1. ACCELERATING SALES PERFORMANCE
Mason Holloway
y
Senior Director
© Beacon 2014
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2. Objectives
• Learn a structured process for developing a sales performance
acceleration plan.
• Evaluate your organization’s sales development approach to
Evaluate your organization s sales development approach to
determine where there are performance gaps.
• Apply the tools and techniques from the session to your
organization’s existing sales development program to create
measurable business results.
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3. Why are you here?
Why are you here?
• Why I get called:
Why I get called:
– Pressure to increase revenue
– Trying to do more with less
Trying to do more with less
– Decision has been made to bring in or develop
sales training
sales training
– Desire to assess the skills and competencies of the
individuals
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4. Broken Promises
Broken Promises
1. The Training Promise
1 The Training Promise
If you train your sales people or sales managers on the ‘techniques’
(behaviors) of selling, your long term sales performance will increase in a
measurable and consistent way.
measurable and consistent way.
2. The Sales Methodology Promise
Installing a new ‘sales system’ will give you long term sales performance
improvement.
3. The Technology Promise
Installing CRM (as an example) will enable deep tracking of customer
trends, sales trends and opportunities which will subsequently produce
dramatic performance improvements.
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5. The Sad Reality…
The Sad Reality…
• Training:
“…the primary objective of most sales trainers is to effectively
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i t ff ti l
provide knowledge and skills to trainees. However, this point of view
may impede training effectiveness as trainee learning appears to be
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ff i
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a necessary, but not sufficient prerequisite for behavior change.”
(“Investigating interrelationships among sales training evaluation methods,” Lui, Anne H., September 2003)
Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management
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6. The Sad Reality…
The Sad Reality…
• Methodology:
“...the sales methods presented during the initial sales training
program sponsored by the subject company may not have been
appropriate for the field selling scenarios actually faced by its
salespeople.”
(“Investigating the perceptual aspect of sales training,” Farris, M. Theodore, II, March 2002)
Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management
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7. The Sad Reality…
The Sad Reality…
• Technology:
– Failure rate: 12% of CRM projects fail to go live
– System implementation: 47% of CRM projects go live and the
System implementation: 47% of CRM projects go live, and the
technology aspects of the project are considered a success, but
business change and adoption fail
– Process and system adoption: 25% of CRM projects succeed in
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p
p j
adoption and systems, but still cannot quantify a specific business
benefit
– Performance improvement: only16% of projects reach the Promised
Land and measurably influence business performance
L d d
bl i fl
b i
f
(“How You Define CRM Success Depends on Who You Are,” AMR Research, January 2004)
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8. Guardrail to Guardrail
Guardrail to Guardrail
• Sales are flat or
down
• The need to
improve is
identified
New Sales
Process
Adoption
Adoption
Uptick
• Approach drives
new initiatives
to the market
• Results improve
• Competition
Responds
• Market slows
• Processes not
aligned or
li d
supported
New Sales
Training
Training
Training
“Afterglow”
• New
enthusiasm
• Improved
p
knowledge
briefly drives
results
The question really is, “how do we move BEYOND this cycle?”
q
y
y
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• Organizational
barriers
• Lack of strategic
alignment
•L k
Lack or
functional
New Comp
supports
Plan

9. Necessary but not Sufficient
Necessary but not Sufficient
• Knowing is not enough if we can’t execute
Knowing is not enough if we can t execute
• Having good sales methodologies will only
help us be more effective within our
help us be more effective within our
limitations
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10. The Tank and the Fish
The Tank and the Fish
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11. High Level View of the Process
High Level View of the Process
The sales ecosystem:
• Define and optimize the environment
p
– Critical factors around Force, Strategy, and Alignment
– Identify existing gaps in the environment
– Introduce solutions to address any deficiencies and close gaps
• Identify and replicate the model performer
– Capture critical factors at the highest performance levels
– Compile composite DNA model of key performance
– Select solutions to transfer across team
Select solutions to transfer across team
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12. The Sales Ecosystem
The Sales Ecosystem
• The Environment – (The Tank)
The Environment (The Tank)
– The waters our sales people are swimming in
– The currents that push them around
• The Individual – (The Fish)
–
–
–
–
The kind of swimmers
The right knowledge about the waters
The right equipment to survive and thrive
The right process to enable success
Th i ht
t
bl
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13. What s in the tank?
What’s in the tank?
The sales environment 3 parts
The sales environment– 3 parts
1. Forces
•
The larger internal and external factors that create pressure in our world
g
p
as salespeople – the currents that carry us forward or push us back
2. Strategic execution model (SEM)
•
Integrates our strategy with the customer’s strategy and cascades that
I t
t
t t
ith th
t
’ t t
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d th t
integration into our individual account plans
3. Alignment
•
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Ensures that internal functions are facing into the current in the same
way – are all the fins paddling in the same direction?
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14. The Sales Environment
The Sales Environment ‐ Forces
Customer
Channel Partners
Internal
Market
Competition
Internal
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15. Sales Environment
Sales Environment ‐ Forces
What we need to understand:
What we need to understand:
• What are the Forces in our sales environment?
– Customer, Market, Regulation, Competition
Customer, Market, Regulation, Competition
• For each Force:
– What are the key issues and drivers that impact our business
– What (if anything) is changing in regard to that Force
– How does it affect our ability to reach our desired state (help or
hinder)
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16. Sales Environment
Sales Environment ‐ Forces
Sales environment Force Identification Worksheet
Sales environment – Force Identification Worksheet
Force area
Force area
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Key issues & drivers
Key issues & drivers Important changes
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Help or hinder?
or hinder?
(Describe)

