Your Sales Management Guru

The Future of Your Sales Team     

This year, I anticipate we will see a reduction in external sales positions of around 20%: 10% will be lost for good, and the other 10% will move inside. I believe that this pattern will continue for the next three years, until we are left with less than 10% of the total sales population working externally. The reasons for this are obvious: Advances in technology mean that we can communicate just as easily from our desks, using video conferencing etc.

Jonathan Farrington www.topsalesmanagement.com

If Jonathan is right, your current sales process, current sales team and management systems will begin to change over the next 18-24 months.   He interviewed me regarding this topic last week and you can listen to the entire interview at the www.TopSalesManagement.com 

Briefly, I discussed how metrics will change, how sales training will be altered and that the efficiency ratios and cost of sales will be improved based upon the utilization of existing and new technologies.  As customers become more comfortable with technology, new salespeople come into the workplace and costs of running a sales organization grow (Gas=$4.50 Gal), sales leadership must consider new alternatives.

You will find the interview on the left hand side of the website. You will also find this site to be a wonderful resource for information on sales leadership from a select group of 15 sales leadership consultants from around the world, including myself.

I thought you might like to see the quote above to begin to stimulate your future thinking on your sales organization.   Jonathan is a global sales thought leader; the quote is from an editorial he wrote in our Top Sales World magazine. (You can download this free sales magazine at www.TopSalesWorld.com   It is on the left hand side of the website.

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 Leadership Management, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Systems, Sales Management Training, Sales Training | No Comments »

SFA/CRM 15 Years Later: Now It’s Every Rep’s Best Friend

This week, I thought you might like to read someone else’s article and my comments regarding the article. My comments are first.

As a Sales Leadership consultant, I think the article below hit on many valid points; the Cloud and CRM usability are key elements in the acceptance of CRM, as is the price/cost issue, especially for the SMB market. The marketing campaign features are extremely important and the interface to accounting/ERP systems greatly improve the customer service aspect as well as giving a more 360 view, makes CRM a more than a salesperson’s tool.

 One other element should be recognized is the “tech savvy” nature of reps today, vs even 10 years ago, this has made CRM acceptance so much easier. 

However, what is interesting is 1) forecasting accuracy is still a challenge for the Rep/sales manager’s. 2) training and implementation of CRM is still greatly under emphasized and I find many organizations with salespeople using the same CRM system differently and not following a sales process properly and 3) this lack of discipline leads to pipeline and activity reporting to be inaccurate. 

These few issues are the direct result of sales leadership and are training and management functions. The mistake I see in many CRM systems and vendors are they focus on the salesperson, not on the needs of the sales manager or organization.  Sales leadership requires a more forward looking approach to build predictable revenue.  With a greater proactive approach and sales management focus, the 3 topics mentioned above would help the sales manager take greater charge of the CRM tool and it would be more of a useful tool for sales leadership.

by Lauren Carlson

www.twitter.com/crmadvice 

CRM Analyst, Software Advice

December 14, 2011

Sales force automation (SFA) systems hit the market in the 1980s, but it wasn’t until Siebel’s release in the mid-90s that they gained a foothold in the enterprise. Despite its increasing ubiquity, however, SFA quickly developed a bad reputation among sales reps, many of whom suspiciously viewed SFA tools as a way for management to track their every move. They were also frustrated by the kludgy user interfaces, slow data entry processes, and long ramp-up times.

Fast-forward about 15 years, and now most sales organizations are singing the praises of SFA. What changed? As it turns out, quite a bit. I see four innovations that transformed SFA into a sales rep’s best friend.

