Posts Tagged ‘Sales Model’

The Poetry of Business Growth

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January 22, 2015 · by Ray · Business Solutions, High Performance Sales Team, Leadership

Business-Solutions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I deliver Business Growth, by leading a great team

I show them how team success, helps achieve their dreams

The chance to make a difference and to do something good

The chance to build their skills and grow as as they should

 

The chance to provide,  a future for their family

And build this future on merit, success and security

With all the barriers removed and no reason to hide

They will rise to success on the platform I provide

 

I start with Customer Profile and a Value Proposition,

Then the team to deliver, Customer and Revenue ambitions

Efficient and effective with tools, training and skills addition

We Begin and Establish Growth and later Optimise our position

 

From Market Entry to Development, it’s the same approach I feel

Better to use experience and process, and not reinvent the wheel

Diagnose the Challenge first, and then onto Solution creation

And then a project plan,  for controlled Implementation

Creating High Performance Sales People

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October 4, 2011 · by Ray · High Performance Sales Team

What makes a high performance sales team? What makes a high performance sales person? Can we analyse best practice and use it to improve ordinary sales people? Are relationships important? How important is Value?

To create a high performance sales team it is useful to analyse high performance sales people to understand what makes them successful. Such best practice can then be applied to a scalable sales model that will turn ordinary performers into stars.

Based on research by Sales Performance International and recently Dixon & Adamson in the Harvard Business Review the following was found:

High Performance Salespeople Get the Basics Right

  • They work hard & work smart. They put in the hours, prepare well, use tools and training to ensure their efficiency and effectiveness
  • They react and solve customer problems . They understand the value of a  happy customer as  future references and as a source of future business. They have the ability to manage the organisation to deliver the resources to solve the customer problems.
  • They build solid relationships. They are honest and deliver on promises and build trust with their customers.

High Performance Salespeople Deliver Value

  • Open with Value and Close With Value. Successful salespeople use their deep understanding of their customers’ business to challenge current thinking and to create new solutions to old problems. They have a very clear view of how they can deliver value to the the customer and use this to open and take control of  sales conversations. They understand the different concerns of the key players in the buying team.  They know that such concerns change throughout the sales cycle and they work had to ensure that such concerns are adequately addressed. Successful salespeople use value as the cornerstone in all  phases of the sales cycle  and especially during negotiation and close. They understand that it is important to present value in language and models that the customer is comfortable with.

Best Practice Used to Raise Performance of all Salespeople

The most successful high performance sales teams use best practice. They learn from high performing salespeople and use this best practice to create a sales model that is used to turn ordinary sales people into stars.

  • Hire Salespeople with High Potential. Sales people with the basics of a good work ethic, good basic relationhip building skills and a desire to win.
  • Use Leadership. Building a high performance team in any discipline requires leadership to ensure that the team is focussed and inspired to deliver.
  • Use a Scalable Sales Model. This will take all the best practice of the high performance sales people and use it in training and coaching and tools to turn salespeople with high potential into stars. This will include a Sales Process, a Sales Management System, Sales Automation and Marketing Integration. All will combine to improve sales efficiency and effectiveness.

Using Value to Sell Complex Services

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August 10, 2011 · by Ray · High Performance Sales Team, Sales Model, Win New Major Accounts

Value must be recognised by the customer - use his rules.

Selling Complex Services

Services are invisible, intangible so how best to sell them?

By describing clearly the value that they can bring to the customer.

This is done by estimating the value to the customer, the investment required and describing how a customer reference has received similar value .

Value Proposition

The delivery vehicle for communicating value is known as a value proposition and can be used for all kinds of sale but is particularly useful for complex services sales.

It is normally used initially in prospecting to get the attention of an executive and to get agreement from him to assign resources to work together on an evaluation plan. This will include the  creation of a detailed business plan to ensure that it is the right decision for the company.

Simple Example

A very simple value proposition example using the services offered by O’Brien Business Solutions is shown below.

