A Hard Call, Made With Care: Growing Sales With a Smaller Team

Know Good Consulting engagement: a temporary contract leadership role with a commercial and industrial service provider.

“Sales increased by almost 17% year over year.”

The challenge

The business was a leading service provider to commercial and industrial customers. It offered better software and a stronger solution than its local competitors, and it was preparing for a significant investment. To support that growth, it needed more revenue – and its sales strategy hadn’t been updated in four years.

The owner brought me in to lead the work, knowing it might call for decisions that would be hard for him to make himself.

Looking at the whole picture

I started with the numbers, then looked closely at the people and processes behind them. I reviewed the sales process, the customer life cycle and how the team worked together. I spoke with the sales team, customers, vendors and other partners, and studied the local competition.

The product was strong. The sales team needed clearer accountability and better incentives, and it was larger than the business needed.

The hard decision

I recommended a smaller sales team. It wasn’t an easy recommendation.

The owner pushed back at first. He cared deeply about his staff, and so did I. But my job was also to care for his business. Over time, he agreed.

The team became about 28% smaller through a mix of steps:

1. Not filling roles as people left on their own.
2. Promoting one team member into a more senior position.
3. Ending some roles. Every person who left did so with care, respect, dignity and a severance package. Humanity first, always.

Supporting the people who stayed

With the owner, I built a revenue plan that put the customer at the centre of every interaction and simplified how the team captured information, won new customers, kept existing ones and followed up on service.

For the team, that meant:

1. Clear goals and measures everyone understood.
2. Flexibility, within reason, in schedules and working styles.
3. Recognition for good work.
4. Professional development, including chances to shadow and work alongside other teams.

Some people took time to let go of the old way of doing things. Most embraced the change – especially as they saw their own earnings grow.

The outcome

With a smaller team and no added marketing spend, the business grew sales by nearly 17% year over year.

Try this

If you’re facing a hard staffing decision, write down how you’ll treat each person affected before you make it. If you wouldn’t be proud to share that plan, it isn’t ready yet.

Be well.