Wired for Sales

Sales is expensive. Salaries, commissions, gas cards, trade shows, golf outings, you name it. It’s a fat line item. But the real question isn’t whether it’s expensive.

The real question is: Is it worth it?

Is your sales team an engine driving revenue? Or are they a herd of expense-report addicts wandering aimlessly from customer to customer like stray cats? If you’re just spending on sales, you’re doing it wrong. Sales isn’t supposed to be a warm body with a logo shirt and a business card. It’s supposed to be your sharpest weapon.

SALES AS AN EXPENSE: THE LAZY LENS

If your sales reps are still doing “check-in calls” and “swing-bys” without a plan or purpose, congratulations: You’ve officially turned your salesforce into the corporate version of driftwood. And let’s not sugarcoat it – driftwood gets cut. Fast. Especially when the economy tightens and your CFO’s eyes glaze over the P&L like a vulture spotting a carcass.

Even worse? If you don’t have a process (no performance metrics, no tracking, no clue) you’re not running a sales team. You’re funding a scavenger hunt. And guess what? That doesn’t grow, scale, or survive when the next recession slaps you across the face.

SALES AS AN INVESTMENT: THE ONLY SMART BET

Now flip the script. Imagine a team of reps who are trained, intentional, and backed with the right tools. People who know what problems your customers are facing before the customers do. People who don’t wait for leads, they hunt them. That’s not an expense. That’s a return-generating asset.

Let me make this simple: Sales is the only part of your company that consistently turns cost into cash. Not operations. Not admin. Not marketing. Sales is the sharpened tip of the spear.

In the industrial world, most buyers aren’t out there Googling “solutions.” They’re busy keeping their own heads above water. Your seller, if they’re worth a damn, becomes their translator, their advisor, their bridge to clarity. That’s value.

You wouldn’t invest in a machine without knowing what it produces. So why are you throwing money at sales without measuring the return? Start with these three, and spare me the excuses: (1) Revenue and margin per rep. (2) Sales cost as a percent of revenue. (3) Customer acquisition cost versus lifetime value. No need for a six-figure CRM system. Just discipline and a whiteboard.

The best distributors don’t just look at end results; they track the stuff that leads to results: calls made, discovery meetings, quotes sent, hours spent with high-potential customers. It’s not micromanagement. It’s proving the investment is alive. If a rep is sitting on a gold mine of accounts but barely leaves the office? You’ve got yourself a salaried zombie.

SALESPEOPLE ARE CAPITAL ALLOCATORS

Here’s something no MBA textbook bothers to say: Your best salespeople are capital allocators with better aim than the CEO. Every day, they decide where to spend their time, who to chase, and which deals are worth fighting for. Done right, they bring in orders, deepen customer loyalty, and shove competitors off the map.

They’re not “just relationship guys.” They’re Seal Teams with a quota. And they know the difference between a real opportunity and a time-waster looking for free quotes. That judgment – taught, drilled, and managed – is the true return on your investment. It doesn’t show up on a spreadsheet. But you feel it every time they win.

Now let’s talk about what no one wants to admit. If you’ve got reps who haven’t hit quota since the Carter administration and they aren’t coachable, stop pretending they’ll turn it around. You’re not running a rehab center.

But when someone’s producing? Fuel that fire. Give them more. More tools. More support. More runway. Good salespeople aren’t cheap, but they make you money. Bad ones just make excuses.

Sales isn’t just another line item. It’s a daily bet you make on your business. The way you treat it shows how serious you are about growth. Ask yourself: Are you investing in sales? Or are you just keeping it on life support? Because in this business, if you’re not actively building revenue, you’re already on the slow march to dinosaur land – extinction. Being wired for sales means managing your investment.