commence crm smart practices that pay ebook

8/3/2019 Commence CRM Smart Practices That Pay eBook

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© 2011 Commence Corporation 1

Commence Corporation

Smart Practices

That PayLeveraging Information to Achieve Selling Results



© 2011 Commence Corporation2

Table of Contents

Introduction…………………………………………….3

Section One: Marketing Strategy ...........5

1.1 Focus on Defined MarketSegments……………………………………6

1.2 Communicate ValueConsistently.……………………………….9

1.3 Organize Sales by Accounts…………14

Section Two: Sales Management………..18

2.1 Implement a Consistent SalesProcess…………………………………….19

2.2 Hire Salespeople to Stay in theOffice……………………………………….26

2.3 Assure Salespeople are TightlyAccountable………………………………30

2.4 Coordinate Planning Efforts with

Channel Partners……………………….35

Section Three: Sales Optimizationthrough Technology……..38

3.1 Take Small Steps to Drive UserAdoption……….…………………………..39

3.2 CRM is a Tool, Not a Solution ………43 3.3 Coach Your Coaches on the

System……………………………………..46

Conclusion……………………………………………..49

Footnotes……………………………………………….50




Introduction

Today’s sales environment is characterized by intensecompetition, strategic sourcing contracts, online auctions,customer pressure for self-service, and the ongoing debate over

fee-based services. To thrive in this environment, your businessneeds more than leading technology to achieve long-termgrowth. Leading organizations are looking outside their four wallsto their customers for growth ideas. By leveraging the voice of the customer, these organizations achieve a competitiveadvantage in redefining sales and marketing, the all-importantcustomer-facing portion of their operations.

In an effort to help businesses sell more, more effectively,Commence Corporation has developed this compendium of morethan 40 smart practices in selling, culled from interviews withleading executives within high-growth companies, and building on

a comprehensive review of published perspectives on smartselling. Entitled Smart Practices That Pay: LeveragingInformation to Achieve Greater Selling Results, this compendiumfocuses on the three key elements of a successful sales effort:marketing strategy, sales management, and sales optimizationthrough technology.

Commence Corporation knows that the information technologyinvestments of sales departments are often wasted due to failedimplementations. This study focuses on the keys to successfulselling, all of which can be enhanced with proper application of

technology. Based on extensive experience, CommenceCorporation believes that the only path to success is to first develop consistent marketing and sales processes, then utilizethese processes in a disciplined manner reinforced by dynamictraining and carried forward through effective coaching. Theright technology can help accomplish each of these steps.

Many companies today are contemplating adding a centralizedsales and marketing database system, sometimes calledCustomer Relationship Management (CRM), Sales ForceAutomation (SFA), Contact Management (CM), or a variety of other confusing names and acronyms. The purpose of thisdocument is to ensure that these initiatives, by whatever name,succeed for sellers and deliver the results promised.




Methodology

This compendium of smart practices is rooted in a variety of sources. For more than a year, Commence Corporation has

interviewed dozens of leading executives in high-growth industrialmanufacturing and distribution firms, banking, health care,education and service industries. Commence has also hostedseveral Executive Roundtables to obtain additional input andfeedback from key executives building on their dialog on the topicof selling with one another. The following Smart Practices are asummary from the variety of these sources, combined withCommence’s more than 20 years of experience andcomplemented with contemporary commentaries from more than50 magazines, presentations, web sites and books.

Each of the major sections - Marketing Strategy, Sales

Management, and Sales Optimization through Technology –include an Executive Summary, a set of Smart Practices derivedfrom the research, and techniques to Leverage Information forresults. Finally, the bibliography contains numerous referencematerials that you may use for additional learning.




Section One:Marketing Strategy

Experienced executives know that all good marketing starts withgood strategy. Success in marketing is not about expensiveadvertising, big trade show booths, or slick brochures. Smartmarketing begins with a strategic examination of your customerbase:

Market Segment: What customers do we serve betterthan anyone else?

Competition: What are these customers’ competingalternatives?

Value Proposition: What value do we provide to thesetarget customers better than any competing alternative inthe world?

Branding: How will we profitably communicate anddeliver all of the above to our target customers?

Sales: How will we convert all of this into new customers?

Throughout this compendium, these strategic questions will beexamined in depth and from multiple angles. This first sectionfocuses on three aspects of marketing strategy most often raisedby our interviewees:

1. Focus on Defined Market Segments 2. Communicate Your Value Proposition Consistently3. Organize Sales by Accounts, Not Territories




1.1 Focus on DefinedMarket Segments

Executive Summary

One of the consistent themes that arose from our interviewsinvolved a focus on defined industry segments. Rather thantrying to be a generalist that can out-service or under-sell anycompetitor, the pattern among these smart companies was tochoose a few specialty areas in which to become true experts.The key to success, over and over again, was to build uponexisting successes that best matched the company’s products,employees, and interests. With this narrow focus, companies can

acquire or build internal competencies that are most highlyvalued and sought after by customers.

These smart practices stress segmented focus and differentiation.No longer is it reasonable for management to simply expecthigher sales each year without a strategic focus. Thespecialization in a few defined segments gives the sales forcesome added expertise that is welcomed by tough-to-reachprospects, leading to improved sales over time. A marketsegment discipline leads to goals for sales activities and salesresults that can be reviewed segment by segment. Training foreach segment can address the language, buying processes,

common objections, and competing alternatives of those withbuying influence.

The focus on market segments yielded higher profit margins formany of our interviewees. We also consistently heard thatcustomers were much more interested in seeing a salespersonwho had the knowledge and reputation of being a specialist. Asthe segmentation strategy gains momentum in a salesorganization, the company accumulates more and moreknowledge and insight from the shared experiences andsuccesses. This growing body of expertise becomes a true

differentiator that isn’t easily matched by competition. This leadsto quicker sales cycles, since customers aren’t simply comparisonshopping for price.




Smart Practices

Assign salespeople to defined market segments instead of geographic territories, so the salesperson is perceived as

an expert to that segment.

- “We made the transition by taking our product-centered salespeople and having them focus on market segments…”

- “This approach has totally changed the way we operate – it is so much better for the customer because now we areexperts.”

- “The customers tell us that they want a person they cantalk to, if that person is an expert specialist in the field.

The Internet is great, but…”

When assigning salespeople to a market segment, matchthe passion and experience of the salesperson with theneeds of the market.

- “These segments use the products that the salespeoplelove, and now they become a champion of the market.”

- “It is better to create segments based on what [thesalespeople] love to sell. This will be better for thecustomers.”

An expert salesperson assigned to a segment can morereadily focus on customer needs and spot valuable

“turnkey” solutions, instead of just pushing the product.

- “Our biggest challenge is educating salespeople to know the difference between selling a commodity product and aturnkey solution.”

- “We need to get them out of the mode of focusing on the product and instead listening to the customer’s needs.”

- “I was called into a meeting with a customer because of one line we carried. As the meeting progressed, it wasapparent that the customer had a lot of frustration with thecurrent process of buying components for their systemfrom so many suppliers, and then having to deal withvarying results. Instead of just talking about my component, I offered to help put the entire system




together. That is what the customer wanted, and that’s thebig picture we now get our salespeople to focus on.”

