Your Sales Management Guru

 Your 2012 Sales Plan

It’s a little late to begin planning your 2012 Sales Plan, but in a conversation last week with a reader of this blog, I realized there maybe others who have not formalized their 2012 plan.  I have included below the various “categories” you should consider in building a plan.

 Other questions you should consider:

 •         What went well in the past year?

• •         What did not go well?
• •         What are the key drivers?
• •         What are the key metrics?
• •         What are the risks?
• •         What are the opportunities?

 •         What are some of the specific factors you will be
facing in 2012?

• •         What assumptions are you making about the market in 2012?
• •         What assumptions did you make about your
  offerings in 2011? Still true?
• •         What assumptions did you make about your company
  capability in 2011? Still true?

 Topics:          Table of Contents for the Section

 Executive Summary

1. Company Mission and Strategic Alignment

2.1.1     Company Mission statement

2.1.2     Company Goals

2.1.3     Company Strategy

2.1.4     Company Critical Success Factors

2.1.5     Key measurements (Market share, profit, growth, etc)

3. Sales Goals

3.1.1     Revenue

3.1.2     Profit

3.1.3     Units or Product Groups

3.1.4     Target Customers

3.1.5     Market Share

3.1.6     Other Goals

3.1.7     Sales Organization

3.1.8     Personal Goals

4. Market Coverage Strategy

4.1.1     Market definition

4.1.2     Territory definition

4.1.3     Target Accounts

4.1.4     Customer buying process

5. Sales Strategy

5.1.1     Channel strategy (link to Sales Strategy player)

5.1.2     Partners and Alliances

5.1.2.1.1    Strategy

5.1.2.1.2    How to leverage relationships

6. Sales Cost Model

6.1.1     Compensation targets for sales organization

6.1.2     Travel and Entertainment

6.1.3     Discounts, promotions

6.1.4     Reward and Recognition

7. Develop Human Resources (Link to Build an Organization)

7.1.1     Candidate profiles for each position

7.1.2     Job Descriptions

7.1.3     Hiring Process

7.1.4     Growth Plan (hiring plan)

8. Training Plan

8.1.1     Sales skills

8.1.2     Product Service

8.1.3     Sales Process

8.1.4     Sales Certification

8.1.5     New Hire Training Plan

9. Compensation Plan (Link to Reward and Recognition)
10. Sales Process/ Sales Cycle definition:  Key milestones, %Probability to close (Leads, Qualify, demo, proposal, close, revenue recognition, customer care)

10.1.1  Productivity Model,

10.1.2  Model Pipeline

10.1.3  Activity metrics

11. Sales Tools (Q-screens, proposals, standard documents, contracts, sales collateral kits, case studies, ROI/justification calculators), section?
12. Support systems (HR, Marketing, administration, IT, Engineering, Manufacturing)

12.1.1  Sales Force Automation/ CRM technology

12.1.2  Marketing support:  Collateral, lead generation, PR events, trade shows, Press releases

12.1.3  Competitive Analysis

13. Execute

1. a.    Prepare for launch, (internal buy-in to plan, communication)
2. b.    Launch (Kickoff meeting), move to Tools to execute
3. c.    Pipeline Development process
4. d.    Commission and performance reports
5. e.    Customer Relationship programs 

Acumen Management Group Ltd. “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America.  Ken’s latest book: “Leading High Performance Sales Teams”.

 Ken Thoreson provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.           Ken@AcumenMgmt.com   www.AcumenManagement.com (website)

www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com  (blog)

Posted in Leadership Management, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Training | 1 Comment »

The Times are a Changing or Are You?

At the end of each year I write down my personal and business goals for the new year in seven different categories. The challenging part of that exercise is I have to review the goals that I had set from the past year and grade my performance. I have saved these sheets from the previous 20+ years and it’s a telling experience, I have found there are always good goals, just sometimes unrealistic timeframes.

 I would suggest you review your past 12 month’s performance; ask yourself: “have I changed or improved my organization?”  If you are a new reader make sure you review all of the previous blogs for idea’s and tips to improve your personal or professional performance.

