Improve Your Sales Process

If there was one best sales process everyone would use it. There isn't, despite the claims of those with
their own to offer.
What's missing from your sales process? We are often asked to help improve sales results that have
been deemed a sales process problem because of any or all of the following symptoms:

Sales revenue numbers are not being hit

Forecasts are not sufficiently accurate

Your sales pipeline is insufficient

Not enough visibility into what is going on during the sales process

There is too much variability between sales people and training hasn't fixed it

Sales and Marketing are not on the same page

The company is losing market share

Your close rate is insufficient or declining

Price is becoming the dominant theme in lost sales conversations

Communications between management and sales is not effective

Improving processes is what we do. We do not have a secret process we give you. Rather we taken
proven business process improvement methods and apply them to get you better sales results by
improving your sales process.
What does "improve your sales process" mean? That clearly depends on where it needs improvement.
Seems like a big 'duh,' except that knowing where it needs improvement is not always clear. We are
expert at figuring out where the improvement needs to occur first.

Read more:http://www.customermanufacturing.com/salesprocess.shtml#ixzz3IGyWlYEM

Some quotes we think are particularly relevant to marketing, sales, customer service, strategy or process to share with
you.
"Wasted time is the hardest form of waste to eliminate, because it doesn't lay on the floor where you can trip on it."
Henry Ford
"If you innovate and it doesn't end up as something that the customer benefits from, then it's not innovation."
Sophie Vandebroek
Chief Technology Officer, Xerox

"What the mind of one man can conceive ... others can bring to pass."
Henri Poincar

"If you can't fix it, feature it."

Roy Fields
Group Executive, Teledyne, Inc. (Retired)

"In tough times it is the job of the CFO/Controller to make sure the company is circling the wagons, not circling the drain."
Christine Tury
CFO, NHS Inc.

"...most of the impact of marketing is felt before the product is produced, not after."
Philip Kotler

"Do one thing and do it the best you can."

Harry Snyder
Founder, In-N-Out Burger

"It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory."

W. Edwards Demming

"The customer rarely buys what the business thinks it sells him."
Peter Drucker

Improve Your Sales Process

Once you've determined sales process improvement is necessary to be competitive, how to improve
processes (and which processes to improve) becomes a subject of discussion.
This debate has raged from the early days of process improvement in the manufacturing arena. Most
early approaches focused on techniques. The idea being that if you learned the correct technique, you
could improve your process. Techniques including TQM, 6-Sigma, Constraint Analysis and Lean
Manufacturing (now called Lean Thinking) have all been the "technique" to learn at some point in time.
This technique-driven mindset resulted in the ultimate technique, re-engineering, in the 1990s.
Experienced manufacturing companies (and service companies as well) have learned that no single
technique is the salvation. The appropriate application of each technique framed within an overarching
process improvement management methodology is what actually works. A properly constructed
process improvement management methodology uses each of these tools (and several others) at the
appropriate points to achieve continuous improvement.
The other key lesson from the re-engineering debacle of the 1990s is that process improvement must
be executed from thecustomer's viewpoint. An improved process is, by definition, one that serves the
customer more effectively and efficiently.
In our experience working with numerous manufacturing, professional services, and distribution
companies, two distinct approaches have been used to deploy process improvement management
within companies:

Where the approach used is based primarily on a tool, a training-based approach is used. That
is, the process improvement team members are trained to use the tool (TQM, 6-sigma, lean,
etc.), and then are tasked to deploy that tool to improve a process. This method usually
requires in-process support from outside experts to assure the tool is being used correctly.
This also allows the outside experts to tailor the next round of training to address
shortcomings or next steps for the trainees.

The alternative approach is based on using process-improvement management methodology

on identified processes. That is, rather than be trained in the use of a tool, the process
improvement team members are trained in process improvement management. This includes
learning to use the appropriate tools for process improvement at the correct time. This
approach is usually not "classroom training" driven, but rather "on-the-job training" driven.
The process improvement teams are coached on a regular basis and work on improving real
processes. This requires them to also learn to identify which process improvement tool is most
useful in any given situation.

Both of these methods work. However, based on over 20 years of real-world experience applying both
approaches in manufacturing, service, and healthcare environments, we have found that for
companies whose process maturity level is still focused on reacting to problems or just beginning to
identify a systematic approach, learning process improvement management works best to achieve
faster and longer-term results. Once an organization is skilled in this tactic, advanced training in

certain methods (6-sigma, lean, constraint theory, etc.) becomes the preferred approach to continue
refined improvements.

Read more:http://www.customermanufacturing.com/improvesales.shtml#ixzz3IH0ED4Xo

SALES ALLIANCE CLIENT CASE STUDIES

Case Study #1: Company Description

Multi-billion dollar supplier of consumer and business-to-business cable and communication services in 26 large metropolitan areas across
the U.S.