Like any good strategy, a market segment strategy shouldbegin by leveraging the voice of the customer.

-

“The big thing for us was to survey the customer and really understand the different channels and segments...Thenyou can further drill down into different segments and find ways to service and grow those various segments.”

A segmented strategy makes good sense, but it is noteasy; it requires discipline and ongoing effort.

- “Segmentation is a big buzzword, but it is very difficult todo. You can do a big effort with a big survey, and then twoyears have gone by and you haven’t done anything with it

yet.”

- “You need to develop an ongoing process for gatheringfeedback and further segmenting markets.”

Leveraging Information

The simple coding of accounts to the appropriate market segmentgives users and managers the ability to sort and view everythingthat is in the CRM system by market. The appointments, history,

and opportunities related to a market can be easily tracked to besure sales resources are being properly utilized relative to thestrategic direction of the company. For example, if a companywants a sales engineer to allocate at least 25% of his time on thechemical processing market, the CRM system will help visuallydisplay what portion of time, activities and proposals are beinggenerated for chemical processing prospects.

Another powerful CRM tool is a marketing campaign aimed atspecific markets. If the accounts are coded properly (see above),

a good CRM system will make it easy to send out personalized

letters, faxes or e-mails to the contacts that work in the chosenmarket segment. Pre-approved and even customizable marketingmaterials can be stored in the CRM system so that a consistentmessage is delivered, and so salespeople don’t waste timerecreating documents that are available in the document library.

Inside sales people benefit from stored marketing dialog scriptswhich help probe the caller’s specific needs by using the languageof the target market to improve effectiveness of the call.




1.2 Communicate Value

Consistently

Executive Summary

A Value Proposition is not a mission statement or an advertisingslogan or a clever branding message. A Value Propositionspecifically answers the question: “What value do we provide toour target market better than any competing alternative in theworld?” The Value Proposition must be laser-focused on adiscrete and definable set of potential customers. These potential

customers must see themselves reflected in that ValueProposition, so it must be stated in their language. Todemonstrate value, there must be some element of quantifiablereturn on investment, usually in terms of increased revenue orreduced expenses for your customer. Smart companies are intouch with their customers’ needs and are only pursuingopportunities where they can truly add superior value to thecustomer.

Many of the smart practices in this section revolve aroundrelentless internal emphasis on this Value Proposition and theimportance of repeating it to the marketplace in a regular

fashion. Companies must have a system to assure that everycustomer-facing employee can explain the Value Propositionmessage consistently. It is also imperative that managementhave a way to monitor that every activity, every investment of time, and every budget line item is aligned with the ValueProposition.

Many companies we interviewed admitted to the fact that theywere still struggling with clearly defining what it is that makesthem unique or even superior to their customers. Too manycompanies pursue multiple approaches to the market, often

copying what others have done and hoping that they will realizesimilar results. The Value Proposition needs to be specific,compelling, and something truly superior that the targetedcustomers care about. 1

The Value Proposition also needs to be quantifiable. The termValue Proposition is widely overused and often “valueless” because it has no money associated with it. A simple template, if




followed closely, will make sure that your Value Proposition willmeet all of these criteria:

“Companies like yours [define target market] will be able to[improve what?] by [how much?] through the ability to [dowhat?] as a result of [what enabler, technology, service, etc.?]for an investment of [what relative cost?].” 2 For example:

Companies like yours, making high-end ball bearings for the U.S.“just-in-time” market, will be able to produce 20% more eachday by changing your tooling and adjusting the angle of metal feeding as a result of using our cutting tools and processexpertise, for an investment of $100,000.

Without such a clear and consistent Value Proposition, sales repswill deliver a myriad of messages to your target markets, thuswasting precious time and perhaps even confusing and alienating

legitimate prospects. Many companies have examples of lostsales or lost profit due to a salesperson’s inability to differentiatethe value that was being offered. Without a discipline of focusingon value, sales calls decline into commodity-style negotiationsover terms and price.

Having a strong Value Proposition driving every sales activity willreduce the cost of sales. The key is to primarily allocate sales andmarketing resources to only those opportunities that are likely toquickly recognize and value what it is that you have to offer.Taking the time to qualify opportunities against your Value

Proposition leads to fewer wasted sales and marketing expensesand a shorter sales cycle. The result is:

• Less sales expense per sales dollar,• Less marketing expense per sales dollar,• Higher gross margin sales, and

• Shorter sales cycle.

If you stay focused on those companies that truly value what youare best at providing, you will need fewer salespeople to generatethe same (or even higher!) gross margin.




Smart Practices

To begin formulating a Value Proposition, you should start

by talking to customers.

- “First of all, we developed a very simple strategy statement based on customer input about why they choseus.”

- “We’re using ‘voice of the customer’ surveys to driveinnovation.”

- “We also do a lot of plant tours at customer plants. That’sour version of customer surveys.”

-

“Our corporate communications department has beenworking on this and has talked to a lot of different customers to figure it out.”

- “In-depth discovery about customers is important touncover ways to create value.”

This customer research will have the greatest impact if theexecutives of the company have an active role in talkingdirectly with the customers.

-

“Our senior management gathered the input, so they werein touch directly with the problems and priorities faced by our customers. Senior managers need to go out and talk directly to customers – salespeople always have anagenda.”

- “I think by putting senior people in front of customers todiscover and create a strategy that is sharp enough toclearly drive salespeople, anybody can sell for your company.”

Consistency is key: every person throughout the entireorganization must know and understand the basic ValueProposition.

- “We had to have everyone discuss the same thing, nomatter who they were talking to. So we created a simplestrategy document – 5 or 6 bullet points – that made very clear what we’re all about …”




- “It’s all about having everybody on the same page.”

- “Everybody in the company can immediately tell you what the strategy statement is and how their daily work fits intothat company strategy.”

- “Our strategy, Value Proposition and overall story can berepeated in identical words by any 10 people you randomly

pick out of the company.”

Once the Value Proposition is defined, it must be “trainedhard” on a consistent basis.

- “With a little training, everyone could learn it… and they better.”

- “We trained it very hard…”

- “We really train on what we find through these customer interviews.”

- “Once we create a Value Proposition, it is important tohave adequate training – we teach sales people how to talk about money, percentages, profits, etc.”

After everyone understands the Value Proposition, it needsto be used consistently, every day.

-

“The first slide of every presentation, the first page of every proposal is the strategy, and they all need to be ableto explain it and talk about it.”

Several high-growth distributors told us that they mightuse a slightly different version of the Value Proposition foreach market segment, but noted that the overall ValueProposition does not change.

- “You can segment the Value Proposition to fit different market segments, but at the core it still needs to be the

same.”

- “A Value Proposition is application by application. You haveone for the whole company, for a particular market segment, and for an individual customer.”

- “One of our best practices is creating Value Propositions for individual products and customers and training our people




to do that. And we need to quantify it to understand thevalue of the solution for our customers.”

Many smart companies use a “Value Calculator” to quantifythe monetary worth of the Value Proposition. The use of aValue Calculator can help speak to customers in their ownvalue terms. If the customers input their own assumptionsand numbers into the calculator, they “own” the resultingcalculation.

