Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 • FOGHORN 41 BUSINESSMATTERS WE LIVE AND BREATHE pAssENgER VEssELs, THAT’s THE KEY TO OUR sUCCEss Anders Rundberg, CEO of Carus We care about your customers Carus offers innovative solutions for the global passenger vessel industry, giving your customers a better experience before, during and after their journey. The Carus solution incorporates ticketing, reservations, check-in, port automation, on-board and relationship management. www.carus.com About the Author Bob Shaw is a veteran industry executive, having led over 100 vessels responsible for over 10 million passengers a year. He can be reached at shawrw@ gmail.com. kept pushing, and were competitive. They had to deliver that pipeline of revenue that could pay for the whole game, and preclude that vicious cycle when sales are low and expenses get cut. I can’t understand why business schools spend so little time on the sales function. They should reinforce these sales chestnuts: • Have a corporate service system and culture so your sales leadership is positive and respects your team. • Shower them with rewards. I’ve had years where top sales people and leaders made more than I did. It reminds me of Babe Ruth’s quip when asked why he made more money than the President of the United States, “why not, I had a better year.” Celebrate milestones weekly, monthly, and quarterly. When others on your team protest they get too much, hand them a territory with the reminder talk about the weekly pressure. • Develop your internal farm team of future talent. Don’t expect success from bringing in outsiders to save you. Internal talent understands your business and is supported by your team plus they’ll thrive and amaze you with their ingenuity and loyalty. • Most know that the best sales- person is not necessarily the next sales leader. Maybe they are more valuable in their current role and can earn more than the leader who should have different skill sets and a desire to manage. • Remove obstacles from the sales teams and leaders. Don’t give them the endless collateral duties that everyone in business endures. Make sure they are focused entirely on the sales mission and not bogged down by someone else’s administrivia. • Get your metrics right. Figure out the most important measurements of the team, and rigorously drive them. Some of the best organizations now in the business have separate marketing organizations just to drive leads, and have specialized support teams. But if you can’t diagram, with confidence, your sales pipeline metrics, your future revenue will be impacted. And that leads to lots of pain from missed sales numbers. Give your sales team hugs, resources, and the respect they deserve. But don’t let up for a minute on your expectations as your business depends on it. Cheers to a prosperous and success- ful 2017 for everyone, driven by those at the center of the universe, the sales team. n