Business Areas Addressed

Inside consumer sales

Outbound consumer telesales

Outside small business field sales

Major Account Sales

Direct Sales

Retail Sales

Customer Service Sales

Work Performed

Sales team hiring assistance

Sales process development

Sales process enhancement, engineering and pre-testing

Customized sales training programs

Implementation of sales team coaching program

Implementation of sales process steps and sales results tracking

Selection and hiring of a 10-person sales training staff

Licensing of over 7 customized sales training programs

Train-the-trainer program

Results Achieved

Newly hired and trained sales team outperformed existing sales teams (national average) by more than sixty
percent within just a 4-month period

Results exceed those of two other sales development/training companies and lead to client adopting The
Sales Alliances program on a national basis in 26 metropolitan operations

Achieved forty percent boost in cross-sold products and services

Client determined ROI on investment in program to be less than 30 days

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Case Study #2: Company Description

Manufacturer of computer peripheral devices for legacy systems

Business Areas Addressed

Inside and Direct Sales to major corporations

Achieved board-mandated 40% sales increase via stealing competitor accounts

Developed and deployed a unique sales war room to coordinate a competitive assault

Work Performed

Assessment of sales team, structure, goals, measurements, motivation and skills

Assistance hiring salespeople and a Sales VP

Customized sales process steps

Customized sales training program development

Creation of competitive sales strategies (and counter strategies), including the implementation of a war
room and a rapid fire, shotgun series of field visits to accounts of targeted competitors

On-the-phone sales team coaching program

Sales management coaching program

Ongoing corporate sales consulting

Development of key account sales and capture plans

Results Achieved

Achieved board-mandated 40% sales increase and was given a $10,000 bonus

Weakened the targeted competitor by recruiting a significant number of their accounts

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Case Study #3: Company Description

Small manufacturer of computer power protection systems and software

Business Areas Addressed

Inside sales to major corporations and distributors

Outbound, direct sales initiative to recruit dealers selling the products of the primary competitor and industry
leader

Assessment of sales team, structure, goals, measurements, motivation and skills

Development of dealer program and dealer kit

Customized sales training program

On-the-phone sales coaching program

Sales management coaching program

Ongoing corporate sales consulting

Work Performed

Assessment of sales team, structure, goals, measurements, motivation and skills

Development and implementation of pilot channel partner program

Customized channel sales process and training program development

Development of competitive sales strategies to outmaneuver large industry leader

Extensive sales process engineering and testing

On-the-phone sales team coaching program

Sales management coaching program

Ongoing corporate sales consulting

Results Achieved

Thirty five percent sales increase within 1 year

Recognized as the best in class Reseller program in industry by VAR Business Magazine

Dealer network developed via The Sales Alliances initiative was the primary basis for the companys sale to
a large industry player a year later.

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Case Study #4: Company Description

Supplier of green building products to consumers, businesses and dealers

Business Areas Addressed

Inbound and outbound business and consumer telesales

Development of business-to-business and dealer program

Work Performed

Assessment of sales team, structure, goals, measurements, motivation and skills

Inside sales training program (customized) and sales process

Development of dealer program and dealer kit

Customized sales training program

On-the-phone sales team coaching program

Sales management coaching and training seminar

Ongoing corporate sales consulting

Results Achieved

Sales more than doubled over a 2-year period

Business-to-business sales went from less than 15% to more than 40% of overall sales

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Case Study #5: Company Description

Supplier of computer maintenance services and backup systems

Business Areas Addressed

Inbound and ou

Up-sale program for maintenance technicians

Major account opportunities

Sales compensation

Sales coaching

tbound sales training

Work Performed

Assessment of sales team, structure, goals, measurements, motivation and skills

Assistance hiring salespeople

Customized sales process and training program development

Specialized training program for maintenance technicians to generate sales leads within accounts they
service

On-the-phone sales team coaching program

Sales management coaching program

Ongoing corporate sales consulting

Results Achieved

75% increase in sales leads, resulting in an overall sales increase of 20% in first year

Introduction of firm to a strategic partner whom they later acquired

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Case Study #6: Company Description

Newspaper publisher with over 100 advertising salespeople

Business Areas Addressed

Field sales (selling advertising to small and large businesses)

Work Performed

Salesperson interviews and sales process definition and development

Customized sales training program

Sales management coaching and reinforcement program

Results Achieved

Helped firm achieve more than a 20% sales increase in 9 months

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Case Study #7: Company Description

Regional Bell Operating Company in Midwest

Business Areas Addressed

Business-to-Business Call Center sales teams

Work Performed

Definition of best practices

Ongoing best practices coaching

Coach-the-coach program

Coaching metrics

Results Achieved

Achieved a $17 million sales lift over a 120-day period with a net client investment of under $400,000

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Case Study #8: Company Description

Regional provider of staffing services to large corporations

Business Areas Addressed

Field sales team new business prospecting program

Work Performed

Assessment of sales team, structure, goals, measurements, motivation and skills

Customized sales training program based on unique set of sales process steps

On-the-phone sales prospecting assistance

Sales management coaching program

Development of sales process manual and new hire training program

Results Achieved

Achieved 30% increase in placements over a 12-month period