Archive for the ‘Sales Productivity & Peformance Management’ Category

Enhancements make it easier to manage.
A procedure that makes it easier for the salesperson to manage development of an order, and makes it easier for sales management to monitor order development, is a sales force productivity upgrade – or enhancement. One such procedure is a sales process analysis specification. This enables precise order progress monitoring. Another is target account identification. This enables clear coverage monitoring.  Both are change management processes. A third is sales support tools. These guide the selling presentation, assuring that all important points are covered.

Enhancements improve order development reliability.
For example, a process specification also assures comprehensive order development, by making sure all important order development steps are covered, and all buying influences have formed positive beliefs about your product and your company.  This is management of the sales process that will increase sales productivity, improving sales force performance.

Enhancements improve sales productivity.
Productivity (return on time and resources invested) is improved when the order development process is completed efficiently, and the close ratio is high.  This is sales performance productivity improvement.
For a more detailed information, ask for Knotes & Comments 101C, “If you want better results . . . ,” and Knotes & Comments 102, “If you covered the territory . . . .”

How Much Promotional Support Is Enough, and What Kind Should Be Used?
Sales support is leverage for a sales presentation. It boosts productivity because it adds impact or retention value. You should have as many different types as your salespeople will use! You should probably have at least 6 sales support tools, and maybe 12, but 3 could be enough.
The function of promotional support is to aid memorability or leave a positive impression.
• Are you selling a large piece of equipment that is best illustrated by pictures or a movie?
• Or are you selling small parts that can be best shown with samples?
• Are you selling a process that can be illustrated, or services that can be endorsed by a testimonial letter?
• Is there reference information about product applications or capabilities that can enhance a sales presentation?

Each salesperson may use only two or three tools to support his/her presentation and selling efforts. but each salesperson will use a different selection, or combination. For example, one salesperson will use only or primarily literature to illustrate or support the information being communicated. Another may use primarily a flip chart or PowerPoint presentation.  You maximize sales productivity when you support every salesman’s performance

Whatever you provide, sales management’s  function is to help your salespeople communicate value and help the prospect remember that value.

For more about sales support leverage, plus a checklist and description of 14 sales support options, ask for Knotes & Comments 208.

You can generate more accurate forecasts and higher sales productivity with sales development accounting

You’ve identified your target accounts, and you’re now accurately measuring work-in process.   You’re well on your way to helping each salesperson make a reliable sales forecast.  When your salesperson is filling out an Account Data Sheet for each account, you’ve helped each salesperson to categorize and document qualification data.  The further along in the qualification process an account becomes, the better idea the salesperson has about whether he (and your company) will get an order, when he’ll get it, and for how much.

Self motivation is the strongest incentive

Now, identify what the salesperson to wants – or needs – to earn.  From the interview process, you should have a good idea of why and how much each salesperson expects to earn from your company.  Are they looking to your company for basic earnings because they just lost a principle and they have to replace that income?  Do they have one or more children going to college and they have those expenses?  Are they looking ahead to retirement and need to build their investment portfolio?

The question is, what is their sales motivation?  You should know if they can reasonably expect those earnings from the assigned territory.  You’re already making it easier by designating what information they should collect.  For a motivated (and skilled) salesperson, this is all you need to do.  This is more than most of his principals do.

They are making a work-in-process inventory to make it easier to meet their earnings objective.  You can’t get stronger motivation than that – unless you bring up their earnings objectives when their spouse is present.  Thus the reason for a joint interview when hiring.  If this isn’t a new salesperson or rep, you can still get into an earnings expectation conversation with each current salesperson in conjunction with telling them how much you are doing to help them reach their goal.

The forecasts will continually become more accurate as they get experience in using the process.

For assistance in establishing  marketing accounting tools, and implementing Sales Performance Quality Assurance™, ask for Knotes & Comments 104 and 201, or call us, or email us.

You can generate improved growth and profits with sales development accounting

If you want to improve  your management of sales results, whether you’re  selling through independent reps or employee salespeople, consider adding an accounting tool to your marketing strategy.  It has been repeatedly proven that the key to improving results is using a structured system.  When effectively implemented, a structured sales process adds reliability to the achievement of profitable growth.

One benefit to Sales Performance Quality Assurance™ is that sales development progress can be measured with relative accuracy.  Let’s consider the sales work-in-process inventory.

A Work-In-Process Inventory reveals the value of sales development progress

When you have a checklist of  information you need to close a sale,  it’s easier to collect the information.  When you document the information, it’s easy to see what’s missing.  Now divide the list of information needed into groups and give each a status designation.

Thus, you have a work-in-process status designation that reveals how far along the sale has progressed, and presumably how much effort has been made or time expended.  This is much more precise that asking the salesperson, “When are you going to get a Request For Quote?”

Next, we’ll determine how to improve forecast accuracy and sales productivity.

For assistance in establishing a marketing accounting system, and implementing Sales Performance Quality Assurance™, ask for Knotes & Comments 201C  “You Can Achieve Profitable Growth by Treating Sales as a Production Process” and 203C “You Can Have The Control You Want.” Then call us or email us concerning your specific challenge.

You can generate improved growth and profits with sales development accounting

For many manufacturers, controlling sales results is more erratic than effective – particularly when selling through independent manufacturers’ reps, but also with employee salespeople.  It has been repeatedly proven that the key to improving results is using a structured system.  When effectively implemented, a structured sales process adds reliability to the achievement of profitable growth.

In manufacturing, if you want to know what you have achieved during a time period, you generate an earnings statement.  But if you want to know where you stand at a point in time, you generate a balance sheet.  In addition to accounts receivable and payable, the key numbers in a balance sheet are inventory – both finished goods and work-in-process.

While cost accounting can reveal the value of product work-in-process, an incremental sales process inventory is harder to determine.  One benefit to Sales Performance Quality Assurance™ is that sales development progress can be measured with relative accuracy.  The key lies in the design and documentation of the sales development process.  There are a number accounting benefits to SPQA. Let’s first consider territory potential.

Territory Potential – The number and size of available target accounts

How many target accounts are there in each territory, and how many are there in each industry type?  If you have identified target accounts based on valid projections of sales potential, any “good” rep – or employee salesperson with incentive compensation – will follow your guidance.

If you want to measure sales potential in dollars, estimate the average sales volume available from each account size (Large. Medium, and Small) and type (NAIC) classification.  Just remember, these dollar numbers will be estimates.  They only become objective numbers when the account has been screened for sales potential.

In future posts, we will cover work-in-process inventories, sales forecasts, and sales productivity. For more information, ask for Knotes & Comments 201 “You Can Achieve Profitable Growth by Treating Sales as a Production Process,” and 202 “Establish Measurability to Enable Manageability.”