 As I look forward into 2012 and think about current topics and potential new blogs, it occurred to me that asking you to evaluate your current status on a few basic sales management topics might be a great spot to get ready to leap into the New Year.

Please score these 1-5, 5=highest

  Total Score                                      _________

 Confidential Property of Acumen Management Group, Ltd All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Authorization

 Many of these topics are critical for building a high performance sales team as well as increasing the predictability of your revenue.  I believe it’s critical that a sales manager or owner know a few basic ratios of their business, as in the ratio of potential revenues in the pipeline to the defined  sales quota vs actual attainment. Over a 6-9 month basis of tracking these information you will find your closing ratio’s, the value of how much potential revenue must be generated each month to enter your pipeline and what you need at the beginning of each month to attain your sales quota.

 I also like the idea of “out of sight-out of mind”. If you have major accounts-you must have a written plan of action, for each account, for at least three months. If you have major sales opportunities to sell each month-you must have their name and action plans visibly defined on your wall or desk. This will ensure you are consistently aware of your important prospects.

 Since recruiting and interviewing are the number one most important aspects, making sure you do it right becomes critical! View my free video on www.AcumenManagement.com

Depending upon where you scored or in what area you didn’t score as well as you thought, stay tuned to this blog as we move into 2012. I will be touching on many of these topics and others in greater detail as the year moves along.  If you would like to suggest specific topics for me to cover in one or over several columns please send me your ideas too!

 Acumen Management Group Ltd. “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead!

 Ken provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.           Ken@AcumenMgmt.com   www.AcumenManagement.com

www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Posted in Leadership Management, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Systems, Sales Management Training | 2 Comments »

Sales Leadership: Ten 2012 Sales Kick-off Meeting Idea’s

 While working with a client last week it became obvious that we are moving into the time to  prepare 2012 budgets, new compensation plans and something most sales manager’s don’t take enough time in developing;  their 2012 Sales Kick Off meeting.  

Already many larger organizations are booking their sales conferences for the first quarter where they will invite their sales teams, vendors, resellers/partners to hear their plans to make 2012 the “best year ever”.  Keynote speakers, breakout sessions, new marketing plans and product demonstrations will all be coordinated to increase enthusiasm, salesperson belief and excitement that the new year will bring.  I know this because I am booked for five events already.  However just because larger organizations are planning their formal conferences it doesn’t mean as a sales leader you shouldn’t be planning an event for your sales organization.

A yearly sales kick-off meeting can be organized as an off-site/overnight 2 day program or as simply as a ¾ to a ½ day event.  You should schedule them no later than mid-February. However the basics of any sales kickoff event should include the following planning ideas. These ideas’s are not in any order of priority.

1. 1.      You should announce theme for the new year. This should be a positive statement of your major objectives and something that can be reinforced throughout the year.  “Be Brilliant on the Basics” or Nike’s: Just Do It! Are two examples, comment below on your ideas for your sales theme for the year!
2. 2.      Include time for sales training on sales skills. You might hand out a sales training book, as a gift to each salesperson, this will be your first quarter “must read” book. You can use the book for extended sales training during your meetings. Also roll out your first quarter sales training plans.
3. 3.      Announce a first quarter sales contest. (see previous blogs for ideas)
4. 4.      Announce a 2012 yearly sales contest; this should be a big prize for exceeding the salesperson’s quota. Examples include:  a trip to a resort, a cruise or a trip to an island.  Remember these kinds of incentive programs are not expenses but paid out of incremental revenues/profits. The roll out should include written rules and pictures of the location, etc. See my book: Creating High Performance Sales Compensation Plans, for idea’s on sales contests. www.AcumenManagement.com
5. 5.      Describe and show your marketing plans for the first six months. This will show the salespeople how your organization is planning to support the sales team.
6. 6.      Schedule the president of your company to give a short message on his/her philosophy on sales and the culture of your organization.
7. 7.      You may or may not announce your new compensation plan at this event; it all depends upon the degree of change you are making. With minor changes, it’s a great time, with major changes schedule a separate meeting.  HINT: Do not roll out the new compensation plan as the last topic of the meeting; schedule it early in the afternoon, if your event is a full day meeting.
8. 8.      Make sure you make the meeting fun!   As the sales leader work on activities that create the right culture and teamwork, create a game that everyone participates in during the event.
9. 9.      Make sure each salesperson presents their “Business Plans” for the year, based upon the number of salespeople this can be done by breakouts into regions, smaller groups or as a single group. These business plans include not only forecasts but personal commitments to activity levels and professional growth.
10. 10.  Bring in an outside speaker. This could include a customer telling of their satisfaction with your firm, a sales trainer or a motivational message that propels your team to excellence. See for more idea’s: www.AcumenManagement.com