- “When you enter an opportunity, there is a place [in our CRM system] to calculate the value. We make sure thecustomer knows and appreciates the value. We show it tothe customer, and we love it when our numbers are wrong.The customer then inputs their own numbers. We actually then have a better point of how valuable our solution is.”


The use of a centralized system for Customer RelationshipManagement will help achieve companywide focus on a specific,customer-focused, consistent Value Proposition. First of all, everyform of marketing communications, from presentations to PDFfiles to templates for letters, can be standardized to reinforce theValue Proposition and stored in the CRM system for easyretrieval. To better track effectiveness, management can evenmonitor how often key documents are sent to qualified prospects.

Another way to use a CRM system to reinforce the ValueProposition is to have a profile of each opportunity, with a fieldthat includes how you will provide value to the prospect. Havingthis field prompts the salespeople to think about this questionbefore making a sales call and encourages them to document theconversation after the sales call. For example, one distributor inour study used a simple report to show each Value Propositionthat had been delivered to each customer, along with the resultsof the sales call so that everyone could see at a glance the powerof the Value Proposition consistently applied.




1.3 Organize the SalesDepartment by Accounts

Executive Summary

Our research repeatedly underscored the need to havesalespeople responsible for deeply serving a reasonable numberof accounts, including a realistic set of target accounts that aren’tyet customers. All reporting, planning and accountability iscentered on these accounts. In some cases, compensation wastied to profitable growth in select accounts. Management had

easy visibility into the status of these accounts through the use of tailored reports and software systems.

Many organizations are moving toward assigned accounts fortheir salespeople. Under the classic 80/20 rule, these companiesknow that the majority of their profits and growth will continue tocome from their existing top accounts. In addition, there are ausually a few key “target” accounts that are not yet customers,but warrant a focused sales effort because they fit the profiledefined in the firm’s Value Proposition. There is less of a focus on

“cold” prospecting, much less reliance on sales leads, and little orno concept of paying commission for sales based solely on

geography.

The successful, profitable business relationship – if it is based onvalue and not just price – takes a committed effort to get started.This effort involves persistent attention to detail, follow-throughand timeliness that is almost impossible to accomplish for morethan a few accounts at a time. Once the relationship begins,there is another demanding set of responsibilities that thesalesperson must fulfill in order to maintain and grow thebusiness.

Growth is achieved by smarter deployment of sales resources andthe improved success rate that comes from a focused sales effort.This approach to sales team structure works because it focusesthe efforts of the most expensive part of the sales budget (theoutside sales force) on the most productive and profitableactivities. By only measuring and evaluating the success rate in asmall number of accounts, the sales management can help thesales staff develop deep strategies for meeting the unique




requirements of these target accounts. Likewise, the resourcesinvolved in fulfillment of orders and delivery of services can beprioritized on those selected accounts. Otherwise, too manyhours and dollars are wasted reacting to the requests of small,high-maintenance accounts with no framework for directing thechoices of how the sales reps manage their time.

Smart Practices

To improve focus and reduce wasted efforts, assign alimited number of accounts, not a broad geography.

- “It is unrealistic to expect a salesperson to service 500accounts in a geographic territory. We assign 100accounts, no more – and we expect a focus only on the top25 of those accounts.”

- “The salespeople have to extract what we call the ‘Active 5’ and they work those five major companies for 100 days.

They have to make five sales calls on five companies in100 days and then they report on that. We’ve put complete focus on it. Now, 43% of all our opportunities are

Active 5, and they comprise 70% of all the sales dollars.”

- “Our success depends on getting more and more of our key product lines into our top 25 accounts. The averagesalesperson makes 3.5 sales calls per day, for 3-4 days per

week. Much more time is spent on research and understanding the needs of the top accounts.”

- “That’s the problem with salespeople. They visit acustomer in July, and then don’t go back until next August.

And they wonder why they don’t get the business! Thenwhen you go to do your forecast at the beginning of theyear, the same companies keep appearing, and it’sludicrous. We make people 100% accountable for fewer accounts.”

Once you limit the number of accounts, the sales teamshould be encouraged to spend more time with eachaccount and to be creative problem-solvers.

- “We know that when the focus is on quantity, the sales call ends up being a quick drop off of literature, a reactiveresponse, and no insight or knowledge about what thecustomer is doing; what our customers want is someone




who can ask the right questions, to help get to the solutionto a problem they can’t even articulate.”

- “We don’t want our salespeople to react, but instead, tocreate. Our customer base is shrinking, not growing.”

- “A few years back, this thing bothered the hell out of me.We’d give out leads and nothing would happen. I saw astatistical inference that 48% of salespeople make one call and don’t go back. 25% go back twice. 12% go back threetimes. 5% go back four times. But 80% of all orders aregotten after the fifth call. So we make sure to do at least five calls to each account. You can’t do that with athousand accounts.”

These target accounts need to be treated with a particularemphasis and a focused energy.

- “Due to this focus, our salespeople are able to developvery thorough profiles of their accounts – how they buy,when they develop budgets, what projects are indevelopment, changes in personnel, and the overall goalsof the company. Discovering and capturing these insightsallows a highly-tailored recommendation of products and services that is much more likely to win.”

- “We create special marketing and incentive programs[aimed at our target accounts].”

- “We do whatever we can to let everyone in the company know what accounts we are targeting. Even withsomething as simple as a black dot on the invoice as it goes through the company, everyone will know that it’ssomeone we want to especially impress.”

Many organizations use sports analogies to help the salesteam understand the concept of targeted accounts.

- “I was watching the 49ers in the 1980s when they won all of those Super Bowls. I really studied why they could do

that, and I found out they were the only football team at the time that scripted their first 15 plays. So… we put a

playbook together. It has 72 plays, and we write up on aflip chart the plan for each account and script them for thenext 100 days.”

- “So when you take all of your sales people and see wherethe opportunities fall, we see which ones are in the red




zone. We don’t waste a time until an opportunity is in thered zone.”


The database tools and reporting capabilities of a strong CRMsystem can be helpful in executing a successful target accountapproach to selling. First of all, sales management can use asimple dashboard to quickly review the completed and plannedactivities at each account by salesperson. Inside salespeople,customer service and even engineering and accounts receivablecan easily identify contacts from assigned accounts, and treatthem accordingly. For the individual sales professional, theaccount profile record allows for easy capturing and review of detailed information about the account and individualopportunities.

According to experienced executives, the most powerful aspect of a sales automation system is the wealth of data accumulatedafter only a few short months of use. To mine this data, smartcompanies have followed these steps:

1. Identify the business problem.2. Mine data to transform data into actionable information.3. Act on the information.4. Measure the results.3

For example, a sales manager at an electrical distributorinstinctively knew that some customers were getting too muchservice based on their volume of annual sales. To verify his gutfeeling, he mined data in his CRM database to see the number of quotes, calls, and service tickets for each customer and comparedit to the total volume of sales in the previous 12 months. Itbecame obvious that about 25 customers in particular weretaking up a lot of the sales team’s effort, but deliveringcomparably little revenue. The sales manager then worked witheach sales rep to come up with a plan to either increase therevenue from these customers or reduce the time spent servicing

them. After three months of their efforts, he reviewed the data,and found that significant profitability improvements had beenachieved.




