Competition Between Sales Staff Is A Good Thing

Silly season is very much in full swing as installers begin seeing a major boost in business activity as the kids go back to school and parents turn their attentions back to their homes. It is this sort of period where competition between the sales staff at companies at all levels in our industry hots up.

This competition is a good thing, for the staff and for the business. And it most certainly should be encouraged.

Good for business

Competition, in all walks of life, is a good thing. It keeps everyone on their toes and continuously forces us to improve at all times. When it comes to running a business, it’s competition that keeps sales staff on their toes, making sure they don’t get outdone on sales figures by their colleagues. The byproduct of this for the business is increased sales and (hopefully) profit margin.

Our family business is only a small one. Myself, my brother and my Dad are all involved in selling to the general public. We make sure we have roughly the same amount of leads to keep it fair. But even though we’re a small business, we’re all still motivated to try and outsell each other on a weekly and monthly basis. There’s no prize involved, other than the wages that pile up at the end of the week. Rather, it’s the bragging rights and seeing how much we can grow our monthly figures. It’s always friendly, never nasty. But it does help makes sure that our business is always selling plenty.

And that is what it should be like at most businesses, be it an installation company, fabricator or systems company. So long as the rivalry between sales staff and sales teams remains friendly, all sides will remain motivated to beat the other, and both themselves and the company will benefit.

All businesses should be promoting internal competition. For us, because we own our business, our motivation is simply growing our own business and that is reward enough. But for bigger companies, or chains, then perhaps incentives at varying levels could help spur on that competition.

Keeping competition focused

Whilst competition is a good thing to have within a business, it must be kept in check. Motivations can easily turn a tad sinister if sales staff get a bit too aggressive when trying to come out on top.

For example, sales staff shouldn’t deviate away from their normal sales process. They shouldn’t get pushy with the customer, or use pressure tactics just so they can secure the sale quicker. But also between staff, things should be kept jovial. This is a job at the end of the day, not life and death. And they’re still getting paid.

So businesses should aim to keep competition healthy, but focused. In the end it is the company that benefits the most, and a focused and motivated sales force is the life blood of any business in our industry, and that of any company in any industry.

As the silly season gets well and truly underway, internal competition within businesses should crank up a gear too as all glazing companies use this boost in business to make as much as possible before the end of year slow down.