Complacency

Imagine a well-oiled business machine humming along smoothly, basking in past glories. But here’s the catch: the market doesn’t care about your laurels. Complacency can be like a stealthy assassin that silently creeps into a business, wreaks havoc, and leaves it gasping for survival.

But things were going so well…

I recently spoke with a business owner about prospecting and selling new accounts when the owner asked me an interesting question: “When should I stop worrying about selling new accounts?” My response is always the same: “You should never stop selling new business!” It’s been said that pride goeth before a fall. That’s probably true, but in business, complacency goeth before total collapse.

For a brief time, I worked for a company with an astounding growth rate. They went from zero to $35 million in annual revenue in 10 years—all on the skill set of some talented salespeople and excellent customer service. When they reached US$35 million, they decided to take a “break” from selling new business. Their logic was that they were making plenty of money, the people were happy, and selling new business placed unnecessary strain on their company’s infrastructure. Two short years later, they were making $17 million in annual revenue, losing big bucks, and panicking about the company’s longevity.

What happened to them isn’t uncommon. First, one big customer went into bankruptcy and ceased operations. Then, top management at another big customer was swept out, and new management wanted to use a different vendor than the old. Add in a customer death; they were down to $23 million in a few months. So, what happened to the rest of their business?

What happened?

Complacency is what happened. When the salespeople were told not to sell new business, a couple didn’t like it … but most did. Remember, everyone at this company was making big bucks, and relieving the salespeople of prospecting responsibility while keeping their compensation high was a dream job for many of them. Not all sales staff were financially affected by the collapse in revenues, and those who weren’t affected didn’t feel any real pressure to build the company back up.

Next, customer service went to hell in a handbasket. The intent of the “no new customers” mandate had been to make the customer service and production jobs easier, more pleasant, and more productive. It had the exact opposite effect. The customer service reps no longer had to deal with the changing needs of a sales force bent on growing the business, and they got fat and happy (not unlike the salespeople). Attention to detail and follow-up suffered. Production expanded what work they had to fill the time allotted since there was no pressure to get orders out to impress new customers. The whole thing took on the customer-friendly atmosphere of your average Department of Motor Vehicles office.

In a nutshell, an entire company got lazy. That $35 million looked good, but they didn’t count on normal customer attrition. Granted, it’s unusual to lose three huge customers within a few months’ time, but it’s not so uncommon that you can think, “It would never happen to me.” The salespeople, customer service, and production people who were only too happy to shift into “maintenance” mode found it challenging to shift back into “hit the bricks and sell” mode. The company struggled mightily with these issues. Ownership didn’t help much, either—as the company lost big money, they jetted to vacation homes and bought new Mercedes and Porsches instead of tending to business.

Salespeople aren’t immune to this syndrome either. Salespeople can attain a certain income level and decide it’s “enough” to live on. Like the people at the company discussed above, it is tougher to restart prospecting than never to stop. I once interviewed a gentleman for a sales position who had a long background in the industry that I was working in, had worked with many of the same types of clients that I wanted to do business with, and presented himself very well.

The chinks in the armor showed when he told me how he built a $1.5 million per year territory (very impressive in that particular industry and time) by prospecting and cold calling and bragged that he had been working with many of his customers for more than ten years. When I asked him how much business he was doing at the present, he replied that he was doing about $350,000 annually. It was elementary to drill down and find out that he had built this significant territory, stopped prospecting, lost customers to the usual attrition, and not filled his sales funnel with new prospects and new business. His plan, in fact, was to bring his business (what was left of it) over to my company and presumably ride it all the way down to zero. Not surprisingly, I didn’t hire him, and I don’t know if anyone else did.

Never fall into the trap of complacency

The lesson here is crystal clear: Never stop selling. Complacency is a silent killer in the sales world, sneaking up on even the most successful businesses and individuals. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you’ve “made it” and can coast on your current customer base. But the hard truth is, customers come and go, sometimes in bunches, and often when you least expect it.

Savvy sales managers and top salespeople know that keeping that sales funnel full is the key to long-term success. Always be prospecting, always be looking for new opportunities, and always be hungry for growth. It’s not just about hitting your numbers today; it’s about ensuring you’ll still be in the game tomorrow, next year, and a decade from now. Remember, in sales, the moment you stop moving forward is the moment you start sliding backward. Keep selling, keep growing, and never, ever get complacent.