Starting ... with sales' connection to customer success

I've thought of starting to blog for some time now. So this is my start and we'll see where it goes.

Here are two assumptions in a start-up software/services company, which independently work great, but which take effort to make them work well in tandem.

One: It is always urgent for sales close business. Anything that gets in the way of a close should be eliminated. Hopefully a smart/motivated company will build a sales-oriented culture, where all functional areas are motivated to support the creation of new customers.

Two: New customers need to be made wildly successful and happy. Magically, this creates new opportunities for sales--both from existing customers and through existing customers. And a great by-product of this is a lower cost of sales and faster sales cycles.

Here's the rub between the two. When a contract is being negotiated, sales will often agree to terms that are important to the customer, but that may be different from norm and potentially difficult for the vendor/supplier to provide.

In short: The near-term need is to get the signature on the contract, which may come at a cost later. How do you fix this?

As part of creating a good sales culture, sales should work with functional managers to craft an agreement that makes the customer happy, but doesn't create unnatural pain when it comes time for delivery of the product/service. Now from a sales perspective you might say, 'forget it, just get it signed.' I beg to differ, and here's why.

1) Getting it signed is only the first step in what should be a many year relationship with the customer.

2) Sales performs better when they bring supporting expertise into the process; this establishes credibility and commitment, and often helps sales see other creative solutions.

3) Contract commitments that don't feel quite right at signing almost always feel much worse later.

4) Bookings aren't as valuable as revenue, and revenue doesn't get earned if customers leave because of bad experiences.

5) It is far cheaper to grow existing customers, and this sort of growth is super valuable to showing a nice revenue curve.

6) It is easier to charge a premium to happy customers, or at least not get beaten down to razor-thin margins.

There are certainly other good reasons to create a healthy sales culture... and doing it right can be very rewarding.