We believe that Customer A should be able to

  • Achieve Business Growth by a minimum of 15% in the next year 

Through an ability to:

  • Launch New Products and Services
  • Create a New High Performance Sales Team
  • Win New Breakthrough major Accounts & create positive references
As a result of
  • a Business Solution designed and implemented to deliver delivering Sales and Marketing programmes.
For an investment of
  • £YK.
Based on the assumption of:
  • an 1 year contract and a start within 2 weeks.
  • a similar Business Solution to Customer Reference A where a Business Growth of  20% was achieved in the same timeframe.

A more complicated BPO example

We believe that  Company A should be able to

  • Increase efficiency by 10% resulting in a 5% increase in profits per annum.
  • With an upside of 
    • Improve knowledge sharing, security and workforce effectiveness

Through the ability to

  • Design and implement new business processes using the latest technology

As a result of

  • Outsourcing specific document intensive processes in HR, Legal & Supply Chain departments

For an investment of

  • Set up – £XM set up
  • Ongoing –  Annual Service charge of £YM

Based on the following Assumptions

  • 5 Year contract
  • Set up in Yr  1
  • Relevant staff transferred according to TUPE.
  • Benefits realized in years 2-5.

Best relationships are based on value

Value is referenced throughout the sale. It may well start with a straw-man, built using data from a previously successful customer or reference and extrapolated to address this particular customer.  It will be developed as the sale proceeds as more detail on the solution is developed and information on the assumptions is discovered.  In some cases, some pilots may need to be implemented to test some key assumptions in the value equation.

The best relationships in business have the delivery of value as their foundation. A sales person that is perceived to consistently deliver value (advice, information, solutions) will be better placed to form better relationships.

Value flows throughout the organisation

A Goal/Objective for the CEO flows down to the CMO and down  to the marketing department.
For instance the CEO may have an objective of increasing the average revenue per user. This will be come a lead generation objective by the marketing department and an opportunity conversion objective by sales. A Value chain may be created to move from clearly known objectives at the top of the organisation to create new ones lower down the organisation.

Selling Complex Services into the Early Market

Selling into the Early Market is characterised by no or very limited customer references that will underpin the value proposition.

Whilst the Early Market is also characterised by buyers that are more innovative and as such prepared to take a risk, they do need some rationale for taking a decision to proceed.

Services do have more difficulties here than say selling a product like a piece of equipment in that a piece of equipment can be tested by a third party and the benefits verified.

Complex services such as BPO require at least one customer reference before the value proposition mat be truly verified. And as such it underlines how important the customer references are and therefore it is worth the company putting a lot of resources into obtaining the first contract an delivering it.  It is worth noting also that it will take time before the benefits can be calculated and therefore will take time before the contract can become a true customer reference.

What can be done in the absence of a customer reference? A number of options can be explored:

  1. Start with a  good relationship and trust as a foundation?
  2. Can you use process that is being done inside (selling) company’s own organisation?
  3. Does the new process utilize a core competence of the (selling) company? For instance a new technology that will improve the process. Examine its use in customer processes and obtain results.
  4. Utilize Market research to verify the value proposition.

There are two methods to achieving the market research:

  1. Find market research by a respected third party that will verify the claims made in the value proposition.
  2. If adequate market research is not available then conduct bespoke market research that will verify the claims made in the value proposition.
Using the information and the market research to build a model with clear assumptions,  a value proposition straw-man may then be created. For an innovative customer, or one that has a pressing issue that requires resolution this will be sufficient to proceed.  Normally they will require the assurance that sufficient support will be provided to address any unforeseen problems efficiently.

Lead Generation Terminology

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May 25, 2011 · by Ray · Lead Generation

Target Market

The Target Market or Target Market segment is a list of companies  (B2B) or consumers (B2C) that possess the required buyer profile that make them pre-disposed to buy the product.