This is your time to bring a coordinated program that sets the tone for the new year. Make sure you take the time to do it right.  What additional ideas do you have? 

Acumen Management Group Ltd. “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead!

Ken provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.           Ken@AcumenMgmt.com   www.AcumenManagement.com Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Posted in Books, Keynote Programs, Sales Kick Off Meeting, Sales Management Planning, Sales Training | 2 Comments »

Fix the Economy:  Sale Leadership Must Be the Stimulus

By Ken Thoreson

While most eyes are on Washington DC and Wall Street to judge the health of the economy or to propose plans to that will “solve the problems”, everyone that reads this blog knows nothing happens unless a salesperson sells something!

I am firmly convinced that the VP of Sales, Sales Director, or Sales Manager are the linchpins that drive the growth of any organization.  They set the direction, culture and create the intensity required for success, in today’s economy it is our  responsibility to jump  start your business that will in turn impact other organizations and eventually the economy.  This will be a massive effort, but we can start TODAY!  I have listed a few ideas to that will begin the Sales Leadership Stimulus program. Let’s keep the ideas flowing to help everyone succeed…

1.      Make sure every salesperson has a 90 business plan with activity goals, account strategies and revenue objectives. Vision and action must be in alignment
2.    Schedule a sales skills training event at least everyone other week-assign members of your sales team to train each other.
3.  Develop a “Cross Sell-Up Sell Plan for each of your existing customers. Determine what products/solutions each client currently uses and what other products/solutions you can sell to them.
4.       Create a specific Current Client Contact Campaign using #3 above, assign X number of clients to contact per week/salesperson, track sales results for 90 days.
5.    Ask each of your vendors: products/services/ administrative, for funds or gifts to use in a company wide sales contest between now and the end of the year. Read my book: Creating High Performance Sales Compensation Plans for other ideas
6.     Create an active scheduled Tele-Sales Blitz Days in your office with your sales team. Schedule a minimum of two hours a week where everyone prospects for new business. Track daily results for appointments.  HINT:  Make this a fun time.
7.    Once a month take your sales team to a satisfied client’s office for tour and demonstration of how they use your products/solutions. This will help build  belief in your company, something required for salespeople to be mentality tough in these times. See past blogs on this topic.
8.  Develop a peer group of other Sales Leader’s; share your ideas, ask for advice.
9.    Build a team fun event where you roll out your goals, programs, create the enthusiasm to execute your plans. You must always be the positive leader, with excitement, energy and focus. Your team must believe in your plans.
10.   What other ideas did I forgot?  List your comments  below. 

Acumen Management Group Ltd. “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead!

Ken provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.           Ken@AcumenMgmt.com   www.AcumenManagement.com

                Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Posted in sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Planning | 1 Comment »

Sales Management Thought Leadership:  efficient effectiveness

As an Eagle Scout I can discuss the topic of “Be Prepared” easily and based upon this past Sunday it even has more credibility. Sunday was “Boom’s Day” the largest fireworks display in the U.S  occurs each Labor Day weekend in Knoxville, TN-so what does that mean?  An estimated 400,000 people flock to the river front to watch the event; boats on the river, people lined up on the docks,  roads and every home, parking lot and condo packed with friends and neighbors.  As this was my first time to witness 45 minutes of noise, color and lots of OOOh’s and Ahhh’s I had to be prepared. Did I mention the potential of rain?

