Mark Sinatra is CEO of Staff One, a Dallas-based PEO. Staff One works with brokers to increase revenues and retention rates from their small group books of business. Mark worked with an investment firm in 2008 to purchase Staff One from its original founder.

Predictable sales model. It's critical to know what types and levels of activity will lead to the sales results you desire. Build prospecting plans for each salesperson that will lead to achieving those revenue targets.

Add objectivity to hiring. I've found that any time emotion enters the hiring process, poor hiring decisions are made. It's important to have a bench of talented people to draw off of so that you are never in a position where you are forced to hire someone quickly. Also, I believe that a personality profile can be effective to determine a potential fit for a position, especially when benchmarked to the ideal profile for that role.

The best way to sell is to provide exceptional service. I've seen both sides of this. A strong sales team without the same level of service will not be effective and will result in low morale. It all starts with ensuring you have documented processes and sufficient resources to provide an exceptional level of service. We all know close rates on client referrals are high.

Know thy sandbox. It's important to determine early who is a great client and who isn't a target client. Knowing this and holding yourself accountable to this will result in a more targeted sales and marketing effort and higher client retention. How can anyone have a targeted marketing campaign to anyone with a bank account?

Change may be good, but too much at once is risky. It's critical to carefully evaluate making changes to a company's product line, process, infrastructure etc. Questions to ponder include: how does this affect the client? Do you have the resources capable of implementing this change now? What other priorities exist that might take precedence?

Ask why. Process issues will never get resolved unless the root cause is identified. Continuing to delve into an issue by asking 'why' will help determine the root cause of the issue and frame the solution.

Be vulnerable. I find it refreshing to be introspective both as an individual and as a company. Embrace the constructive areas of development and focus on continual improvement. Otherwise, ignoring those weaknesses will result in a stagnant, status quo environment.

Photo by Martin Kohl

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