Territory

A territory is  a part of the target market which has been allocated to a  sales person or sales team.

A Lead

A lead is a  potential opportunity sometimes known as a prospect – For example, a person met at a conference who expressed interest, or someone who filled out a form on the company website.

Lead Conversion (Or Qualification)

If the lead is qualified and the salesperson and decides to pursue it, the lead is “converted,” and becomes an opportunity. ( Note that the term conversion is used somewhat loosely and in many cases in Digital Marketing does not end up with an opportunity but with a (more qualified) lead that still requires further qualification before it becomes an opportunity.

An Opportunity

Opportunities are the sales and pending deals that are tracked in that Sales Pipeline or Funnel. The pipeline is built by adding more opportunities will contribute to the forecast.

Opportunity Qualification

Opportunity Qualification means that the prospect has provided information and performed certain actions that show that they are  at a minimum in the market for the product, have the budget to buy and are willing to do  so within a reasonable timeframe.

Qualification is tailored to the specific sales process which is itself  aligned to the specific buying process in place.

In a simple B2C eCommerce transaction the qualification is a very simple process.

In B2B solution selling the qualification is a process that may be spread over weeks or months that forms a large part of the sales process due to the relative complexity of the buying process.

For instance in B2B solution selling:

  • A Lead may be qualified initially by an internal telemarketing team who may deem it good enough to pass on to the field sales team.
  • The Field sales team would initially qualify the company known as a suspect to avoid confusion with the term prospect. At this stage it would enter the funnel as a qualified suspect.
  • Further levels of Qualification would then take place with the other members of the buying team such as the Sponsor (Person Driving the Project) and the Power Sponsor (Normally at Executive or C Level).

An Account

An account is the company or consumer that makes the purchase. An account may deal with several opportunities.

Digital Marketing Strategy

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May 25, 2011 · by Ray · Digital Marketing, Lead Generation

Build Foundation for Success

The key to success is to create:

  • Clear Value objectives (or Clear Return on Investment objectives or Business Case)
  • Clear measurement (“You can’t manage what you don’t measure”)

Value = Total Benefits – Total Investment.

Deliver Value

The Value delivered by a Digital Marketing Strategy is:

  • Customer Sales
    • Part or all of the sales process depending on sale complexity.
    • For Complex B2B Digital Marketing can:
      • Create Awareness & Stimulate interest,
      • Generate Leads
  • Audience Engagement
  • Customer/Market Insight
    • Is the market aware, Ready to buy? Are my customers satisfied?
    • Used for Product Development or to Gauge the Appropriate Sales & Marketing Strategy.

This post will focus only on Customer Sales & Audience Engagement.

Deliver Customer Sales

Digital Marketing integrated into the Sales Process

Digital (Online) Marketing integrated into the Sales Process

Digital Marketing allows niche markets  to be targeted at a comparatively reduced cost.

Create Awareness

Use

  • Display Advertising
    • on websites that are relevant to the product being sold.
  • Social Media & Blogs
    • to engage with target market, to help educate and to announce new products.
  • Email Marketing
    • to distribute newsletters, whitepapers to stimulate interest.
  • Website
    • to educate.

Use in combination with Offline Marketing in the right blend to enhance success.

Generate Leads

Use

  • Search  (a mixture of organic and paid),
  • Display Advertising (on websites that are relevant to the product being sold) &
  • Email Marketing.
  • Social media (networking and leads from engaged audience)
  • Website (Capture inbound inquiries)

Use in combination with Offline Marketing in the right blend to enhance success.

Search has historically been the strongest digital channel  for lead generation. It has been found that the yield is improved when combined with other channels such as Display Advertising.

Demonstrate Value using a Marketing Funnel

Use Marketing Funnel Above Sales Funnel to demonstrate Value

Whether you are B 2 B, B 2 C or non profit your marketing activities can be best viewed using  the sales funnel.

