Introducing the Ostrich Awards – Part I: The Back-story

On average, my sales team makes 300 outbound calls per person each week and our targets tend to be CEOs and their VP of Sales. Now I err on the side of simplicity so it is probably a flaw in my character that I expect these particular individuals to view sales as their number one priority (what with revenue being the first item on the P&L and all.)

In reality, I am continually shocked that the opposite is most often the case. By and large, executive and functional sales leaders treat sales as a phenomenon that occurs primarily under its own mysterious energy force. That is to say…as long as everyone gets together and talks about sales once in a while; nothing specific or dramatic actions need be entertained.

When we ask: How is your sales organization performing? Or worse: Suggest that we might be able to help them grow revenue, the typical answers include: We are fine, Everything is going according to plan, No problems here, Thank you very much. Of course most of our prospecting time is spent peeling back the layers of denial to get to the truth.

At the end of the day though, we adhere to the philosophy: ‘if you don’t believe you have a problem…you are correct.’ In truth, it is unsurprising that a Vice President of Sales would take the aforementioned viewpoint. After all, they were brought in to make everything better and an acknowledgment that there was something not under his or her control would be tantamount to an admission of weakness.

It does however surprise me that the CEO and/or board often hold the same view. Some might argue the VP of Sales is paid big bucks so the CEO doesn’t need to worry about such things. I have two issues with that perspective.

1) I come from the school that believes Sales and the strategy for revenue generation should be at the top of the list for CEOs and their Boards. And by top priority, I am not referring to the agenda of the six quarterly meetings that typically precede a VP of Sales’ dismissal (that’s right the average VP of Sales is in their job less than 18 months.)

2) My second issue revolves around the fact that CEOs and their boards seem to possess a steep learning curve and/or a persistent case of short-term memory loss. They forget (or ignore) the circular pattern of hope and disappointment associated with their Sales VP - there are generally three stages involved in the process: If you call a CEO just as he (or she) has identified the new Sales VP, they are unmotivated to get involved in order to allow for enough time for that individual to get up to speed. This stage can be counted on to last at least six months after the new person comes on board. The second stage is typically referred to as the ‘everything is going according to plan’ stage wherein the CEO is unwilling to meddle in what he is being assured by the sales VP is a ‘solid plan of attack.’ Ironically, the final phase – concern and disappointment – is the only place we are typically able to convince a CEO to look seriously and first-hand at the problem. Unfortunately, at this stage it is often too late to pull out of the dive. Poor results have constrained cash flow that could have been used fund investments to correct the problem. “I wish we had talked six months ago” the CEO laments. At best, 3VL can step in to save an individual that should have been walked out months ago. Worse, we risk tying ourselves to sinking ship (the Sales VP with a target on his back.)