For two weeks, prior to Sunday,  I asked everyone about the event; where to park, when to arrive, double checked my reservations for my dinner cruise and thought of what to pack in my knap sack.  The good news was I found a parking spot in the first ramp I drove into, arriving at 2:30pm allowed my friends and I to casually walk thru Market Square, stop for  refreshments and sushi and then walk the 10 blocks to the river walk and boat launch. When the rain came we had hats’, ponchos, umbrellas and at 9:30pm when the show began, the rain stopped. On the walk back to the car, I took out my flashlight and the four of us made it home by 1am.  A great evening to remember.

What does this have to do with sales management?  As a manager you must be prepared-at all times for almost any event.  The best plan is to have a plan and to consider what might go wrong or what could impact your ability to exceed your objectives.  I have simply listed below a series of topics for your consideration and for you to double check against your plan or lack of plan.

Do you have a plan?

       If you lose a salesperson

       If your sales team needs sales training

       To increase the sales culture of your team

       To increase your networking/partnering function

       That generates excitement for your products/services

       To say thank you to your support team

       That increases your level of professionalism/education

       To create a sales contest that drives revenue

       That adds net new customers to your base

       That drives the necessary sales leads for each month

       To say thank you to your existing customer base

       To increase your public relations exposure within your community or market

       That will increase/improve your vendor relations

       To improve your CRM effectiveness

       If your computer systems fail or are destroyed

 That’s enough for now, but if I missed anything, comment below, let’s build a complete list for the future.

HINT:  this is a great idea for your next management meeting, simply begin by asking each of the departmental managers about their problems or contingency issues that arise on a day to day basis or what might occur if a disaster of any kind happens-then ask them for their plan.

 Why is this critically important today?  In any kind of business environment,  the organization that operates the most efficiently generally out performs their competition, in more challenging times a focus on efficient effectiveness must become the mantra for the day.

Ken Thoreson “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 13 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America.

 Ken provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.           Ken@AcumenMgmt.com   www.AcumenManagement.com Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Posted in sales leadership, Sales Management, Sales Management Consulting, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Systems, Sales Management Training | Comments Off

THE ESSENCE OF EDUCATION

By Ken Thoreson

This blog is from a chapter in my latest book: “Leading High Performance Teams” I thought you would enjoy it. As we move into the final months of the year ensuring your sales teams are more professional is critical to exceeding your goals. www.AcumenManagement.com

Developing well-coordinated training programs for new salespeople and existing salespeople alike can provide tremendous ROI.   

By Ken Thoreson

In working with clients, we at Acumen Management often find that sales-training programs suffer from problems such as inadequate new-employee orientation, sporadic and unfocused ongoing training  and nonexistent or ineffective role-playing scenarios. Many clients also lack any type of coaching or mentoring in the field, during or after routine sales calls.

The good news: Sales- training programs don’t have to be sophisticated or expensive. To ensure success, you need only a few basic components: a comprehensive plan that spells out your training program’s goals and components, a clear ongoing process and, above all, effective execution.

A Comprehensive Plan
Your plan should contain an outline for initial employee training on functional job requirements, company product and service offerings and corporate benefits, along with recurring plans for training existing employees.

Many organizations’ training plans are missing one key factor: making sure that employee interest and motivation levels remain high. This process, which involves helping team members commit to the organization and align their personal and professional interests, is known as “re-recruiting.”

The perfect opportunity to set a lasting tone is when new employees join your company. If you have customer letters of reference, have the newcomers read them. If you have awards, explain how you earned them. All new employees should have lunch or a meeting with the person at the highest level in their divisions; in smaller companies, that would be the president. Commitment, loyalty and the right attitude will begin to develop at these sessions. 

At Acumen, we believe in creating a detailed three-week new-hire training plan. Each week is broken down into specific training and knowledge-transfer components— with homework! The plan must cover everything, including:

• ·         Legal documents
• ·         Marketing case studies
• ·         Using the phone, fax machine and customer relationship management (CRM) system
• ·         Presenting and selling your organization via its brochures and PowerPoint presentations
• ·         Scheduled lunch meetings with key executives

… and more, based on your organization’s specific needs.

It’s critical that you clearly define each element of your training program and that the people responsible for each area sign off as each new hire has successfully completed the training.

