Q: Should my salespeople sell multiple lines?
A: If your company is like many, you're probably carrying multiple product lines. Should your salespeople sell one, some, or all of them? The answer's not simple. But at a perfect company — with dedicated leads and production staff for each line — you'd have your salespeople sell one product. That way, they can know that product inside and out.
In my company it amazed me how much more it cost me to build a deck vs. what a deck company could build one for. Finally, after hearing me complain one too many times, my best worker said, “Let me build decks every day and I'll be that good and that fast, too.”
The same applies to salespeople.
I'm very aware that companies with limited sales staff don't have the luxury of selling a single line. What I advise, however, is that when you add salespeople, only allow them to sell one product line. If they have to make their living selling one product, they'll sell that product. —Phil Rea has conducted more than 13,200 in-home sales calls and trained more than 1,750 salespeople. For more information, please call 800. 613.4150.