Biz Dev Documentation

Eh. Yes and no, sales is a different beast. I'm not saying it should be, but it generally is. If you judge your sales process like your technology process (without building the right culture), you're readying yourself for a mighty flop.

By nature, the more high-contact sales people are the stronger the personalities. Documenting and tight record management just don't come naturally, and unlike engineering, are generally considered immaterial to the roles. Sales resources are hired, fired and incented by sales, and the good ones will focus only on what will help increase their sales in. Again, I see startups always overlook the dynamic and motivations they are creating, and then wonder why it didn't work out.

I'm reminded of some of the larger sales forces (fortune 50) I've interacted with. The running joke is that the sales people with the best documentation should be fired, as their sales would be the lowest. 9/10 times, this turned to be true.

Slightly off-topic, but does anybody know of a good community for biz dev news & stories?