Improve Your Sales Process
If there was one best sales process everyone would use it. There isn't, despite the claims of those with
their own to offer.
What's missing from your sales process? We are often asked to help improve sales results that have
been deemed a sales process problem because of any or all of the following symptoms:
Sales revenue numbers are not being hit
Forecasts are not sufficiently accurate
Your sales pipeline is insufficient
Not enough visibility into what is going on during the sales process
There is too much variability between sales people and training hasn't fixed it
Sales and Marketing are not on the same page
The company is losing market share
Your close rate is insufficient or declining
Price is becoming the dominant theme in lost sales conversations
Communications between management and sales is not effective
Improving processes is what we do. We do not have a secret process we give you. Rather we taken
proven business process improvement methods and apply them to get you better sales results by
improving your sales process.
What does "improve your sales process" mean? That clearly depends on where it needs improvement.
Seems like a big 'duh,' except that knowing where it needs improvement is not always clear. We are
expert at figuring out where the improvement needs to occur first.
Read more:http://www.customermanufacturing.com/salesprocess.shtml#ixzz3IGyWlYEM
Some quotes we think are particularly relevant to marketing, sales, customer service, strategy or process to share with
you.
"Wasted time is the hardest form of waste to eliminate, because it doesn't lay on the floor where you can trip on it."
Henry Ford
"If you innovate and it doesn't end up as something that the customer benefits from, then it's not innovation."
Sophie Vandebroek
Chief Technology Officer, Xerox
"What the mind of one man can conceive ... others can bring to pass."
Henri Poincar
"If you can't fix it, feature it."
Roy Fields
Group Executive, Teledyne, Inc. (Retired)
"In tough times it is the job of the CFO/Controller to make sure the company is circling the wagons, not circling the drain."
Christine Tury
CFO, NHS Inc.
"...most of the impact of marketing is felt before the product is produced, not after."
Philip Kotler
"Do one thing and do it the best you can."
Harry Snyder
Founder, In-N-Out Burger
"It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory."
W. Edwards Demming
"The customer rarely buys what the business thinks it sells him."
Peter Drucker
Improve Your Sales Process
Once you've determined sales process improvement is necessary to be competitive, how to improve
processes (and which processes to improve) becomes a subject of discussion.
This debate has raged from the early days of process improvement in the manufacturing arena. Most
early approaches focused on techniques. The idea being that if you learned the correct technique, you
could improve your process. Techniques including TQM, 6-Sigma, Constraint Analysis and Lean
Manufacturing (now called Lean Thinking) have all been the "technique" to learn at some point in time.
This technique-driven mindset resulted in the ultimate technique, re-engineering, in the 1990s.
Experienced manufacturing companies (and service companies as well) have learned that no single
technique is the salvation. The appropriate application of each technique framed within an overarching
process improvement management methodology is what actually works. A properly constructed
process improvement management methodology uses each of these tools (and several others) at the
appropriate points to achieve continuous improvement.
The other key lesson from the re-engineering debacle of the 1990s is that process improvement must
be executed from thecustomer's viewpoint. An improved process is, by definition, one that serves the
customer more effectively and efficiently.
In our experience working with numerous manufacturing, professional services, and distribution
companies, two distinct approaches have been used to deploy process improvement management
within companies:
Where the approach used is based primarily on a tool, a training-based approach is used. That
is, the process improvement team members are trained to use the tool (TQM, 6-sigma, lean,
etc.), and then are tasked to deploy that tool to improve a process. This method usually
requires in-process support from outside experts to assure the tool is being used correctly.
This also allows the outside experts to tailor the next round of training to address
shortcomings or next steps for the trainees.
The alternative approach is based on using process-improvement management methodology
on identified processes. That is, rather than be trained in the use of a tool, the process
improvement team members are trained in process improvement management. This includes
learning to use the appropriate tools for process improvement at the correct time. This
approach is usually not "classroom training" driven, but rather "on-the-job training" driven.
The process improvement teams are coached on a regular basis and work on improving real
processes. This requires them to also learn to identify which process improvement tool is most
useful in any given situation.
Both of these methods work. However, based on over 20 years of real-world experience applying both
approaches in manufacturing, service, and healthcare environments, we have found that for
companies whose process maturity level is still focused on reacting to problems or just beginning to
identify a systematic approach, learning process improvement management works best to achieve
faster and longer-term results. Once an organization is skilled in this tactic, advanced training in
certain methods (6-sigma, lean, constraint theory, etc.) becomes the preferred approach to continue
refined improvements.
Read more:http://www.customermanufacturing.com/improvesales.shtml#ixzz3IH0ED4Xo
SALES ALLIANCE CLIENT CASE STUDIES
Case Study #1: Company Description
Multi-billion dollar supplier of consumer and business-to-business cable and communication services in 26 large metropolitan areas across
the U.S.
