Can a company put a cost on sacrificing a salesperson’s personal space on business travel? Perhaps not, but in our constant search for new and innovative ways to reduce small business travel expenses, a number of small business owners often fall prey to the ill-conceived notion that they save money when two salespeople share a hotel room. While this might sound abhorrent to some enterprises, it’s a reality for others and a complete nightmare for those salespeople who must take part in this practice. It’s a philosophy that is endorsed by a number of small businesses who claim it helps them to reduce travel expenses. What they fail to realize is the negatives far outweigh any positives.
If You Can’t Afford to Send Two Salespeople on a Business Trip, Then Don’t!
If there is one essential aspect of properly managing business travel, it is to never, ever ask salespeople to share accommodations. Don’t ever do this! If your small business can’t afford to send two people on a business trip, then don’t. Having spent a large part of my career in sales, I can assure you that my success was dependant upon maintaining my own personal space and downtime. Salespeople must be well prepared and relaxed before meeting customers. They must be focused, dialed into their strategies, and not burdened by a lack of sleep. To try and save money by sacrificing an individual's personal space is a recipe for disaster. Still not convinced that the practice is a bad idea? Still think it makes sense to ask salespeople to share a hotel room? Well, consider the following.
- Customers See Your Company as Cheap
Asking salespeople to share accommodations is cheap, demeaning and disrespectful to your salespeople. Whether or not you think it’s a good idea is beside the point. What matters is what your customers will think of the practice. When a customer hears that you ask your salespeople to share rooms, they’ll forever look down upon your enterprise. Your company will never be able to position itself as a valuable and respectable partner. Why? Because your salespeople will be indifferent to your company’s success and this will be conveyed to your customers by the salesperson’s demeanor and attitude.
- Sales Calls and Negotiations Suffer
Your salespeople must be rested, relaxed and well prepared to make a strong case for your company. This simply can’t happen if they’ve been asked to give up their own personal space. It’s a guarantee that your salespeople will not perform to their fullest. And, if you think they are, given the fact that you make them share rooms, then you’re sorely mistaken. Bottom line, your salespeople must be able to negotiate with your company’s best interests in mind. How can they possibly do that if they know you don’t have theirs in mind?
To learn more about the strategies outlined in the above video, please go to: Sales Negotiation: Defend Price, Customer Scare Tactics & Managing Concessions
- Disrespect Leads to High Turnover
The life of a sales professional is hard enough as it is. There’s the constant concern of meeting sales budgets, maintaining sales forecast accuracy, closing orders and being able to connect with your prospect. It’s a stressful career and one that not many are cut out for. As such, why add more stress than needed? If you do, I can guarantee you the salesperson will jump at the first chance they get to leave your company. When they do, they’ll make sure everyone knows of your practice – and that includes your customers.
Sacrificing a salesperson’s personal space on business travel never saves companies money. I decided to write about this today because of the fact that a customer of mine recently put this down as one of their cost-cutting moves. When I found out, I made it abundantly clear that it was a big mistake, a mistake that would definitely cost the company more in the long run. Again, if your company can’t afford to send two salespeople on a business trip, then don’t. Just send one! This practice screams “we are cheap” and sends the wrong message to your customers and your market. Certainly there are other means to reduce costs. Asking your salespeople to share accommodations shouldn’t be one of them.
Comments