Four Tipping Points for SFA

1. 1.      SaaS made implementation cheaper and faster - Traditional client/server SFA systems had a very high total cost of ownership (TCO) and a long, sometimes unsuccessful deployment process that required a high degree of involvement and investment by internal IT departments. When Salesforce.com came onto the scene in 1999, they changed the TCO equation and implementation process for SFA. All of a sudden, there was no on-premise hardware or software to install, no reason for IT to get involved, and sales management could even customize the software—albeit within limits—on their own. Best of all, up-front and ongoing software fees were now a small fraction of what an enterprise-scale SFA application cost. The net effect of this sea change was that sales teams were able to get up and running faster, with less disruption to the rest of the company, and dramatically lower investments in time and capital.
2. 2.      The Cloud made SFA more accessible – In the 1990s, entering sales activity was a laborious process. The road warrior sales rep had to get out his bulky laptop, log on to the company server over a slow and unreliable dial-up connection, enter notes into a prospect’s record, and then sync it all back with the server. Ouch. Today, cloud-based SFA systems are accessible from anywhere, on any device—including smartphones and tablets—and high-speed Internet has become commonplace. In addition, because the application is accessible through a familiar Web browser, there’s no proprietary client software to master and no fussy VPN tunnel to set up. This gives the sales rep a much higher level of freedom and flexibility, and removes a key obstacle to wider adoption.
3. 3.      Analytics and marketing automation turned SFA data into gold – It wasn’t that long ago that sales force automation was primarily a glorified contact management system with some extra data tracking capabilities. Now, with the addition of sophisticated analytics and integration with third-party systems, SFA systems have become an invaluable tool that is finally helping sales teams do their jobs better. Reps can create detailed dashboards and reports to help them do things like forecast their quarterly pipelines, prioritize new opportunities, and track progress toward quotas. And because SFA can integrate with marketing automation systems, sales and marketing teams can jointly use the data these systems compile to plan and execute more effective campaigns to help reps secure more leads and push prospects through the sales funnel.
4. 4.      Process improvement compressed sales cycles – One of the original promises of SFA was that it would help companies improve their sales processes by, well, actually defining a sales process. This promise was rarely delivered on due to sales rep resistance and the trouble it took to modify the processes that were essentially hard-coded into early SFA applications. Newer SFA applications make process mapping and process improvement much easier. And the best practices built in to SFA systems today—based on years of learning what works and what doesn’t for most companies—help companies continuously improve their processes. The focus on sales process that newer SFA tools encourage has yielded tangible benefits for sales teams, ranging from reduced sales cycles to higher win rates.

These four developments have drastically changed the value proposition of SFA software, but the tide is still turning. We didn’t even hit on social media, which is a huge trend that some predict will have an even bigger impact on the enterprise than the cloud. What will that impact look like for SFA? We might have to wait another 15 years to find out.

About the Author

Acumen Management Group Ltd. “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 14 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Ken’s latest book is titled: “Leading High Performance Sales Teams”.

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

Posted in Leadership Management, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management, Sales Management Systems | No Comments »

A Walkthrough of a Broken Organization

Strategic sales management is often a weak link in solution provider companies. 

Strategic sales management is often a weak link in solution provider companies. For the past 14 years I have been working all across North America and internationally, meeting, speaking and consulting with organizations of all sizes and areas of focus. While every client engagement is unique, some problems are common to many corporate cultures and tend to prevent a company from reaching its business potential.

This month, let’s take a walk through a hypothetical client site that illustrates many of the problems I’ve encountered over the years. We’ll use “Law and Order” rules: “Although inspired in part by true incidents, the following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event.”

 Walking into the front office, there are a few chairs, a few outdated vendor awards on the walls and employees pass a visitor without offering a greeting or showing much expression or enthusiasm. This is not a good indicator for the type of reaction the office evokes from prospects who visit.

President

I ask for Bill, the president. I am warmly greeted and taken to the back office, where we begin to chat about his business, his vision, his frustrations and the lack of business profitability. My experienced ears hear: “they” just don’t get it, “they” really don’t work hard enough, “they” really don’t know how to sell what we do and “they” don’t seem to care about the business like I do. Bill is also concerned that his sales manager is focused on functions that have nothing to do with sales.

Vice President
Bill introduces me to his vice president of professional services: During the first 10 minutes of a 45-minute interview I hear a lot about how much time the sales engineers have to take to help the salespeople in every engagement and that the sales teams get all the credit. “They never take the time to learn the products. If it wasn’t for my team and their expertise we would have no sales.” When I ask when was the last time the VP held a training session for the sales team, I get a shrug.

