I had a colleague a few years ago who was a real hero when it came to selling. He was proactive, did deep dives into his product offering and had real enthusiasm when it came to solving his customer problems. I caught up with him shortly after he had joined a new company. Expecting him to be kicking goals left and right, I was surprised to hear that he was extremely disappointed with his new role. When I asked him what had gone wrong, he explained that the sales team of six people did nothing except sit by the phone waiting for it to ring. There was no objective, no sales plan and absolutely no systematic process for reaching customers. Each salesperson hoped that their phone would ring enough times for them to meet their targets that year. To add insult to injury when my colleague tried to implement customer meetings, systematic sales calls, and market stakeholder discussions, he was met with derision from co-workers and leadership alike. Not long after we spoke, he told me he’d found another company that aligned more closely with the ethos of a Growth Driven Business Developer, and he’s resumed his goal kicking.
Order Taker or Order Maker
This story highlights the difference between an Order Taker and an Order Maker. An Order Taker sits at their desk, turns on their computer and waits for the sales to roll in. They are purely reactive and at the whims of the customer. They live or die by what others do.
However, an Order Maker, takes charge of their own destiny. They understand their product, assesses their market, aim their focus in the right direction and concentrate on systematic action to reach out and bring the customer to them. They champion their product or service at every turn.
Which would you rather be?
Call to Action
Reflect on the way that you pursue customers? Are you waiting for an email to arrive from an eager customer or are you going into the market to reel those customers in? We will be discussing ways to become more proactive in future posts.
Daniel Pink has a great example of an order taker in his book To Sell is Human. I strongly advise you check it out.
Check out our post on the concept of Sales Funnel, an essential tool for every Order Maker, here.