Vive le Manifesto!
Why your Sales Operation needs it's own action plan for success
In most corporations, the sales operation is one of the smallest headcount teams. This seems odd given that the activities of this team have a direct and almost immediate impact on the health of the entire organization. And while this small band of individuals are dedicated to their craft and serving their prospects they’re easily swallowed up in the organization’s culture.
So as a Sales Leader or SMB owner, to ensure that you attain the highest performance from these individuals then you need to provide them with a reason to get fired up and out of bed. You need a Sales Manifesto!
manifesto \man-uh-FESS-toh\ noun
A written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives or views of its Issuer.
Merriam-Webster dictionary online 2024
What is a Sales Manifesto?
It defines the core values of your sales team.
While there are general Core Values that can be easily adopted organization wide like Integrity, Honesty, Customer Centric, there are others that are specific to the sales team mindset like resilience, transparency and doggedness. Those are Core Values that only your band of merry sales agents can muster.
It declares to the rest of your organization as to how the sales team will operate
When your Manifesto is communicated everywhere, you’re sending a message to the rest of your organization about how these individuals are going to behave with them (their internal partners) and to the market. As a result, you’ll be able to rely on your Manifesto when internal requests hit the sales team that will sap them of their mojo. The rest of your organization will begin to understand why the Sales team is routinely unavailable.
It creates a measuring stick for any action to be taken by your sales team.
The work product of the sales team is directly measured by the top and bottom line of the P&L. Everyone on the team knows who’s ahead in their plan and who’s behind (it’s called a scoreboard for a reason). Everyone on the sales team knows that no matter how well they performed last quarter, this next quarter or two will determine whether they get to stick around for another quarter or two.
But armed with your Manifesto, Sales Leaders can communicate that it’s not just about the dollars brought into the bank account. It’s also about how those dollars were acquired. It’s about the behaviors and ways in which the market is approached for new business and current customers are approached for repeat business.
What’s the difference between a Manifesto and a Core Value Statement?
Most organizations have a document that describes their Core Values. These Values are supposed to align throughout the organization in all its business practices and culture. In many ways these Values relate to how the organization is supposed to behave in the market and how its members are supposed to treat each other. While forming the basis for their culture, I’ve rarely seen how such statements define how those values are going to be translated into action.
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face – Mike Tyson
Your Manifesto is a description of the actions that you’re prepared to execute while you’re in the heat of the moment. They are action-oriented statements that exhibit how a team member should act or make decisions within their own sphere of influence. They’re statements that tell your sales team about HOW they should act while their in the middle of taking action or getting punched in the face.
How do you build a Manifesto?
Here’s what I do when I build Manifesto’s for clients or our own team(s):
1. Define what we stand for – these are our Core Values as a sales organization as they relate to the corporate Core Values.
2. What we don’t stand for – more importantly, when we outline unacceptable behaviors it then becomes crystal clear where the border between acceptable and not arises.
3. Use direct language – It’s a Manifesto! So it’s ok to be direct and if you want to use colorful language or slang then do what you’re comfortable with with saying to your 3 year old.
4. Enroll the team – ensure that all your team members agree with the terms and language of the Manifesto by provide them an opportunity to review, internalize and update. Ask them to suggest how they’re going to promote the Manifesto!
What is the optimal structure of a Manifesto?
The term Manifesto implies some of the most legendary ones in history that go on for pages and pages.
But Manifestos should be short. If your Manifesto is longer than a page, then it’s unlikely that your team will remember them.
I try to keep our Manifestos under 10 bullet point statements that are easy to understand.
An Example Manifesto:
Sales is the lifeblood of the company
We are prepared to be uncomfortable
If it’s not in the CRM then it doesn’t exist
We will practice imperfect pitch
We will always look at the game tape
Kill It or Fill IT – we don’t accept Zombie deals
We will always be the most prepared person in the room
We will solve a problem or we will go away
Every Deal needs a next action or it’s not active
YOUR NEXT STEPS:
If you’ve not already done so, build your own Sales Manifesto.
Take your corporate Core Values and distill them into the action statements that will define how your sales team will operate while engaged with the market. And once your sales team has bought in, broadcast the Manifesto as far and wide as you can – get t-shirts, placards and coasters. But most of all, live it.. live the Manifesto!