Section Two:Sales Management

One of the keys to profitable growth is knowing how to make thebest use of sales personnel and supporting resources. Thus,efficient sales management is a prerequisite for better, faster,and more predictable growth in sales. The interviewees hadsignificant input on this section, since every company hadmethods and systems to direct and monitor their sales effort.

Building upon the themes seen in the previous section onMarketing Strategy, the following smart practices have to do withboth eliminating wasteful efforts (those not providing value to thecustomer) and improving the effectiveness of the sales activities

(those that do add appreciated value to the customer). We alsoidentified specific ideas about “how to” execute sales initiativeswith an emphasis on clearly identifying expectations andmonitoring results.




2.1 Implement a StandardSales Process

Executive Summary

Any high-growth strategy must begin with a consistent anddisciplined sales process that is easily understood by everyone inthe organization. All salespeople must use the same vocabulary,and view all opportunities as having sequential stages that mustbe completed before a suspect becomes a prospect, and aprospect becomes a customer. Following a consistent processreduces the anxiety and uncertainty common among bothsalespeople and sales managers, because everyone knows whatis expected and needed for every sales pursuit. Having defined

requirements and policies on when and how to give ademonstration, prepare a proposal, or send a sample helps thesales force control the sales process and avoid simply reacting torequests from unqualified prospects. Better preparation, deeperresearch, and clearer goals for each stage result in a moreeffective sales team.

This concept is a natural extension of the earlier practices aimedat delivering a consistent Value Proposition, improving marketspecialization, and making better use of sales resources. Having astandard approach to pursuing and tracking opportunities is a

smart way to assure that all sales activities are aligned with theoverall direction of sales management. Having consistency alsoreduces the amount of non-value-added sales activities, such asdrafting letters, writing reports, and having lengthy phone calls todetermine what stage is next in a sales opportunity. Standardterminology simply saves time and minimizes confusion.

Sales managers benefit from a standard process because it iseasier to view how each salesperson is doing. Opportunities thatare stalled in one stage are easy to spot and troubleshoot.Salespeople benefit because they waste less time determiningwhat information is missing and what the next step should be.Sales appointments become more productive because they areonly conducted as part of a planned sequence of events.

Perhaps the most universal theme in this research had to do withthe value of a standardized approach to selling. Some companieshad adopted branded systems such as Sandler, Solution Selling,Dale Carnegie or others. Many others had developed their ownsystem with its own terminology, perhaps a hybrid of popular




systems or a mix of the techniques used by the company’s mostsuccessful sales performers. But the repeated emphasis onhaving a common system was clear.

A standard sales process allows companies to more easily analyzeevents and make sense of trends. “The only way to discoverwhat’s working and what’s not is to measure the individual stepsof the sales process. If you know the percentages of prospectsthat proceed through each stage of the process, you canaccurately predict how many sales will close in the future, basedupon the current pipeline. You can also compare the performanceof team members and take appropriate action, like additionalcoaching, in order to ensure that the team remains productive.” 4

Manufacturers for example are no strangers to processes,systems, and re-engineering. Plants and warehouses couldn’toperate profitably without them. And no business manager

would let accounting and purchasing departments improvise. “Infact, the more important and complex the task, the more likelythat the effective principles and processes for successfullycompleting that task have been defined and codified.” 5 In otherwords, much of the industrial world is already highly process-driven, systematized, and automated.

Yet, few have systematized and automated their salesdepartments. Seventy percent of respondents to a recent studyindicated that they do not have a documented, formal salesprocess.6 “Given that sales is the fundamental purpose of most

organizations and represents the single largest expense item, it isquite surprising that written sales processes are non-existent forthe majority of the study participants. Without such a documentto provide a consistent road map, executives have no choice butto depend on the creativity, work ethic and luck of individualsales reps and their managers.” 7

Organizations without a sales process often exhibit the followingsymptoms:

• Disconnected and manual approach to selling, slowingdown the sales cycle.

• Lengthy cycle time to find prospects, get quotes out thedoor, and close orders.

• Irritated prospects, who want what they want when theywant it, not when your salespeople can get to it.

• Annoyed top sales employees. They want to sell, not figureout the best way to get prospects in the pipeline, quotescreated, orders entered, and shipments delivered.




• Abundant and costly errors, evidenced by expedited ordersand high volumes of returns.

• Inadequate margin on too many quotes, resulting indeflated profitability.

• Stagnant sales from the most important customers.

• Engineering and other departments are pulled into disarraywhen your sales team gets a request for proposal or learnsabout a bid opportunity.8

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Many executives voiceissues similar to these, yet the remedy seems to be incrediblydifficult. Sales teams are often extremely autonomous, andmanagement struggles to avoid “big brother” accusations andmicromanaging. Despite these legitimate concerns, it is possiblefor these organizations to successfully implement a standardsales process.

The high level steps to implement a sales process culled fromindustry experts are:

1. Document your sales process,2. Design your implementation,3. Train your sales team,4. Support the implementation.

When reviewing the various sales methodologies and processesavailable, make sure your final selection is repeatable,predictable, and scalable.9 “What you want is a sales process

that is simple enough that, over time, it will become secondnature to the sales staff.” 10 Also, make sure that it isn’t toocomplicated, or your sales team will not use it. But, at the sametime, avoid a sales method that is overly simplified, unless youare in a simple sales market (which few organizations enjoy).11

The elements of a sales process typically include:

• A common vocabulary for describing the activities involvedin selling,

• Clearly defined stages of selling,• An agreed upon checklist of what it takes to move from

one stage to the next,

• Consistent guidelines for information to be gathered andgiven at each stage,

• Clear expectations for how long each sales stage shouldtake, and

• Concise definition of suggested next actions.




When smart organizations are designing a sales processimplementation, they focus on change management, not salestraining. By implementing a formalized sales process, thecompany is fundamentally changing the way people do their jobson a daily basis. There will be natural resistance. To develop achange management plan, make sure you can answer thefollowing questions:

• What motivation do sales people have to use the newsystem?

• What potential barriers are there to implementation?• How can I overcome those barriers?• How will I know if the implementation is successful?• What do I expect during the transition?• Who can people go to if they have questions?

One of the best ways that organizations have found to make sure

implementations “stick” is to have the management involved.One recent study found that when sales training is reinforced bymanagement, the sales skills taught during training produced a15% permanent increase in productivity.12

Management needs to be involved in more than a cosmeticfashion. A senior member of the management team needs toattend the training, and this same manager should inspect thesales activities for a period of time to make sure theycontinuously are consistent with the new sales skills introducedduring the training.

Smart Practices

The need to have a consistent, well-defined sales processcannot be overstated.

- “Having a formal selling process is very important. We’vebeen following the same system for over eight years. It isingrained in us now, although we could always userefresher training.”

-

“We needed to change our approach of ‘walking over broken glass’ to do whatever the customer wants – even if it is a small customer and if the activity is preventing usfrom serving a large customer. Once we got the disciplineof a common approach, we started making smarter choicesabout how to spend our sales time.”




- “What happened was that one of our senior management team saw that there was a void – we all were sellingdifferently.... Some people questioned the need, since wewere having a good sales year. But we knew it wasimportant.”