17. The Sales Environment SEM
The Sales Environment ‐ SEM
• What direction do we need to swim – and
What direction do we need to swim and
how?
– Given the customers direction
Given the customers direction
– Given where we want to end up
– Given the Forces (currents) we have identified
Given the Forces (currents) we have identified
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18. The sales environment
The sales environment ‐ SEM
Client Strategy
Our desired state
Our strategy
gy
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19. Sales environment
Sales environment ‐ SEM
Sales environment Sales Execution Model Worksheet
Sales environment – Sales Execution Model Worksheet
Client Strategy
Client Strategy
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Sales strategy that links
Sales strategy that links
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Individual account plan
Individual account plan
component(s)

20. The Sales Environment ‐
Alignment
l
• How many fins and which way are they
How many fins and which way are they
paddling?
Product
Group
Operations
Marketing
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21. Sales Environment
Sales Environment ‐ SEM
Sales environment Alignment Worksheet
Sales environment – Alignment Worksheet
Functional Area
Functional Area
Required support
Required support
element(s)
Present state
Present state
(A – adequate/I –need improvement/M – missing)
A/I/M
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22. Quick Look – Assess
Present State
Assess your organization’s sales performance
A
i ti ’ l
f
environment :
• How many of you have identified most of all of the
How many of you have identified most of all of the
critical aspects of your sales environment as we have
defined them?
• What next steps do you need to take to close any
environment gaps?
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23. The Individual (The Fish)
The Individual – (The Fish)
What makes a successful individual in this role?
What makes a successful individual in this role?
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
What innate qualities and characteristics?
What knowledge?
What tools and supporting technology?
What processes?
What motivation?
What motivation?
What information?
What management support?
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24. The Individual
The Individual
A three part approach to individual sales
A three part approach to individual sales
performance:
1. Roles
•
We all wear ‘different hats’. Sales people play different roles internally
than externally and at different points in the sales life cycle.
2.
2 Outcomes
•
In each role, there are a critical few things that are essential to success.
These are the outcomes.
3.
3 Activity
•
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All the work activity and behavior we focus on should be directed
toward accomplishing the vital outcomes we have identified for the
roles.
roles
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25. Where to Look for Answers
Where to Look for Answers
67% in the Middle
Standard Performers
# Performers
Minimum level for
employment
Replicate across
R li t
the entire curve
Capture here
Top 1-3%
Key Performers
Level of
Performance
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26. The Performance Chain
The Performance Chain
Influences
Activity
• Skill & knowledge
• Tools & Technology
• Management
support
• Information
requirements
•
•
•
•
What we do
Sales process
p
Tasks
Work Processes
Outcomes
in Role
Strategic Goals &
Objectives
• What we
accomplish
• The end state of
our activity
• What the
organization
organization
values
• What we
measure as a
p y
company
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27. The Individual
The Individual ‐ Roles
Begin by identifying the critical roles that your
Begin by identifying the critical roles that your
account executives play.
• Some examples:
Some examples:
–
–
–
–
–
Strategic orchestrator
Business manager
g
Negotiator
Trusted advisor
Other
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28. The Individual –
Outcomes in Role
l
• For each role you have identified, complete an outcome worksheet
Outcome
Influence Factor
Detail
Skill
Knowledge
Tools & Technology
Management Support
Information Requirements
Skill
Knowledge
Tools & Technology
Management Support
Information Requirements
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29. The individual Link to Activity
The individual – Link to Activity
• Finally – given the environment , roles, outcomes:
Finally given the environment , roles, outcomes:
– Identify the critical processes and work activity that support or
enable each outcome.
Outcome
Work Process
Task details
Process Improvement
required?
(Y/N) ‐ Describe
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30. Quick Look – Assess
Present State
Assess your organization’s model of individual sales
A
i ti ’
d l f i di id l l
performance :
• How many of you have identified most of all of the critical
How many of you have identified most of all of the critical
roles of your sales executives?
• How many have detailed critical outcomes for the roles?
• How many have explicitly linked activity to the
accomplishment of outcomes in roles?
• Wh
What next steps do you need to take to close any gaps?
d
d
k
l
?
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31. Recap of the Process
Recap of the Process
The sales ecosystem
Th
l
t
• Define and optimize the environment
– Critical factors around Force, Strategy, and Alignment
– Identify existing gaps in the environment
– Introduce solutions to address any deficiencies and close gaps
Introduce solutions to address any deficiencies and close gaps
• Identify and replicate the model performer
– Capture critical factors at the highest performance levels
Capture critical factors at the highest performance levels
– Compile composite DNA model of key performance
– Select solutions to transfer across team
© Beacon 2014
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32. Questions?
Mason Holloway
Senior Director
Beacon Associates, Inc.
mholloway@beaconassociates.net
© Beacon 2014
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