Business Areas Addressed
Inside consumer sales
Outbound consumer telesales
Outside small business field sales
Major Account Sales
Direct Sales
Retail Sales
Customer Service Sales
Work Performed
Sales team hiring assistance
Sales process development
Sales process enhancement, engineering and pre-testing
Customized sales training programs
Implementation of sales team coaching program
Implementation of sales process steps and sales results tracking
Selection and hiring of a 10-person sales training staff
Licensing of over 7 customized sales training programs
Train-the-trainer program
Results Achieved
Newly hired and trained sales team outperformed existing sales teams (national average) by more than sixty
percent within just a 4-month period
Results exceed those of two other sales development/training companies and lead to client adopting The
Sales Alliances program on a national basis in 26 metropolitan operations
Achieved forty percent boost in cross-sold products and services
Client determined ROI on investment in program to be less than 30 days
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Case Study #2: Company Description
Manufacturer of computer peripheral devices for legacy systems
Business Areas Addressed
Inside and Direct Sales to major corporations
Achieved board-mandated 40% sales increase via stealing competitor accounts
Developed and deployed a unique sales war room to coordinate a competitive assault
Work Performed
Assessment of sales team, structure, goals, measurements, motivation and skills
Assistance hiring salespeople and a Sales VP
Customized sales process steps
Customized sales training program development
Creation of competitive sales strategies (and counter strategies), including the implementation of a war
room and a rapid fire, shotgun series of field visits to accounts of targeted competitors
On-the-phone sales team coaching program
Sales management coaching program
Ongoing corporate sales consulting
Development of key account sales and capture plans
Results Achieved
Achieved board-mandated 40% sales increase and was given a $10,000 bonus
Weakened the targeted competitor by recruiting a significant number of their accounts
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Case Study #3: Company Description
Small manufacturer of computer power protection systems and software
Business Areas Addressed
Inside sales to major corporations and distributors
Outbound, direct sales initiative to recruit dealers selling the products of the primary competitor and industry
leader
Assessment of sales team, structure, goals, measurements, motivation and skills
Development of dealer program and dealer kit
Customized sales training program
On-the-phone sales coaching program
Sales management coaching program
Ongoing corporate sales consulting
Work Performed
Assessment of sales team, structure, goals, measurements, motivation and skills
Development and implementation of pilot channel partner program
Customized channel sales process and training program development
Development of competitive sales strategies to outmaneuver large industry leader
Extensive sales process engineering and testing
On-the-phone sales team coaching program
Sales management coaching program
Ongoing corporate sales consulting
Results Achieved
Thirty five percent sales increase within 1 year
Recognized as the best in class Reseller program in industry by VAR Business Magazine
Dealer network developed via The Sales Alliances initiative was the primary basis for the companys sale to
a large industry player a year later.
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Case Study #4: Company Description
Supplier of green building products to consumers, businesses and dealers
Business Areas Addressed
Inbound and outbound business and consumer telesales
Development of business-to-business and dealer program
Work Performed
Assessment of sales team, structure, goals, measurements, motivation and skills
Inside sales training program (customized) and sales process
Development of dealer program and dealer kit
Customized sales training program
On-the-phone sales team coaching program
Sales management coaching and training seminar
Ongoing corporate sales consulting
Results Achieved
Sales more than doubled over a 2-year period
Business-to-business sales went from less than 15% to more than 40% of overall sales
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Case Study #5: Company Description
Supplier of computer maintenance services and backup systems
Business Areas Addressed
Inbound and ou
Up-sale program for maintenance technicians
Major account opportunities
Sales compensation
Sales coaching
tbound sales training
Work Performed
Assessment of sales team, structure, goals, measurements, motivation and skills
Assistance hiring salespeople
Customized sales process and training program development
Specialized training program for maintenance technicians to generate sales leads within accounts they
service
On-the-phone sales team coaching program
Sales management coaching program
Ongoing corporate sales consulting
Results Achieved
75% increase in sales leads, resulting in an overall sales increase of 20% in first year
Introduction of firm to a strategic partner whom they later acquired
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Case Study #6: Company Description
Newspaper publisher with over 100 advertising salespeople
Business Areas Addressed
Field sales (selling advertising to small and large businesses)
Work Performed
Salesperson interviews and sales process definition and development
Customized sales training program
Sales management coaching and reinforcement program
Results Achieved
Helped firm achieve more than a 20% sales increase in 9 months
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Case Study #7: Company Description
Regional Bell Operating Company in Midwest
Business Areas Addressed
Business-to-Business Call Center sales teams
Work Performed
Definition of best practices
Ongoing best practices coaching
Coach-the-coach program
Coaching metrics
Results Achieved
Achieved a $17 million sales lift over a 120-day period with a net client investment of under $400,000
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Case Study #8: Company Description
Regional provider of staffing services to large corporations
Business Areas Addressed
Field sales team new business prospecting program
Work Performed
Assessment of sales team, structure, goals, measurements, motivation and skills
Customized sales training program based on unique set of sales process steps
On-the-phone sales prospecting assistance
Sales management coaching program
Development of sales process manual and new hire training program
Results Achieved
Achieved 30% increase in placements over a 12-month period