 Salespeople
As I conduct interviews with each member of the sales team, either face-to-face or on the phone, I begin to connect the dots between what they’re saying and my meetings with the president and the vice president. The salespeople say things like: management always seems to dominate every opportunity; they’re always micro-managing what I do; the sales meetings are brutal, everything seems so disorganized; proposals are a joke; management seems to change what we do every 90 days; and they never seem to know what is going on. Something else emerges from my recordings of each salesperson. Every representative tells a different story when asked, “Why do people buy from you?”

Assessing Your Own Company
While these scenarios are graphic, these are conversations that sadly take place among many clients we have served.

Does anything here ring a bell about your company? As you read this in January 2012, it is an excellent time to assess the morale within your current organization and create a plan for the remaining portion of the year to fix elements in your company that need to operate more effectively.

A few concrete steps can go a long way. Create an ongoing sales training program; run monthly company meetings for all employees to bring teams together, increase communication and recognize achievement; make sure management meetings are organized to improve the focus on achieving corporate objectives; and make “soft” cultural improvements to increase morale and teamwork.  In some cases the list of projects can be quite long, take a few each quarter and focus on those topics.

Creating a great organization takes time, vision, energy and a commitment to continuous improvement — which, by the way, is the definition of leadership.

As you skim our past blogs you may pick up other ideas that will enhance your organizations performance.

About the Author

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. His latest book is titled: “Leading High Performance Sales Teams”.

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

Posted in Leadership Management, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, 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 »

The death of the salesperson has been greatly exaggerated

The art of selling: “The death of the salesman has been greatly exaggerated” is the name of a recent article in the Economist magazine: http://www.economist.com/node/21533371 . After reading my blog, then read the article, I would enjoy reading your comments.

When I read the article I had so many emotions; as a salesperson for many years, a sales leader for 15 years and a sales management consultant for the past 14 years, this article went right to the point that many of us write about, speak about and attempt to impact the organizations we consult with on a daily basis.

Quick example: recently I purchased an iPhone from AT&T; first call, I walked into a retail facility: Result: great service, welcomed me to the store, shared friendly conversation, they helped me save money on my existing account, the salesperson even “walked” me to the door on each of my two visits.  They even responded to my emails. They had a well organized retail customer approach. Just yesterday I was in NYC, I walked into an AT&T store to purchase a carrying case for my new iPhone, still the same solid attitude, same sales process and training and follow through-they walked me to the door! They had a sales process & system and they were trained in the same mode that my Knoxville TN salesperson was trained. This approach showed me a strong sales focus and the power of salesperson impact on the transaction. BTW: I drove to the store to purchase the phone-rather than buying it over the web.

Sales is built on trust and confidence, in some minor products this can be accomplished by smart marketing, however, where the special B to B consumer or business person are involved someONE must impact them emotionally enough to cause them to take action. Where organizations are lead by an analytical they look at sales as Cost Centers, not Profit Centers. Professional salespeople do drive emotions if properly hired, trained and managed and should be the Profit Center of any organization.

Growth focused companies look at how to capture market share, grow net new clients and increase client penetration levels, however the point the article misses is why have some companies failed or why have some organizations grown? Those organizations that have focused on their front end-(sales focused)- have penetrated their existing customer base at higher levels and added net new clients at higher rates through a well crafted salesperson or sales process map.

HOWEVER: It is my belief that lynch pin for organizations, like Wurth, the company in the article, is that their sales leadership team must be focused on success. They have built a belief in their mission within the sales team and their products and have created a sales training system that reinforces their sales strategies, sales process and prospect buying emotions.

In my blog I have often written about the need for sales leadership to set the tone for the culture of the organization as well as the level of expectation. In fact recently in my blog I wrote that sales and sales management are the Critical Success Factors to lead us out of the negative economic conditions that exist today.

Bottom line: To make salespeople and their impact relevant, sales leadership must take a proactive approach not only with organization’s executives-to drive the need for salespeople, but in the day to day management of their team’s ability to execute.