- “Our company can’t grow consistently unless the sales process is repeatable, not arbitrary. For us, it is acondition of employment – you have to use the system.”

- “Process is ultra important.”

A defined set of terms, used by everyone in theorganization, is key to adopting and sustaining the process.

- “Without a common language, you have individual sales people, not a sales team. Companies with individual sales

people are the ones that fail.”

- “The value of speaking the same language when reviewingan opportunity or planning a sales call is very powerful.”

- “We taught them through role playing to ask questionswith the new vocabulary, so that as we reviewed theactivities of a salesperson, we were reinforcing thelanguage and the stages of our process. This was critical,since if the sales management didn’t use the language, it wouldn’t have been adopted as part of our culture.”

- “Now every form, every account planning tool, is using thelanguage of the common process.”

Center your process around the outwardly-focused “buycycle” of your customer base, as opposed to yourinternally-focused “sell cycle.”

- “It is more important to know where the buyer is in hisdecision-making process than to try and force our salesmethodology on the customer.”

-

“We focus on the buying process as well as the selling process.”

Have your top salespeople actively participate in the designof your sales process.




- “As you evaluate sales processes, bring top sales people as part of the team to gain buy-in – it will help to sell to other guys.”

Sometimes, a sales process includes what NOT to do, suchas when a function previously done by the sales team isremoved from the process.

- “The pricing function and quoting function has been totally removed from our salespeople – we want them selling, not quoting. They don’t even have price lists. Because of thischange we now pay them on top line growth, since they can’t control pricing and profitability.”

Once a sales system is selected, the sales manager needsto become experts in the process before the rest of theteam is trained.

- “Once [the senior executive] found a system he liked, hefirst had all of the managers brought in for professional training.”

- “Many times we are remiss to not train managers to usesame language; this leads to a disconnect. We also need totrain the trainers.”

- “The other thing we did was train the supervisors to betrainers in an on-the-job setting.”

One of the primary elements of any sales process is a cleardefinition at every step of what the “next step” will be.

- “And the next step, in our common language, is theimpending event. Every sales call needs to have a clear next step, an impending event that they can state will happen next. If they don’t have that, then they just went in and made a sales call. There is no excuse for just making a sales call for the sake of making a sales call.”

- “Guess what happens when you have a [clear next step]

that is two weeks away? You actually have time to planand prepare, which greatly increases your chances of success.”

- “They need to clearly say at the end of each meeting what the impending event is and when it will happen. Then they have to send a confirmation to the prospect or customer inan e-mail or letter. When we talk about an impending




event, it must be established – and they have to prove it tous. We really ride them.”


The challenge with adopting a new sales process is gettingeveryone to follow it. We were told in multiple interviews aboutthe need for a method to reinforce the new, disciplined approachto selling. Sales management must use the vocabulary in salesmeetings and on sales calls. An automated workflow as part of aCRM database can quickly prompt a salesperson to enter requiredinformation before moving to the next sales stage. Reports andonline views of the Sales Pipeline and Pipeline Velocity can helpmonitor the progress of opportunities over time – both thesalesperson and the sales manager can spot when an opportunityis stalled.




2.2 Hire Salespeople toStay in the Office

Executive Summary

The ability of salespeople to provide superior service, follow-through and responsiveness to customers without visiting inperson is key to increased efficiency. Small and mediumaccounts that might rarely see a salesperson in person can getfrequent contact from a properly trained and equippedsalesperson working from a desk. These customers appreciatethe increased attention. As the information about the needs andpreferences of the customer grows, the sales relationship getsdeeper than would have been possible using traditional outside

sales staff. Cross-selling and up-selling are more likely to occur,since more frequent dialogue leads to a better mutualunderstanding and more opportunities to introduce new productsand services.

Any business in any industry can use this approach to service andgrow their customer base. Using outward bound, telephone-basedsalespeople, the companies can become more proactive and likelydiscover or create new opportunities for growth.

The rising cost of a traditional outside sales call is well

understood. Windshield time is marginally productive, at best. Inaddition to the limited quantity of calls that can be achieved perday, the quality can also be limited, causing a precious sales callto be wasted when a prospect doesn’t bring promised informationor suddenly gets interrupted before the goal of the visit isaccomplished.

A well-trained salesperson working on the phone and thecomputer can reach many more people than would be possible if a personal visit were required, greatly reducing the cost of obtaining increased sales and better margin from these accounts.By increasing the number of times smaller accounts arecontacted, a company can profitably grow the incremental salesthat come from being aware of evolving needs.




Smart Practices

Small and medium accounts can often be handled betterby salespeople who never leave the office and work on thephone and the computer.

- “We renamed our Inside Territory Managers to Territory Managers. The term ‘inside’ was too limiting, and it wasconfusing to our customers. They are really ‘salespeoplewithout cars’. They are a multi-million segment of our business, and they grew it 18% last year. That’s a higher growth rate than our key account managers. They have75-150 accounts they manage.”

Often, the switch to using inside salespeople for smalleraccounts will coincide with the move to assigning a limited

number of target accounts instead of territories.

- “Like most companies, we started with geographic territories. We then graduated to a smaller number of assigned accounts for each rep. This created a huge groupof small customers that we didn’t know how to handle. Wetried mailers, and naively thought we could rely on our ‘good guy’ reputation. Then I took one guy from customer service, and assigned him to call the small accounts. Hesat outside my office. We worked through his callingtechniques, and I answered his questions as they cameup.”

At the outset, it may prove useful to run a pilot program orto otherwise test the use of “salespeople without cars.”

- “I didn’t get the buy-in from everyone. My boss thought it might just be an account base that we would keep even if we didn’t have a dedicated person calling them. So we did a double-blind experiment. All of the accounts that wereassigned to an inside salesperson grew. Those that wereunassigned didn’t just stagnate – they were down 30%.Our conclusion: ignoring customers is not a smart business

practice.”

These “salespeople without cars” should be treated withthe same respect as the traditional outside sales team;they are true salespeople, not just customer service reps.

- “I believe that the biggest event in selling that’s occurred in the last decade is the change in outside sales and inside




sales roles. In the 1970s and 80s, the outside salespersonwas like a PGA golf pro, but the inside salesperson was acustomer service person, a secondary citizen, like a caddy.That, in my opinion, was the root cause of the lack of dataentry and dialogue, because they didn’t have a commongoal. We now have inside salespeople that are full-timePGA Pros, comparable to the outside salespeople.”

Sometimes, inside salespeople can be focused on specificproducts in addition to specific accounts.

- “One tactic we’ve done for the inside sales team, isworking on low-volume ‘D’ items. 10% of our business isD items. These items are typically bought by people once ayear who aren’t shopping around, but they want to just get it off their desk. Unfortunately, the inside salespeople weredoing the same thing and just getting the order off their

desk. They looked in the computer and saw what thediscount was last year and just automatically did the samething. If instead you can raise the prices of your D items10% annually, you can increase your gross profit exponentially. Our inside sales people are now incented and measured on this. They realize that it is so simple.”


