Nurturing Salesmanship

By Matt Pillar, chief editor

Sales hiring and management are consistently among the top three challenges VAR and MSP executives face. Trouble justifying a first sales salary and commission structure, learning to let go of the reins, refining sales processes to reflect corporate culture, and managing sales efforts to standard are common refrains.

These challenges are likely to be found in any sales-centric professional services organization. I’ve certainly experienced them both over the past 20 years in the publishing industry. They are, however, more difficult to overcome in crowded, borderline commoditized markets. Back when the value-added and managed services plays were freshly drawn up and the players in the game few, these challenges sort of worked themselves out. Sales come easy when demand is high and supply is low. Today, value-adds and managed services are everywhere. That’s why channel executives, regardless of size, need to stay sharp on salesmanship. A few specific, yet synergistic calls to sales action have struck me as particularly salient for these times.