Account Management - Someone Has to Maintain Relationships
Obtaining new business and generating fresh revenue in the first place is hard enough. Consequently your business doesn't want to lose what they worked for. Therefore, as a CEO, if you don't have the time to manage the existing relationships, you have to have competent, intelligent and well-written people to do so. However, as a CEO of a company, you should always get in touch, from time to time, with your clients to show them that you care.
This, in conjunction with your sales or business development representatives maintaining the account, will keep your client retention rate high as well as it will open the door for up-selling future or current products or services.
New Business Acquisition - Revenue Generation Otherwise Unavailable
The best salespeople have contacts within their industry, have a good reputation and, thus can sell your products or services via opening doors that otherwise were not available. With the internet, many products or services have become a commodity - only to have very minute differences between them. Also, more businesses within a space lends itself to a lot of ineffective, poorly run companies.
Therefore, upon purchasing a large product or service, the decision maker is going to look for business professionals in the particular industry whom he or she knows or is directly referred to. Hiring the right salesmen or saleswomen will help your company win business that otherwise could not have been obtained via any other marketing or advertising route. This is huge and is very necessary for the majority of companies. People buy from people whom they like and trust. Provide the right product or service for the business development professional to back, and you're on the right track.
All Sales People Are Driven by Incentives (Well, the Good Ones Are)
Generally, in business, there are a lot of different positions that are incentive based, however all sales positions are incentive based (in conjunction with salary). Because of this, people who tend to get into the sales profession, regardless of industry, understand that they get paid for results. Finding those sales executives who are truly driven to succeed is not easy, but becomes less of a luxury and more of a necessity as your business grows.
Front Line Soldiers - Know What the Market and Competition is Doing
It's hard to make a true hierarchy, however this may be one of the most important aspects that a good sales force brings your company. As a CEO, it is your job to constantly ask the sales representatives at your firm who is buying, what they are buying and where they are buying. Also, competent sale people will keep an eye on your competitors and, if encouraged (highly recommended), they will provide you with business intelligence you cannot find anywhere else. The most effective sales professionals can analyze your competitors, their products or services and their competitive advantage or disadvantage in the marketplace. Also, if they know how the competition pitches their products or services, they can leverage that to a huge extent upon getting new business inquiries.