The “salesperson without a car” can make tremendous use of

information technology. The needs, budget timetables and buyingprocesses of each account can gradually be uncovered andcaptured in a CRM database. For example, each phone call mightbe aimed at getting just one key piece of information. Over time,the full buying puzzle can be pieced together. This would, of course, be too expensive to do in multiple in-person sales calls,especially for smaller accounts. Data entry is in real-time,because the inside salespeople are typing while they talk, unlikeoutside salespeople.

Automated reminders can help the salesperson keep in touchwith accounts on a regularly scheduled basis, including

automated e-mails or faxes. Specific interests can be coded toallow for specialized campaigns aimed at subsets of the accountlist. Short notes about each contact can be captured quickly,building an enviable “memory” about past conversations thatusually impresses the customer or prospect.

Inside salespeople are greatly aided by a CRM database becausethey are always in front of a computer. Prior to every phone call,




the history of previous contacts can be quickly reviewed, as wellas any promised next actions. Follow-up activities can beefficiently entered and even assigned to other employees asappropriate. Reminders showing those accounts who haven’tbeen contacted in a predetermined period of time help make sureno customer is forgotten. Finally, automated creation andtracking of regular campaign communications, such as e-mailnewsletters or “Tech Tips” on fax can be quickly set up.




2.3 Assure Salespeople areTightly Accountable

Executive Summary

A major theme heard over and over in this research was howdifficult it is to get salespeople to properly plan and then reporton their sales activity. Call reports, itineraries and forecasts areimportant, but too often inconsistent in quality. Yet severalorganizations had successful methods for getting regularcommunications from field sales about what is being done andwhat is planned. The time involved in creating these reports was

clearly defined as part of the job, with no exceptions. Salespeoplelearned that the process actually helped them be better preparedon the sales calls they scheduled.

Every sales manager has to ask his or her team to completevarious activities or make necessary changes to make progresstowards a particular goal. Yet, all too often, a portion of the salesteam blatantly rebels and just doesn’t do what was asked of them. There are numerous reasons why this happens: highly-paidsalespeople, entrenched salespeople who have been with yourorganization for a long time, a cultural norm that emphasizes the

salespeople’s autonomy, or 100% commission compensationplans.13

This situation needs to be remedied. A company cannot afford tohave sales people undermining its strategic initiatives. If you letthis continue, training, a sales process, or any of the other smartpractices outlined in this study will become a waste of time. Andthat isn’t an option in the world of reverse auctions, strategicsourcing, and increasing margin pressure. If you don’t dosomething differently, people will continue to do things the

“same old way,” because that is what is comfortable.14

After expectations are written and communicated, sales leadersmust focus on developing their sales teams and holding themaccountable for the newly clarified guidelines. The best way to dothis, according to numerous industry experts, is throughcoaching. Here are some smart coaching practices from aselection of sales experts:




• At least a portion of the coaching needs to be in the field,where you can observe your sales team in action.

• When you go on calls with your team, whatever you do,don’t take over the call and control the conversation. Yoursalesperson development is more important than one sale.

• Explain the benefits of coaching to your team. Help themto understand this is for everyone – even the best athletesneed a coach. It isn’t a criticism or punishment for badresults.

• Make sure you budget more time to spend with rookies –they’ll need it and will be the most willing.

• Make sure you are consistent in how you ask and answerquestions. The easiest way to be consistent is to followyour sales process – use the same language,measurements, and tools for the whole team.

• Include some practice sessions in your coaching whereyour sales team can safely try out new skills.

•

Make sure coaching is done on a weekly basis. If you can’tcommit to that schedule, consider hiring professionalcoaches for your sales team. There are numerous salesexperts that can help your team to continually improvetheir selling efforts.15

A key component of your coaching sessions needs to be based onforecasting. The easiest way to forecast is to base it on your salesprocess. Remember: your sales process should be auditable. Youshould be able to see concrete proof that a salesperson hassuccessfully reached a milestone. Once you start to gather that

data, ideally through your coaching sessions so you can also giveadvice regarding the quality of the proof and ensure the data isaccurate, you will be able to predict your sales with almost boringaccuracy.16

For example, if a salesperson has successfully completed the firststep of the sales process, you should be able to calculate howlikely it is that the prospect will advance to the next stage of thesales cycle. After several months of gathering this data, yourforecast will become increasingly accurate, helping everydepartment of your organization to better serve customers.17

It is not hard to explain or justify “accountability” – it is moredifficult to execute. Any initiative aimed at reducing wasted timeand missed opportunities must have a method for tracking whatis actually being done. This constant measuring and evaluating of what is working and not working leads to continuousimprovement of the sales function. Just as in the operations sideof the business, consistent measurement helps uncoverpossibilities for reducing costs (by eliminating activities that are




unproductive) and increasing revenues (by sharing successfultechniques between peers). Visibility on what has been done andwhat is planned gives the sales manager an opportunity to coachsalespeople in areas for improved effectiveness. Once again, thecost of sales needs to be carefully controlled; this practice helpsturn the sales expense into a more productive resource.

Smart Practices

The first step towards greater accountability is often toanalyze the current state of the sales team (how they arespending their time, what they are doing well, what theyneed help with, etc.).

- “The first thing we did was figure out what they were doingall week. All salespeople logged their time for one week.

We saw that only 45% of the time was spent actually selling, and only 15% with actual end users.”

A key component of accountability is being clear aboutexpectations, with an emphasis on quality, not quantity.

- “We expect salespeople to only be selling for 3.5 days per week so that they can spend the rest of the time gettingfully organized and prepared for their calls. We want themto plan their calls. We plan a lot – not just ‘go sell.’”

- “We don’t do call reports because they show only activity

without necessarily results. I want to look at theOpportunity Manager in our CRM system; all we focus on isopportunities.”

Greater accountability often leads to better relationshipsbetween salespeople and upper management.

- “Every two months, each salesperson must spend threedays at the headquarters office. Part of this time is spent one-on-one with top management reviewing completed activities that were discussed at the previous meeting and creating plans and commitments for the next two months.Much of the time is spent with unplanned conversationswith customer service that lead to improved communications and collaboration.”

To be effective, sales planning should be a person-by-person initiative, with individual accountability for

individual goals.




- “We used to have the same sales plan for all of our people.We’ve changed that so we have very specific sales plansfor each person. It is also directly tied to their bonus plan.The key is to hold each person accountable to his or her own goals.”

In order to drive accountability, accurate reports anddocumentation are required.

- “If it isn’t documented, it didn’t happen.”

- “I make it clear that I’m reading every report by e-mailingfrequent comments, questions, and - very effectively -compliments for a job well done.”

- “People are depending on history information, and [CRM]documents our conversations with our customers. One of

our customers tried to charge us for a missed delivery date, but everything in our CRM system is time stamped.That was the ‘end of the story,’ since we had a record of the buyer’s call to change the date.”


In a CRM system, easily-monitored reports will show activitiesthat are planned, completed and late. Extra visibility can be givento opportunities that have stalled in a sales cycle stage.

Reminders can be set to make sure key milestones and deadlinesdon’t get missed. Managers can quickly create reports for eachproduct line to communicate completed and upcoming activitiesto senior management.

