Most of the time, things begin the same way. Growth occurs. Leads pick up. And soon, the same task is being performed three different ways by three separate individuals. One rep updates a shared spreadsheet. Another document in the CRM. Someone else checks in from their email inbox and assumes the rest of the team has access to it. Things appear fine at first, but the holes develop rapidly. What matters most about the workflow change needed during this phase is simple: switch from using person-based work to process-based work.
Giving People Too Much Flexibility When They First Join the Team
In smaller teams, flexibility seems to produce efficiency. You trust your team members; you give them space; and you allow them to determine their own rhythm. That model works well for a while. As volume increases and as handoffs occur, no member of the team is aware of exactly what occurred with a lead at 10:14 a.m. on Tuesday.
A more effective approach is to have a defined route for repetitive work. For example, all new outbound leads should enter the same database, go through the same stages, and prompt the same next action. This is especially true of typical industries for outbound dialing software to drive their high-volume communication workflows, which typically dictate the pace, documentation of calls, and the timing of callbacks to determine whether a prospect remains active or falls cold.
Storing Important Details in Too Many Locations
While the effects of these behaviors are not immediately apparent, they create background friction. Over the course of a month, it is reasonable to assume that this type of friction will add hours to administrative tasks.
The solution is simple. Identify a single source of truth and use it consistently. If a CRM is designated as the repository for call results, then every call result should be documented there. If a task management tool is responsible for scheduling follow-up activities, then those follow-up activities should be scheduled through the task management tool and should not be stored in individual inboxes. The rule must be so simple that all members of the team can follow it without giving it a second thought.
Treating Transfers of Responsibility as Informal
A business can continue to operate successfully under informal transfers of responsibility until the number of customers in the pipeline reaches approximately five. At some point, however, the informal transfer of responsibility will become a significant obstacle to growth. The most commonly encountered informal transfers of responsibility are the ones that take place between departments (e.g., marketing to sales, sales to account management).
A formalized transfer of responsibility requires a trigger, an owner, and a specific next action. An example of this would be: “When a lead schedules a demo, the lead transitions to stage three. Following the demo, a call summary is logged. Within fifteen minutes of logging the call summary, onboarding receives notification.” A high level of transparency in the formalization of responsibilities eliminates dropped opportunities and decreases the amount of stress that is generated by rapid growth.
Growth in a company does not slow down because employees quit working. Growth slows down because work continues to be trapped in personal habits.