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 Leadership Management, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Systems, Sales Management Training, Sales Training | 1 Comment »

Sales Leadership: Zen and Art of Golf 

One of my more popular blogs last winter was “Zen and Art of Snow Shoveling” based upon the famous book: Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and after yesterday I thought I might leverage that title one more time.

Yesterday was a lovely fall day in the Smoky Mountains.  The sky was bright blue, no clouds, the leaves are changing into brilliant colors, the air was warm and I had a 1pm tee time. Unbeknownst to me another couple had signed up to play with my wife and me.  As a not a great golfer I started becoming concerned when I saw the other man begin to boom his shots on the driving range. On the first hole I was somewhat nervous, but made a double bogey on a long par 5. Moving to the second hole I hit a great drive-the next thing that happened was what began to make the afternoon a wonderful experience.  Ed began to compliment everyone’s shots and form as he continued to be a long and accurate ball stroker. My second shot hit the green, the first time I had ever done that! On the third hole I began to get on a role. By the end of the day, I had a few pars, a birdie and scored my best round of the year!  Even with losing 5 balls I shot a 93! Now while that might not be good for many of our readers-for me it was a positive experience.  What does this have to do with Sales Leadership?

As I reflected on our game, conversations and even after the game 19^th hole discussion I came away with what made the difference.  From the first hole, which I didn’t pick up until the second, Ed was setting the tone for the day-compliments, some laughs but setting a standard on distance and accuracy. He would pick up broken tees, cleaning the tee box and fixing ball marks on every green.  Pretty soon, all four of us were encouraging each other, managing the course and enjoying the experience.  I found myself concentrating more clearly, working my shots better and even when Ed gave me a tip-I appreciated his concern to make my game better

 As a sales leader are you setting the standards of expectations?  Doing the little things (like cleaning a tee box) to make sure your team is executing more professionally? Making sales calls with your team and providing strategy and sales tips to your team to make them better? It was the entire approach-by everyone- to the afternoon that made the difference.  Is your team helping each other, is everyone in the organization encouraging and pressing for excellence?

  In my recent newsletter “Why Sales Managers Succeed!” I covered the topic of Organizational Excellence and the need for sales managers to lead their organizations during challenging times. If you are not receiving the monthly newsletter, you can sign up at www.AcumenManagement.com (new website too!)

Have a great fall, focus on the details, push your team for more, but set the tone with positive strokes and perhaps you will finish 2011 as your best year ever!

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 Leadership Management, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Training | 1 Comment »

Corporate Entrepreneurship: Good for both small and large business

My reading pattern normally is to read a “business book” then switch to a “fun book” and then back to a business book; this routine allows me to read a diverse number of books and keeps me current and thinking creatively.    The latest business book I finished is titled:  Corporate Entrepreneurship: How to create a thriving entrepreneurial spirit throughout your company.

While the book is aimed at corporate America, as I read through the content I easily saw the importance of the book for small business.  Over twenty years ago I was working for a small business in Minneapolis, during that period of time I had an idea for a business that was related but not directly aligned with the small business’s main focus-selling software and computers to small business. My idea was to create a software testing laboratory that would validate software prior to it being released by the software developers-lower the number of bugs and improve profits.   Without getting into more details that software testing business has survived and prospered and while it is no longer a part of the original small business, it is thriving.  Within that same original small business, a specialized software product was developed and a separate focus started that lead to it becoming the number one software product within its vertical market!

As I read this book many of the challenges I faced within the small business aligned with the issues  the authors Robert Hisrich and Claudine Kearney  brought up, even as early as the Preface:  ….involves overcoming inertia, rigidity, rules and regulations…to create something new-a new way of doing something, new systems…. As a business and sales management consultant for the past 14 years I have witnessed many organizations attempting to add new business opportunities within their current structure-only to run into the same obstacles. This book would assist any leader at any level of organization improve their ability to adapt and take advantage of potential new opportunities without disrupting their current business models. 

