20 Blind Men, An Elephant, and Your 360 Degree Evaluation
Have you heard that old parable about putting 20 blind people in a room with an elephant?
Each person has a different experience with the elephant. The first leans against it feeling a sturdy wall. The second feels the tip of a tusk and believes it to be a spear. The next feels the trunk and thinks he has a snake in his hands. Yet another feels the substantial leg and mistakes it for a solid tree trunk. And another feels the tail and thinks it’s a rope. Each person in the room has a different perception of what the elephant truly is based on their own experience and limited view of the whole picture. It’s not until an outside observer with no emotional attachment to the elephant or the people in the room walks in and says, “It’s an elephant.” That the blind people truly know what they are dealing with.
This is the perfect illustration on how differently various positions within your company see how a process works. If we look at the sales process for a new home builder, we can see that there are many people and tools involved in a successful sale. If we think of the entire system as an elephant and each of the roles that interact with that system as the blind men in the room, then we can see that there are many parts that make up the whole. And many factors that come into play in order to achieve success.
From a sales perspective your elephant is generally made up of:
- A website
- A digital marketing plan
- Digital marketing channels
- A contact management system
- A contact plan
- A system to set appointments
- A follow up plan
The people in the room with that elephant are not limited to:
- The marketing department either in-house or outside
- The head of sales
- The head of marketing
- A hierarchy of management
- Someone responsible for receiving and fielding the leads
- Multiple site agents responsible for closing the sales
The purpose of a 360-degree evaluation from a sales standpoint, is to get a feel from each angle and understand the expectations and the realities of all the people involved. This gives a clearer perspective on each system and role involved in achieving sales goals and success. Often it takes an outside observer to walk in the room and help an organization see the elephant in the room and how they can move forward toward success.
Examining the elephant from all angles and perspectives helps see where you need to invest in new systems, training, and the possible creation of a new position. This is what we do when we are determining the needs of a dedicated online sales person for a builder’s office.