Marketing at its heart is geared towards lead generation,  but  can also help in development and closure. The Value of any Marketing Campaign must be measured in the number of leads generated and opportunities created.

A Marketing  Funnel  may therefore be added above the Sales funnel.  The exact breakdown of the Marketing and Sales Funnels will vary depending on the nature of the customer buying process. In general for B2B,  the Marketing Funnel moves the target market members to Awareness, To Lead and To Converted Lead which then becomes an Opportunity for development by Sales.  In Small Sales Teams, with no specialized Marketing help, this may well be all done by the sales team.

Demonstrate Value using an ROI Model

The actions to create a model are as follows:

  • Map out a number of channels whereby a target company engages and becomes a lead, for example:
    • Search Engine –>Main Site –>Download Whitepaper –>Registration
    • Search Engine –>Blog–>Main Site–>Enquiry Form
    • Twitter–>Blog–>Enquiry Form
    • Facebook Fan page–>Main Site–>Enquiry Form
    • Display Advertising Banner–>Product Microsite–>Main Site –>Enquiry Form
  • Create KPIs and predicted relationships between KPIs and Leads generated, for example:
    • Main Site Visitors
    • Actions Performed (eg Download Whitepapers)
    • Facebook Fans
    • Twitter Followers
  • Create Model
    • Predict Customer sales
    • Estimate Break down by Lead Generated and Path
    • Estimate Costs
  • Do Pilot Campaigns
    • Compare Different blends and strategies
  • Implement most successful on full market.

Initially, Social Media will be all about building awareness but if an engaged audience can be created then inevitably it will generate leads.

Social Media sites like Linked In are used by Sales Teams as part of their networking strategies.

Measurement and evaluation are very important.  Every business is different and requires some testing  to achieve the optimum blend of digital marketing channels.

Deliver Audience Engagement

The collateral benefit of Digital Marketing strategy is the creation and growth of engaged audiences (customers and prospects).  A more engaged audience delivers the following benefits

  • More Likely to purchase – A Mature engaged Social Media Audience can be a Lead Generation source.
  • Better Retention – more likely to stay
  • Brand Advocate leading to referrals and good references

 

 

Use Value to drive Marketing Investment

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May 16, 2011 · by Ray · Marketing
Value

Use Value to drive Marketing investment

Value = Total Benefits-Total Investment.

The description of Value delivered by the marketing department will be much more powerful if  linked to Value delivered to CEO  and company objectives.

For instance the CEO may have a company objective

” increasing the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) from £22 per month to £26 per month”

So a Value chain may be created that shows the Value that each department adds to the creation of this overall Value.

1. The Technical & Buying Departments must deliver a new data product for a specific investment

2. The Sales Department must generate a specific number of new sales by converting a certain percentage of qualified leads.

3. The Marketing Department must generate a specific number of qualified leads.

If you are selling equipment for a data product or a means of generating qualified leads then a conversation with the CEO based on the Value delivered in achieving his objectives will be better received and understood.

Equally, the marketing department will secure its budget easier if qualified in terms of delivering Value towards the company objectives.

 

 

 

 

Creating a High Performance Sales Team: – Sales Model

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May 9, 2011 · by Ray · High Performance Sales Team, Sales Model
Sales Model

Use Sales Model with Leadership to create high performance culture

A High Performance Sales team is created by combining good hiring of sales people with Leadership with a scalable sales model.

The sales model will improve efficiency and effectiveness by implementing:-

  • A Sales Process (Increases efficiency and effectiveness)
  • A Sales Management System (Increases effectiveness with some efficiency)
  • A Sales Automation System (Increases efficiency with some effectiveness)
  • Integrate Marketing (Increases efficiency and effectiveness)

High performing sales people (stars) have a unique combination of skills and knowledge. They excel at building customer relationships, developing successful strategies, managing internal resources and beating their targets every year. A sales model will take the best of these skills and experience and turn an average sales person into stars.

Read more at Sales Model.