 A Clear Long-Term Process
To ensure success, your training plan should be designed so that you’re continually updating your team’s abilities. The plan should cover the following areas: sales skills, product and services knowledge, company operations, industry awareness and, if appropriate, understanding of key vertical markets. 

Plan and organize your sales meetings for the entire quarter. Develop a comprehensive plan for repeatedly touching on each of the elements listed above over the course of the quarter (although not necessarily addressing all of them at each event).

The plan should also include personalized six-month programs that allow salespeople to set their own goals. This process helps ensure that individual and corporate goals are fully aligned. One of my clients requires its salespeople to attain several certification levels each year. In one instance, the salesperson has 15 minutes to review a case study before walking into a room where an actor plays the role of the client. Three independent professionals evaluate the salesperson’s performance, which may be videotaped for later review. The salesperson must receive a passing grade before moving on to the next level.

Effective Execution
To get your training program off the ground, first develop a written three-month sales training plan. Include a mandatory, predefined schedule; emphasize that employees must schedule their other meetings around it. Assign sales team members to present most training topics (if salespeople have to train others on a topic, you can be sure they’ll know the material cold). Schedule sessions with outside trainers at least once per quarter. Establishing a short-term plan and agenda ensures that you address current issues while meeting the goals for providing ongoing training.

Bottom line: Employees are a critical asset. Most software systems have regular maintenance check-ups and support agreements to keep them at current levels. Your employees require at least as much attention. Keeping your employees’ personal and professional objectives aligned with your corporate goals through training and re-recruiting will ultimately result in huge dividends. 

Acumen Management Group Ltd. “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead!

Ken  provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.           Ken@AcumenMgmt.com   www.AcumenManagement.com

Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Posted in Books, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Training, Sales Training | Comments Off

Sales Leadership: Improving your Won/Lost Results

Last week I was speaking to a group of executives about improving their Business Planning process by increasing their consideration of: strategic issues, market dynamics and resource/employee development.  One of the other elements in effective business planning  is holding a formal quarterly review process where the management team evaluates the quality of business execution and the operations, marketing and sales scorecards. During the session I revealed a variety of metrics we use to assist our clients on improving their sales and profits.   The first sales related metric I recommend is the Won/Lost ratio, this is the number of proposals delivered vs the number of opportunity’s won. This is measured by your sales team and by individual salesperson.

The reason this ratio is important is it will tell  sales leadership if your salesperson is qualifying properly, delivering enough proposals or has other sales related issues. From this ratio you can also begin to build the balance of your pipeline metrics, working backwards in your funnel.  However, that is not our topic today.

What can improve your won/lost ratios?  Better pre-call planning.  Let me summarize a few questions the sales manager and salesperson can use to improve their preparation, if you would like our Pre Call Planning Sales Worksheet, simply send me an email, it is part of our On Line Sales Management Tool Kit, Ken@AcumenMgmt.com

Consider each of these issues as you plan your sales call:

• What is he/she in charge of or expected to manage? How will your solution affect the
• What does he/she want to achieve? How does she/he, measure success? How are they evaluated?
• What is considered a success on this proposal?
• What external factors or industry trends might make it more difficult to reach their goals?
• What likely strategies and initiatives are in place to help achieve their objectives?
• What likely issues does the organization face that could prevent goal achievement?
• Who are the peers? Subordinates, superiors, outsiders whom they frequently interact? Who has formal power or informal power?
• What’s their status quo relevant to your product/service/solution? What would it take to overcome status quo?
• What is the personality style of each of the individuals on the call?
• How will I open the call?  What is the objective of the call? How will I close the call?

While these are just a few of questions a professional must consider prior to any sales call, it is also important to recognize that sales conditions can change at any time and constant reviews of your sales strategies will sharpen your skills but more importantly increase your won/lost ratio.  The bottom line:  increasing won/lost ratios mean an increase in commissions, need any more encouragement?

Ken Thoreson “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 13 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America.

