Teamwork – Selling and Succeeding as a Team

Most veterans of the independent automotive aftermarket would agree that the pursuit of excellence begins with knowledge, and that you can’t succeed as an auto parts store professional without knowing a great deal about cars and the parts that you sell to repair them. Knowledge is a prerequisite, but it is just one tool in a store’s toolbox.

The real opportunity for excellence comes through communication and teamwork.

The concept of applying the kind of teamwork that is found in the NASCAR pit to a less racy organization is nothing new, but there is more to it than just inspirational talk.

Last fall, cereal maker General Mills Inc.’s chief technical officer Randy G. Darcy told BusinessWeek Magazine that he was confident that he could save $800 million U.S. out of a $1 billion target by adapting lessons in efficiency learned elsewhere. By looking at groups that routinely move human performance to the extreme, he has already seen results–either by applying those secrets directly or by jolting employees into thinking of new ways of doing their jobs. By observing how a NASCAR pit crew was able to work with blinding speed simply through better organization, General Mills was able to cut the time it took workers to change a production line at a Lodi, Calif., factory from one Betty Crocker product to another to just 12 minutes from 4.5 hours.

And, just in case you’re thinking that perhaps a NASCAR Cup team is all that different, teams have all the same issues that any organization can suffer from. A pit stop is only a few seconds in the life of a company that can employ 200 individuals, with various skills and sometimes conflicting views and personalities.

“I’ve said all the time that you don’t win races with race cars, engines, parts or pieces,” explains team owner Joe Gibbs, who is poised to return to NFL football duties this fall. “You win with people, just like you do in football. With over 200 people working at Joe Gibbs Racing, there are always personnel issues. As a coach, I dealt with personnel issues for 35 years, and this is an area where I have some experience and can benefit our teams.”

And who am I to argue with Joe Gibbs? He focuses on the need to build a solid team and on keeping that team talking to each other.

Whether you are on the road selling for your jobber store, or spend your days plying your trade at the counter or on the phone, the basic tenets of communication and teamwork remain the same.

The outside salesperson knows full well that what he does is not a 9-to-5 job; an effective salesperson understands how to use the off-hours to complete tasks that would otherwise steal the valuable time he could spend in front of customers.

According to a recent survey in Canada, more than half a million people are actively involved in selling. According to the Census of Business, some two-thirds are in retail sales, while the remaining third represent manufacturers, wholesalers or other institutions. What is also revealed in the data is that much time is wasted in the sales process. Efficiency is an important key to success, on both an individual and organizational level.

The object of the game, if you want to call it that, is to motivate the customer to buy the products you have to sell. To do this, you must have strong product knowledge as well as a good understanding of what qualities of that product will motivate the customer to buy.

Depending on the customer, the type of presentation you may make might vary. If you are calling on a trade customer who has a more formal office setting available, you may have the opportunity to use a PowerPoint or flip chart-type presentation. In other cases, as with many service providers, they may prefer a face-to-face presentation unencumbered by props. Be prepared for this. If you want to talk to a customer about a line of chassis parts you are carrying, in hopes that he will either switch to your outlet or increase the percentage of premium line products he buys from you, make sure you have samples.

This may seem like stating the obvious, but it is still not always done.

A discussion of the parts is, however, only part of the process. One of the issues which should always be a part of the sales approach of everyone at a jobbing operation is to focus on the team aspects of serving the customer.

There are certainly many courses available on the basic selling process, and if you haven’t taken one, you might consider it. There are things to be learned that can be put to use for every level of experience.

However, a salesperson, no matter how great he may be at his job, cannot do every task required to keep a customer happy.

Every time a salesperson promises a task that he knows cannot be completed in the time allotted, at least not under normal circumstances, he puts his reputation and the company’s at risk. He can also create a great deal of friction within an organization that can ruin any team spirit, and even dramatically affect the company’s performance.

Think about how much a part of the team the shipping department staff will feel if the same salesperson is always bringing in his rush orders at the last possible minute, then waltzing out and going on his merry way. He may be within his rights to do so, but sooner or later his rush orders are going to get inexplicably slowed down and he is the one who will have to answer.

In a team, people may have their areas of specialty–the gasman can’t be expected to change the tires–but when required everyone pitches in.

A company with a strong set of team values does not rely on the constant presence of supervision to perform well. In fact, a great team makes the boss look like he is hardly doing a thing.

“It’s not going to affect anything,” says driver Tony Stewart of Joe Gibbs’ return to football. “[Joe’s son] J.D. Gibbs has done a great job of following in his father’s footsteps all these years. He’s learned everything from Joe. I think everybody with the team is excited for Joe.”

“The racing thing has fulfilled a little bit of that competition he has inside of him and those competitive juices flowing within him, but it’s sort of running itself now,” says Jimmy Makar, senior vice-president of racing at Joe Gibbs Racing.

“He’s not nearly involved as much in the day-to-day operations like it used to be. The team has grown to the point to where it runs itself without him having to be there.”

When the boss leaves, and nothing changes, you know you have built a team.

FIVE TIPS THAT WORK

1. Always make an appointment. Don’t just drop in unless a customer has made it very clear that he prefers you do that.

2. Learn about your customer and his business. This may seem basic, but when time is tight, salespeople can often be found calling on companies without knowing a thing about the company or the decision-maker’s likes and dislikes. The more you learn, the more you can sell.

3. Keep the conversations simple. Do not try to squeeze too many subjects into one meeting. Keep it tight, and keep it on schedule. If you have made a 15-minute appointment, stick to it without being impolite. Long chats can spoil the pitch.

4. Ask as much about the customer’s wants as you tell him about your services. Selling is as much about listening as it is talking, maybe more.

5. Follow up. If sales haven’t shifted the way you thought, maybe a reminder is required. If sales have come your way, call to thank the customer for his business.

SEVEN TEAM CONCEPTS

LEADERSHIP. The most important team ingredient is a leader with fire in his belly for the mission; he will inspire the team to perform at its very best.

UNIFIED VISION. Teams must be invited to see a clear vision of just what it is they are to accomplish. Without a clear sense of purpose, teams are worthless. With clear vision, most teams are unstoppable.

SERVICE. A willingness to serve each other and the vision is necessary for team success. Once your whole team recognizes the superiority and power of interdependence, it becomes a force to reckon with.

DIVERSE SKILLS. The broader the
mix of skills and attributes each team member brings to the job, the more skilful the team. Consider the relative weakness of one team whose members all have similar skills.

TEAM DEVELOPMENT. Ask yourself if your team is avoiding the difficult issues, or is discussing them and taking action. Another useful question to ask is, “Are we supporting and encouraging new or evolving team member development?”

COLLABORATIVE PLANNING. Your team must have rules to live by, but essentially, give them boundaries to stay within then let them plan and do their work. There is no more powerful way to motivate your team than to assign a mission, couple it with a vision, let them plan and decide how to execute it, then get out of their way.

RISK. A team that stays in its comfort zone is usually ineffective. Allow some risk–your teams will repay you in more ways than you can imagine.

From Scott Lochard, The Lochard Group