I have also observed many organizations that jump into something new too quickly. The authors provide in the first chapter a process to help both the organizations leadership and the entrepreneur or adventurer to identify and evaluate the potential of the opportunity. This is well written, with great tools and excellent for any level of business. As in my personal experience, the owner of the business encouraged creativity; chapter two identifies specifically leadership’s role in promoting, facilitating and supporting entrepreneurial activity. One of the best chapters I felt covered “The Internal Politics of Venturing”.   Let me say this again; this book is an excellent read for both small and large business leaders, in any organization the political drama can drain business opportunities.  The other chapters I found very interesting were on compensation within a corporate entrepreneurial environment and funding the venture.

I found the content straight forward, easy to read, with great examples from organizations like Apple. What I really came away with is a an excellent read for any level of large corporate management that wants to create a challenging environment   and needs  to create a playbook for innovation- this book will provide that.  For small business owners this book will layout a process to assist you in making better decisions, improve your new business ventures and create an atmosphere of success.

 My favorite quote is: Take advantage of the opportunity of a lifetime, during the lifetime of the opportunity.  Corporate Entrepreneurship, from McGraw Hill: Hisrich and Kearney will help get there!

Acumen Management Group Ltd. “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 14 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, Leadership Management, sales leadership | 1 Comment »

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

Sprint to the Finish—–It’s that time of year…

A shaky banking industry. Roller-coaster days on Wall Street.  Budgets being cut. Purchasing decisions being delayed.

With that economic domino effect affecting us all as 2011 begins to wind down, ending the year on a high note will be more challenging than ever. At Acumen, we’ve been offering the following advice to our clients and their sales teams:

Keep it in perspective. Recognize that if you are in the information technology sector, it is the best place to be in tough economic times. You sell what’s especially in demand right now: Solutions that can increase efficiency, cut costs and enhance customer relationships.

• Stay optimistic. Remember that clients and prospects are seeking help and you’re in a position to both reassure and assist them.
• Work harder. (Sorry, but that’s what’s needed.) Try to stretch yourself both in terms of attracting new customers and better serving existing ones. Sell professionally; execute brilliantly.

Meanwhile, the standard end-of-year scenario still applies, too. As always, this is when accelerated compensation programs kick in. More importantly, it’s when many management bonus systems take effect, rewarding executives for driving certain levels of pretax income to the bottom line or attaining their revenue targets.  and it’s no wonder that, just like every year at this time, sales teams feel like they’re in the last 100 yards of a big race.

Following are five additional steps to help you stay out in front as you approach the 2011 finish line:

1. Count the days. In the same way that consumers track holiday shopping days, know how long you’ve got left to sell this year. Doing the countdown adds urgency to the process for you and your prospects. (Hint: How can you use the remaining weekends to boost business?)

2. Consider all your resources. Can you turn to colleagues to strategize about opportunities and develop winning tactics? How about doing site visits? Can an existing client or a vendor contact help create credibility with prospects?

3. Plot-closing strategies. Think about why prospects need your solution and exactly how they’ll benefit from implementing it, whether it’s generating revenues, improving productivity or better serving customers. Then figure out a reason for them to act now. You may have a sense of urgency driven by end-of-year deadlines for quotas or bonuses, but you need to show prospects how moving forward at this point will benefit them.

4. Make contact twice weekly. Never let a week slip by between meetings with prospects. If you see them on Tuesday, see them again on Thursday. Stop by at a convenient time-but always have a valuable reason to visit, such as providing an implementation plan or a reference letter.

5. Keep prospecting. Sales organizations often drain their pipelines by the end of December. January may be strong with leftover business, but February, March and April typically lag. It’s important to ensure that marketing and prospecting levels remain constantly focused on future pipeline development. We recommend that you take your calendar and block out specific times for prospecting between now and year’s end.

One last tip for coping with today’s economy: In the downturn following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I developed a short personal motto that successfully reinforced the need to keep moving forward. It was: “Take action. Stay positive.”  I suggest that you develop a similar slogan to help you navigate these difficult times. Having a strong foundation can make all the difference in how you end the year and position yourself for 2012.

Ken Thoreson. “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 clients throughout North America. Move up and move ahead!

Ken provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.     

Ken@AcumenMgmt.com                   Website:  www.AcumenManagement.com

Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

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