 Ken provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.           Ken@AcumenMgmt.com   www.AcumenManagement.com

Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Posted in Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Consulting, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Systems, Sales Management Training | 2 Comments »

Sales Leadership:  A Lack of Resources May Limit Success

Date Line: Las Vegas, Nevada

I have spent the last 3 days/nights in Las Vegas on vacation prior to speaking at a conference this week. During that time I toured few new hotels, saw a show, dined at great restaurants, viewed The Grand Canyon and visited Hoover Dam. If you haven’t been here recently, it’s a great spot to visit and enjoy the area.  However, two things hit me:  1) the recession has really affected the area, they are #1 in foreclosures, with supposedly more to come, the highest unemployment rate in the nation and the hotels/casino’s are starting to close! Number 2);  Lake Mead which was  made by the creation of the Hoover Dam in the 1930’s currently holds only has 47% of  the required water supply, it is down 163 feet!  Hoover Dam not only supplies water to the Southwest, including Phoenix and Los Angeles, it also supplies the electric power. As the water supply dwindles, so will the ability of this man made wonder of the world to generate water and power for the increasing needs of the population.

The lights of Los Vegas still are bright, yet they only receive 3% of the power from the dam, and 90% of its water supply, just 55 minutes from the strip. The water shows at the hotels are impressive, yet everyone knows they are in a 25 year drought. Most of the locals understand their resources are becoming limited, yet they are expecting tomorrow to be a success. I am unsure if they are prepared for the tomorrow or if they have new resources in place?   As a sales leader are your resources ready for tomorrow’s success?

The number one reason most sales leaders are fired is their in-ability to achieve sales quota. No surprise, however based upon our 13 years of consulting on business and sales management issues the general reason sales leaders fail is because their resources are not well positioned for tomorrow’s success.  What do I mean by this?

Sales management must know their future quota objectives-at least 18 months out. This will first allow sales management to make sure they have the required number of salespeople hired to achieve that desired goal. For example; if you expect each salesperson to achieve $1M of sales and you have a $10M goal the easy answer is to have 10 salespeople.  However, we all know that is unrealistic as not every salesperson in every organization will achieve their quota or because of their level of maturity/experience they will need to “ramp to” that level of production.  You must also take into consideration, that you will lose X% of your sales team each year.  What is your hiring plan for 2012?

Second, the newly hired salesperson (resource) is not adequately prepared to contribute. We find this in almost every new client organization.  The new hire on-boarding process is not well designed to quickly raise the productivity and validate the new resource can sell your organization and products/services. Next, we find that “rigors of cadence” are not part of the ongoing development of the sales team. What I mean by that is sales certification and training programs are not rigorous or demanding in performance.  We like to see a testing process to validate each salesperson can represent your company on at least a yearly basis designed to improve everyone’s professionalism.  Also, we find there is not an on-going cadence or sequence of training programs built on a regular basis, these programs should cover not only sales training skill development, but also sales operations (CRM), industry knowledge, competitive awareness, and product/service expertise. These should planned 90 days in advance or each quarter. Do you have your summer training program prepared?

The other resource most overlooked understands the impact of the marketing funnel on the sales funnel. The question is: how many leads are required to enter the sales funnel each month from marketing and your sales team to ensure you, as the sales leader, always have an adequate level of sales opportunities to exceed your sales objectives. Only by measuring and knowing these numbers and the various ratios of opportunities as they move through the sales funnel will sales management be confident of resource allocation.  If you would like a worksheet on this issue, send me an email:  Ken@AcumenMgmt.com

These are just a few of the resources you as the sales leader must consider; review my past blogs to find topics on: Time Management, Sales Meeting Agenda’s, Personal Development, etc.  If you are interested in learning more on Hiring and On Boarding Salespeople, you might enjoy reading our new book:  Hiring High Performance Sales Teams. www.AcumenManagement.com Summer is a great time to consider your resource development program, how will you personally improve your own resource?

Acumen Management Group Ltd. “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead!

Ken provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.           Ken@AcumenMgmt.com www.AcumenManagement.com

Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Posted in Recruiting, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Training | Comments Off

Sales Leadership:  Cleaning Out Your Book Shelves

On Monday afternoon I found out the painters were coming on Wednesday!  That meant I had time to clean out my office, shuffle furniture around and generally make room for them to paint the walls.

