Those
on commission track leads. It makes sense. If you are paid based on the amount
of work you bring in, then it is crucial that someone knows you brought it. In
a door-to-door salesman world, this works. You knock on the door. You make the
sale. You mark it on your sheet. You get the commission.
However,
I'm curious if that model isn't inaccurately applied to our business. Major account sales are rarely a one-person
endeavor. It includes the many
relationships of the team, the brand, the portfolio, the initial contacts, the
interviews, the negotiation of the contracts...
There are multiple decision points (and decision makers) for every
project.
Winning
work is resource-intensive.
Many
design firms chase and track leads. But
I'm curious if that system of measurement creates a fragmented approach to the
way we see work? Attention and effort is
poured into a single, win and then we are hunting for the next one. What if a more effective model is in building
pipelines? Developing relationships that produce more than a single project?
While
it may seem like semantics, focusing on the people rather than focusing on the
projects creates a better investment of resources. After all, projects don't
make decisions. People do.
Not
only that, but what is measured influences how we spend our time. If business
development professionals are measured based on lead generation, then that is
where the effort is poured. (With a great deal of protectiveness of who
"owns" which leads.) But if
80% of our work is coming from existing relationships, then shouldn't the
biggest part of our resources (both monetary and human) be aligned with that?
I've
been lucky to spend my career in a structure that is focused on the
relationships. Getting to know people well enough to understand what they need
and genuinely trying to make them successful, requires an outward focus rather
than an inward one. It is also much,
much more difficult to measure on a spreadsheet.
©
Cathy Hutchison 2013