Individuals Score Points, But Teams Win Games
By: T.J. Tedesco
For: High Volume Printing
Published: February, 1999

Do you know people who have lots of talent but seem to create havoc everywhere they go?  They may be good operators hobbled by fiery tempers, or talented sales representatives who can’t seem to get customer service or production to work with them.  A common expression from the sporting world comes to mind: Individuals score points, but teams win games.

There are professional ball players who have it all – strength, coordination, quickness and timing – but fail to join the top tier because of poor team play.  Similarly, companies with great selling propositions won’t achieve long lasting business success if their people fall prey to infighting and petty politics.  How important is it for a team to work together?  Try executing a 6-4-3 double play, completing a buttonhook football passing route, or slam dunking a basketball on an alley-oop feed, without teamwork and precise timing.  Or, try selling print and other graphic arts services in today’s hyper-competitive market if your sales, customer service and production departments don’t work as a team.

Sales/Production Conflict

Just because the sales/production relationship historically has been rocky, doesn’t mean that it can’t improve.  Of course, successful sales representatives must be advocates for their customers, but they should remember that bulls in China shops get cut by broken glass.  It is important to carefully balance production’s time requirements and customer needs.  Production people know they won’t have jobs if untimely performance turns the spigot of future business off.  However, sales people need to truly understand how deflating it is to CSRs when they discover jobs with “can’t miss deadlines” sitting unused in warehouses.  When sales representatives muscle work through their plants, it better be for a very good reason.  Crying wolf or even being perceived as crying wolf is not a viable long-term method of selling print.  Effective selling requires establishing an environment in which all people’s competing interests are met as much as possible.

The way sales representatives communicate with the plant is just as important as getting the job done.  Honest and prompt communication is essential for maintaining long-term sales effectiveness.  Most career print sales reps have turned away difficult, but possible projects because of poor support from “uncooperative” production people.  Although conflict is part of the human experience, it should be minimized as much as possible.  Empathetic people that focus on making their external and internal customers lives easier won’t sacrifice the war to win a battle.  The supporting cast will work with more heart and perform better if a careful balance between productivity and caring is maintained. 

“Benny” is one of the most effective print sales representatives I have ever worked with.  He once told me, “We are privileged to work for our CSRs.  Without them, we are nothing, and without us, they’re better off.”  While the second part of this statement may be an exaggeration, the sentiment behind it isn’t.  In my opinion, Benny consistently was the most pleasant individual in his sheet-fed printing company.  His support staff was devoted to him and nearly every month he was a sales leader.  Benny doesn’t come from a printing family and isn’t the flashiest guy around, yet somehow he always managed to assemble the best team around him.  Although this southern printing company had more experienced sales representatives on its staff, no one could match Benny’s infectious positive attitude. 

Give Credit Where Credit is Due

How well does a football team do when the quarterback claims credit for a win?  Even “franchise” players on Super Bowl teams deflect credit for success to others.  In addition, NFL quarterbacks spend thousands dollars thanking their offensive line by buying them all-you-can-eat meals at fancy restaurants because without their best effort, nobody wins.

In the graphic arts industry, team leaders must build their team.  Sales representatives should know the people they work with and never treat them as anything less than equals.  The same skills that help sales people win jobs on the outside should be used to win on the inside.  Former graphic arts sales representative and current college professor, Linda L. Crosby once said, “if you want your work nurtured in the plant, you need to nurture those who work with you.” 

Certainly team building isn’t all smiles and roses.  A few months ago, I began working with a new client and on my second day, I was invited to a management meeting.  As an outside consultant, I’ve been to hundreds of “management meetings,” but this one was different.  The company’s owner began the meeting after hours with a no-holds-barred review of the most recent financials.  Small line items, right down to office equipment maintenance were discussed.  At the beginning, I wondered why the top dozen managers of a large company were discussing such small things.  After a while, I noticed people offering moneysaving solutions to other managers.  The owner had devised a system to corral experience from different departments into a pen of common ideas.

After half an hour, the format changed.  The president stopped his financial review and each manager was given a few minutes to explain what their department had been working on for the previous 30 days.  Then, each team member was expected to speak up if there were any contentious points about what had been said.  If one department was holding up another in any way, the person who was being negatively impacted was expected to mention the problem in front of his or her peers.  It was tacitly acknowledged that silence is consent.  This wasn’t a formula for high-tension because this company’s open environment and open communication methods are now natural.  These management meetings are successful because each manager, no matter where they fit in the company’s hierarchy, is expected to speak up when other people’s work impacts them – either positively or negatively.

Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan and General Electric’s Jack Welsh are two of the best leaders that the sporting and business worlds have ever produced.  While Michael Jordan’s individual numbers have been great throughout his career, he wouldn’t have won six championships had he not been able to get his teammates to raise their level of play with his exceptional leadership.  Jack Welsh built a company with nearly $200 billion market capitalization value by focusing on grooming team leaders.  At General Electric, if business unit leaders fail to develop managers under them, they will not be promoted, no matter how great their income statement and balance sheet.  Michael Jordan and Jack Welsh have uncanny abilities to pump up others around them so everyone produces more as a team than alone.  This is synergy.

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Scoring points is great, but winning games is the real goal.  What do you think is more important to John Elway: all of his individual records or his championship in Super Bowl XXXII?  Would baseball greats Ernie Banks, Carl Yastrzemski and Don Mattingly trade a heap of their individual records for a winning World Series ring?  You bet.  So should we all.

T.J. Tedesco is a “hands-on” marketing, sales, coaching and training consultant to the post press industry. He is the author of Binding, Finishing & Mailing: The Final Word, and Win Top-of-Mind Positioning, both published by GATFPress and available at Amazon.com. T.J. can be reached at (301) 294-9900 or tj@growsales.com.