One of the actions I had to take was to unload three large oak book cases with  three to five shelves full of various business,  sales and sales management books I have collected over 20 + years, and various 3-ring binders from training programs I had attended or created for our workshops . Most were dusty.  However the best experience was discovering items I had forgotten I even had or books I wanted to review again simply for the idea’s I knew they would stimulate for my speaking programs or consulting work. I found it is good to clean your closets and book shelves from time to time!

In visiting my client’s offices there always seems to be a book shelf or two with a variety of book/binders that they have also been built up over time. It is a natural part of increasing your professional status.  Hopefully they were all read, not simply collected. When was the last time you took the time to simply review your library of business books or binders to discover gems of information that could be utilized? I have found it common that idea’s or tools that I read 3 years ago that were not pertinent at the time, maybe today or more importantly can be leveraged tomorrow. As sales leaders we must constantly seek new ways or ideas to stimulate our sales teams, increase our business acumen and increase our professionalism. You can find this in the constant supply of new books, but from time to time simply “cleaning off your existing shelves” may lead to a few gems as well.

One of my personal rules is I like to read a business book and then read a fun or enjoyable book. I rotate this principle throughout the year, even having 3 or 4 books going at the same time depending upon my mood or time demands.  I will admit that after writing four books these past 18 months my reading time has slowed down. (Your Sales Management Guru series-AcumenMgmt.com)   However, I just finished “Successful Selling by Matt Heinz –off to find the next Brad Thor book!

If you would like my list of Executive Business Books, send me an email:  Ken@AcumenMgmt.com

Acumen Management Group Ltd. “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead!

Ken Mgmt. provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.           Ken@AcumenMgmt.com www.AcumenManagement.com

Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

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Sales Management:  “benchmark your business”

During the past three weeks I have visited three partner organizations, each of varying sizes in revenue, products/services offered and operational effectiveness. I also had a wonderful conversation with a fourth organization discussing new hire on-boarding issues, profitability and lead management.  All of these organizations had issues in common, unique challenges and various management frustrations. One of the great opportunities I have had over the past 20+ years is to work with, speak to and consult with hundreds of organizations. This experience has provided me a great level of knowledge on which to base my consulting recommendations and to create the variety of tools that are used by thousands of individuals.

Because of this physical experience, one of the fundamental recommendations I make to clients and non clients alike is to physically visit other organizations and actually view how other companies operate.  This is called: Benchmarking’ or as the definition states: a point of reference for a measurement. There are many executive peer groups where individuals meet and discuss common business challenges, hold each other accountable and some even compare financial metrics. In some peer group situations business leaders are from the same industry and some groups are made up of general business leaders. All of these kinds of groups are excellent sources of information.  Our own Sales Management Board of Advisors program is similar, with the unique concept that the Boards are made up of individuals who are focused on sales management issues, i.e. sales managers, sales directors and VP’s of Sales.  While all of these groups share information and learning is accomplished, the challenge that most of these groups cannot achieve is to help the participants truly understand “how” someone else’s business operates.

I like to recommend that at least once a year, the management team from an organization visit on site another company and spend the day with on site management team and operations staff at their “benchmarking” company.  During the onsite visit, you will actually see how other organizations physically managed their CRM systems, train salespeople, deliver their solutions and how their office is actually physically organized. You generally can’t get this hands on viewpoint simply having executives speaking to each other at conferences or meeting in a group environment.  Obviously you will see both the goods and bad’s during these events; this is the important aspect of the onsite benchmark meeting.  The agenda and key topics to be covered during must be carefully planned.  These events should be coordinated with a group meeting at the beginning of the day, with one on one manger shadowing during the day, with a group wrap up session at the end of the day where everyone can share their findings. While the investment can be large, the payoff will be huge. In every session we have coordinated both organizations have benefited from the experience.  Openness and an attitude of sharing are critical.

Your challenge for the next five months, find your “point of measurement” and dare to compare. It will make your business planning for 2012 a real experience.

Acumen Management Group Ltd. “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead!

Ken Thoreson provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.           Ken@AcumenMgmt.com www.AcumenManagement.com

Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Posted in Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Consulting, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Training | Comments Off