Blind Spots: The Sandwire Episode
Mar
18
Written by:
3/18/2010 3:04 PM
I visited Sandwire Corporation to help president Adam Schwam get out of his own way. I arrived and was amazed to see his beautiful offices adorned with all things Sandwire and a state of the art conference room that he shares with co-tenant Remax of New York. I was shocked to find out that he has had space for sales people sitting dormant for almost two years while paying high rent. This was just the tip of the iceberg.
Adam runs a very competent IT businesses that is well-respected, properly branded in the marketplace, and most importantly delivers what they promise. However, like so many budding entrepreneurial businesses the owner leans towards his strengths and away from his weaknesses. It is nearly a universal human attribute that businesses owners fight through to take their organizations to new heights. Adam needs help getting his sales team on track, so I invited Tim Healy to come and help.
We discovered:
1. Sandwire has pieces of the plan, but not in a cohesive fashion
2. Their current sales team exists of one, Adam, the owner
3. The sales plan Adam devised has 51 steps
4. Sandwire has great marketing material
5. Sandwire has a nearly finished CRM product
6. Sandwire sells one main product, a Customer Care Plan
7. Adam is a fantastic technician and process driven individual
They Need:
1. To solidify short-term goals and make long-term plans
2. Create a teachable and repeatable step-by-step sales process…not 51 steps. More like 3-10.
3. Hire, train and maintain a sustainable sales force. One to start, and repeat the process
4. Decide if Adam is the one to manage the new team, or hire a manager
5. Some coaching to keep a sales team accountable for the goal/plans they make
We learned on this episode that business owners have blind spots that they cannot or will not see unless they are presented to them, or rather revealed to them. Adam, as evident in some of his reactions to our questions and comments, had his own blind spots. No big deal….we all do. The challenge is that if these blind spots are left unchecked the business will not reach its full potential because its leaders can’t see past them.
Adam agreed to work hard to see past his blind spots and will be putting effort into making the necessary changes to his business to achieve the vision he is now clarifying for Sandwire. We will be there to help every step of the way.