Some companies have used their CRM system to assure that aportion of the sales time is being spent on prospecting. This isaccomplished by establishing a special classification for prospectsand then creating a report that shows only the activities relatedto these accounts. Likewise, if sending ‘Thank You’ notes is anactivity your emphasizing, it is easy enough to create a specialmenu item in the software that is used whenever a salespersonsends a ‘Thank You’ note. The same applies when focusing onspecific market segments (see section 1.1) or tracking the toptarget accounts (see section 1.3).

Likewise, for any other specific activities that are part of acompany’s sales or customer service process, selections to adatabase record can then be captured in a report or onlinedashboard display.




2.4 Coordinate PlanningEfforts with BusinessPartners

Executive Summary

In the spirit of reduction of wasted efforts, needless duplication,and other LEAN philosophies, a number of companies explained aformalized system for establishing and executing coordinatedsales efforts with their channel partners.

Similar to focusing on a small number of accounts (see previoussection 1.3), this section involves focusing on a small number of

business partners. This selected group is then part of a two-wayplanning process where specific goals, action steps, and timelinesare established. The results of a dedicated effort to accomplishmutual goals with a small number of partners is much greaterthan attempting to be all things to all people, which usuallyresults in a reactive approach to opportunities. Specificdiscussions to clarify expectations regarding communications,logistics, and support will help avoid misunderstandings.

Many companies use the mutual planning process to differentiatebetween tiers of channel partners. Only the most committed and

loyal partners are invited to engage in the planning, which endsup determining where the company will invest manpower andbudget. Only those partners that develop and then execute theseplans are then supported with co-op funds, special discounts, andother valuable programs.

The key to successful planning between companies and businesspartners is making the process truly mutual. First of all, bothsides must be absolutely clear about their goals and focus for thetime period being discussed. If there is no strategic fit betweenthe two, then it is better to agree not to develop a work plan.

This was probably one of the most emotionally charged topics inour study. Both companies and channel partners complainedabout the lack of emphasis and coordination from the otherpartner. Joint selling plans create good communications anddirected activities. Several companies stressed this approachwhen launching a new product or service to the market.Systematic review of completed and planned tasks, with clear




agreement on who is responsible for what activity, is what turnsthese plans into results.

Smart Practices

The first step is often to determine if there is truly astrategic fit and mutual commitment to joint success.

- “We only create joint plans for the top tier of our distribution network, and even then, only those whochoose to go through the whole process. Good planningtakes significant resources from both parties and shouldn’t be done if there is not a strong two-way commitment.”

- “Participation in this planning is a privilege, reserved for partners who will execute it. Extra support, discounts, and programs can be provided only to those who participate.”

If the mutual commitment is present, then the companyand channel partner should put in place a process to defineand review goals on a regular basis.

- “If the fit exists, then we agree on which accounts will become targets, what support programs will be utilized,and how we will review progress toward the goals.”

- We created a mutual review process and meet at least quarterly.”

The partners must have mutual respect and loyalty, andmust follow up with each other on all target accounts.

- “We view leads like a loose football. If you don’t fall on it,shame on you. Then the company should never give youanother one.”

- “We are 100% loyal to the company that provides us thelead. I will lose the business before going to thecompetition.”

Come up with a creative way to get the top managementof key partners to pay special attention to the relationship.

- “We send a monthly rebate check directly to the owner or president of the channel partner. The rebate only getssent if certain targets are hit and if the monthly planningsessions take place. If one month he doesn’t get the




check, you can be sure his people hear about it and correct the problem.”

Beyond discounts and rebates, some companies provideconsulting and training to which the partner mightotherwise not have access.

- “We offer Six Sigma consulting to our key partners, just asif they were part of our internal management team.”

- “Lean is an important part of our culture, so we let the partners in our program participate in our Lean training.”


After the mutual planning process is understood and agreementhas been reached on action steps and assignments, the problemremains – “How do we monitor results?” The use of a CRMdatabase allows important information to be captured withupcoming appointments and tasks easily viewed. Completedtasks and appointments are saved with notes about whathappened so that everyone is up to date on the status of theplan.

Using the standard project and task functions, joint sales planscan be entered and the status (complete, in progress, notstarted) can be monitored. Special reports or dashboards can

show the current status of each project along with completed andplanned activities. Integration to the accounting system allows forup to date monitoring of orders and shipments for each partneras well. Documented meeting notes keep track of commitments,accomplishments, and setbacks. Recurring appointments can bemade to make sure agreed-upon communications, either byphone, e-mail, or in person, are scheduled.




Section Three:Sales Optimization through

Technology

Sales Force Automation (SFA) and Customer RelationshipManagement (CRM) software packages have been purchased bymany companies in hope that the sales team would become more

productive, as is often seen when investments in technology aremade in the operations side of a business. Unfortunately, the factremains that while technology may improve the effectiveness of an undisciplined or unfocused sales force, true optimal resultsrequire a well-managed process of implementation, training, and

ongoing coaching and monitoring.

This section addresses Smart Practices related to getting themost output from a sales staff once a commitment has beenmade to invest in SFA or CRM technology. The successfulimplementation of such a system depends on selection of thebest system based on functional requirements, followed byprocess-centered training, ongoing coaching, and a philosophy of continuous improvement as opposed to attempting to changeeverything on the first day of usage.




3.1 Take Small Steps toDrive User Adoption

Executive Summary

Our research found that successful implementations often startedby selecting a small group of respected individuals to serve asyour pilot group. This group will help determine the processes,policies, and expectations before the implementation and thenduring their initial experience with the new processes and thenew tool. Modifications may be made based on this group’slessons learned; when the pilot is complete and the next group is

going to be trained, the new students will know that this systemhas been fine-tuned by these respected leaders and that theseleaders have been using the system and benefiting from it.

Developing a multi-step training plan that introduces processesand functions in stages is a second ingredient of successfulimplementations. This allows users to get comfortable with newhabits gradually, learning to use e-mail and their calendars first,for example, followed by opportunity tracking and eventuallyentering history and following up on quotes. Each company willdetermine the sequence of training based on priorities

Finally, success depends on the selection of an internal “champion” to support and drive the implementation of the newprocesses and the new system. A focused project manager is alsoessential to success since everyone will be distracted with thepressures and interruptions of daily activities. This person can bea sales administrative person, an information technology person,or an outside consultant. The key is having a detailed personidentifying and communicating all assignments and addressingany obstacles that threaten to delay the implementation.

Getting users to properly and regularly adopt a new approach to

their work is the hardest part of improving sales results. Having apilot group field test the new procedures and the new softwaretool gives credibility to the value of the effort when theseindividuals can share stories of how the system worked for them.Fine-tuning the internal processes with a pilot group also reducesthe frustration of midcourse corrections when the fullimplementation begins. The goal of a phased-in approach is tohave no surprises during the initial training.




Smart businesses using CRM systems encourage users to activelyuse the sales and marketing software. If you don’t have this inplace, they will look for – and find – excuses to stop using thesoftware, whether it is a lack of time, bugs in the software,inaccurate data, or claims that this is just another managementfad. To combat these excuses, the smartest practices include thefollowing:

• Align incentives with the sales automation tools. Salespeople are goal-oriented and highly motivated. They arekeenly aware of “paid” vs. “unpaid” activities. Though theywill complete as many “unpaid” activities as are necessary(for example, expense reports), they are less likely to givetheir best effort to activities they don’t directly benefitfrom. Giving an additional commission or cash bonus forentering data may seem like you are compensating people

for completing the basic requirements of their job, yet it isthe best way to guarantee data will be entered in a timelyand accurate fashion.

