning. In the end it’s the
ideals like consistency, sincerity and commitment that will most certainly
drive the way and emerge triumphant.
Related topic: The
ROI of the intangibles
