How HR can become a true strategic partner of Sales

Sales effectiveness insights

In a recent Mercer survey exploring the relationship between the HR and Sales functions, some very interesting findings emerged. Our research reveals that although establishing a strategic partnership between HR and Sales may seem like a distant goal, it is possible…and very important. By employing the best practices of successful partnerships and using fundamental customer-centric strategies, HR can become an effective business partner with Sales and a strategic asset in the revenue-generating function of a company.

Human Resource executives have worked for years to create meaningful strategic partnerships with other functions inside their companies. Ideally, these partnerships create quantifiable financial value for the company that is recognized by both their business partners and the executive suite. When successful, these partnerships elevate HR’s stature in the organization to that of a critical business asset – an asset deserving of ongoing investment and a high-profile seat at the leadership table. Since creating quantifiable value is an objective of Human Resource executives, there is one business function toward which they should devote a substantial amount of effort – the sales force. Sales is the group within any organization that has the most measurable impact on revenue, and forming a productive business partnership with Sales can noticeably affect the company’s financial performance. Yet little has been said over the years about how these two functions can and should relate to each another.

To understand the current state of the partnership between HR and Sales, Mercer recently interviewed 50 sales executives and 50 HR executives from Fortune 1000 companies. Our research revealed fundamentally divergent perceptions about this relationship.

• More than 70 percent of the HR executives interviewed believed they had achieved a solid strategic partnership with Sales (see ratings of 4 and 5 on the chart below)
• In contrast, only 45 percent of Sales executives shared the same upbeat assessment.
• Even more disconcerting, five times more Sales executives than HR executives rated HR in their companies as essentially a basic support function (ratings of 1 and 2).
  

In sum, either HR is not providing ample value to Sales, or else Sales is simply not noticing it.

Perception of HR as a strategic partner to Sales

As disappointing as these findings are, our research shows that there are companies in which the partnership between HR and Sales is strong.

Barriers to strategic partnership

HR’s perspective
Unquestionably, HR stands to profit from a robust strategic partnership with Sales. As we mentioned previously, HR can gain more prominence within a company by expanding its role and creating demonstrable value for the company. When we examined the tasks where HR currently supports Sales, we found that the most prevalent types of support were traditional activities such as recruiting, compensation and competency modeling. HR was much less likely to assist Sales in other value-added ways, such as change management, performance benchmarking or training. In these areas, Sales was more likely to perform these tasks on its own.

Prevalence of HR supporting Sales

Reasons citied by HR for not performing additional Sales support tasks
Not a priority or performed only on request	36%
Sales already does it	32%
Lack of skills or knowledge	12%
Lack of systems, processes or other resources	12%
Other	8%
n=25

Sales’ perspective
Sales also stand to profit from a strong HR-Sales partnership. Like HR, Sales has a limited amount of resources and could better leverage these resources by focusing on its core activities and seeking support from other internal functions. In fact, we find that Sales is receiving substantial support from other business functions like Finance and Marketing. Yet, they are not quite as cozy with HR.

Reasons why Sales does not seek more support from HR
Sales performs the tasks on its own	41%
HR does not understand the Sales function	38%
HR lacks the skills to perform the specific tasks	15%
Other	6%
n=25

Interestingly, these responses mirror the sentiments of the HR executives. Whether it is perception or reality, HR and Sales executives both view a lack of knowledge and skills as a key barrier to a stronger partnership. When a lack of HR resources is added to the mix, it begins to become clear why this partnership typically has not flourished.

Characteristics of successful strategic partnerships

Despite the challenges of developing a solid partnership between Sales and HR, our research found companies in which both groups had escaped the tendency to maintain the status quo and had successfully overcome the barriers.

Best practice 1: They collaborate frequently on key business issues
Both Sales and HR cited a lack of knowledge about Sales’ business as a key impediment to partnership. Leading companies, however, remove this impediment through frequent communication. First, they share their respective business agendas at very senior levels. This practice ensures that HR understands Sales’ burning issues and is able to respond with appropriate types of initiatives. Without this executive collaboration, HR and Sales can become strategically misaligned, especially in light of their company’s overall goals and objectives.

Best practice 2: They dedicate HR resources to Sales
Strategic Partner organizations do not limit the exchange of information to their senior executives. To further facilitate communication between the groups, they commit resources at the field level to work side by side with one another.

Best practice 3: They develop additional skills
Another barrier to strategic partnership that both HR and Sales executives identified was the level and mix of skills within the HR function. Whether it is the result of better hiring or better training, we found that Strategic Partner organizations perceived a higher level of HR skills across the board than their Support Function peers did. This discrepancy was most pronounced in areas such as analysis, leadership and general business acumen – skills deemed relevant to providing more sophisticated support to Sales.

How to engage

For an HR organization trapped in a Support Function relationship and with scarce resources to invest, finding the opportunity to take the partnership to the next level is a barrier in itself. HR executives cannot just show up on Sales’ doorstep saying, “I’m from HR, I’m here to help.” They need to have a reason to be there and a compelling story to tell. Here is where HR can borrow a few tricks of the trade from Sales to break the ice and begin building momentum.

Specifically, the sales model that HR should employ is:

1. Identify a current need within Sales.
2. Build the case for HR’s intervention.
3. Implement and measure the results.

Identify a current need within Sales
Just as a salesperson cannot force a product on a customer who has no need for it, HR cannot force its support on a Sales executive who does not perceive a need. HR must first identify existing “points of pain” inside the sales force and customize a sales pitch and solution to help alleviate that pain. Examples of problems HR can help address include:

• High sales force turnover
• Scarcity of qualified talent
• Long ramp-up times for new hires
• Antiquated selling skills
• Misaligned or unclear roles and responsibilities

Once HR identifies a specific problem within Sales, it can use that issue as a platform to initiate a dialogue between the executives. If there is a point of pain in the sales force that HR can credibly help to resolve, Sales is more likely to entertain a conversation with HR and to seek its assistance.

Key elements of a sales effort designed to drive business results