• Find the “opinion leaders” in each sales team. Persuadethem that the system will help them while improving theoverall customer experience.

• Start with a pilot group. The results will help you toconvince other users of the benefits.

• Gain management support . If the president doesn’t thinkit’s worth his time, then your salespeople will feel justifiedin ignoring the system.

•

Provide avenues for employee feedback . They willlegitimately have questions and suggestions; you need tolisten to them and react appropriately as needed.

• Make sure all management, trainers, and support staff areon the same page regarding the implementation. Themessage should be consistent no matter who the salesteam talks to.

• Communicate “what’s in it for me?” to all of the users.Have them explain it to you. If the team doesn’tunderstand the benefits of the system – both tothemselves and to the entire organization – they will notgive it their best efforts.

•

Over-communicate about the status of the implementation.You can never give people enough information. The moreyou communicate, the less likely they will be to startquestioning why things aren’t happening that they thoughtwould happen.18




Smart Practices

Develop a roadmap for training based on what is mostvaluable to the users.

- “You need to start with reports that give the salesmenwhat they need [e.g., Any crisis? Any credit issues? Any complaints?]. The whole goal is improving sales

productivity, not feeding management reports. The reportsmust be accurate, or the system will lose credibility. Dataquality and integrity is job #1.”

- “It is imperative to have a driver – an internal champion,and an external project manager if needed. The timetablefor implementation must be constantly communicated and

meet the milestones, or people get frustrated.”

- Create a simplified database focusing on a few keyfunctions.

- “We tried not to digest everything at once. We first focused on a few things, such as quote automation and cleaning upthe contacts and accounts. Then we expanded to moredaily functions, such as entering appointments and sendinge-mails. Our users appreciated the fact that they could learn in stages.”

- “Separate the ‘nice to haves’ from the ‘need to haves.’ Wereally ‘dumbed down’ the database at the beginning,simplifying the fields and the screens.”

- “Don’t let the trainer show all the bells and whistles. Focuson what to call things, what to do. Take screen shots and create cheat sheets – the objective isn’t to create amanual.”

Create a pilot team to work with the new system andprocesses; they help sell the rest of the users.

- “We knew we would have resistance. So we took a cross-section of our well-respected inside and outsidesalespeople and had them use the system for a while.Once they got hooked on its value, they helped the rest of the company buy in to the idea.”




- “At the end of the day, if the only answer to why we useCRM is ‘they tell us to,’ then we have failed.”


A key to successful adoption of new technology is to develop newhabits and behavior. A good system will allow the administratorto simplify the screens and menus that the user sees until basichabits are formed.

Most CRM systems will allow functions to be totally hidden fromview. This approach allows a very simple experience at thebeginning so users are comfortable. Following a clearlycommunicated sequence and schedule, users will be notified andtrained periodically before the next level of functions is “turnedon.”

Having accurate, clean data (e.g., contact and company names)in the system before training begins is essential. Good CRMsystems have import utilities, merge and purge functions, andprofessional services support with initial data clean-up andimport.

Simple modifications of the CRM database to include the labels,processes and language that are familiar to the users increasescomfort levels and utilization. The CRM administrator should beable to make these changes without incurring extra outside costs.




3.2 CRM is a Tool, Not aSolution

Executive Summary

In our research, successful companies repeatedly told us that thekey to upgrading the sales effort was to first implement astandard sales process (see section 2.1), and only thenimplement a CRM software tool to facilitate that process. Manyorganizations favored the creation of a task force to create thesales process. The functions and tasks performed as part of theprocess became the criteria used in selecting a software system.This approach to implementing CRM recognizes that the real

objective is to discover the optimum processes to follow in thedaily activities of inside sales, outside sales, and customerservice. The disciplined habits of how to sell, what to sell, whichcustomers to target, and how to communicate internally areidentified first.

Smart companies realize that implementing CRM is mostly aboutgetting sales team members to adopt a disciplined approach toselling, forecasting, and customer service. Once the sales processis defined with specific work flow and expectations for each job

function, the task is to train people on the new process, includingwhat to enter into the CRM software tool and when to enter it.This approach avoids the common failure where users are taughtevery aspect of a software system in one session, and then,overwhelmed, they return to their jobs and implement bits andpieces of the tool depending on what they remember and careabout.

A CRM software system can only be effective if the company thatadopts it has a clear understanding of each step in the salesprocess and a definition of each job function. Defining the

essential processes assures that whatever software system isselected will be strong in the most important areas. A long-termview of where the sales methodology is headed will help in theselection of software that will allow continued enhancement of the sales process. Finally, knowing what users will be doing on adaily basis helps shape the training, including which features toemphasize and which features to avoid.




Smart Practices

The first step to any successful CRM project is the initialneeds assessment based on the standard sales process.

- “This step was important in order to get everyone to seethe need for change. The information from the user surveys and interviews was funneled into the training for the pilot group.”

Any CRM software implementation is doomed from thestart if it is touted as the answer to systemic problems;rather, it should be viewed as a way to better track anddocument a solid process.

-

“If the CRM system is seen as a solution, it will fail. Thesoftware is simply a tool to help us quickly and consistently follow our agreed upon techniques. The development of these techniques is really the ‘solution’ to improving our sales effectiveness.”

Once the pilot succeeds, every salesperson must berequired to use the new CRM system, regardless of howlong they have been employed or how much they sell; it isnot optional.

- “Our challenge was to get the sales guys to use the tool –

so we first focused on the items they cared about most.But eventually, all parts of the process were mandatory.”

- “The initial enthusiasm among some of the users gradually faded as they saw that half of the company wasn’t usingthe system, making the information that was entered incomplete and of little value.”

Top management must also buy into the system from theoutset and utilize it consistently on an ongoing basis.

-

“Where the project fell apart was when top management did not attend training, did not use the system, and provided no support for using the system or consequencesfor not using it. The problem was that management thought buying the software was going to solve everything,as opposed to realizing it was simply a tool.”




Throughout the process, keep in mind that the end goalsare increased sales and higher margin, not more data inthe CRM system; thus, participation needs to bemandatory, but it also must make sense.

- “You have to keep the priority on getting knee to knee and eye to eye with the customer. The quicksand that could mire the CRM system is overkill on data entry – if the IT guy gets involved, you may as well cut off your knees. It’sabout excellence, not perfection.”

Instead of using the software “out of the box,” make sureit is tailored to your sales system, and customize yourtraining materials accordingly.

- “We have a pretty extensive user’s manual of “how we doit” – how to enter a contact or an appointment the way we

want it done, not the generic training materials from thesoftware provider. Our book is a quick reference tool that is right on the desk.”


A proper CRM software system should match the standard salesprocess exactly. It must also include the “common language” of the organization. Each step of the sales process must becompleted before the next step is begun, so certain informationcan be made mandatory before the next work step is accessible

in the system. Pipeline reports should include a velocitycalculator to help determine when and where deals are stalling.Customized fields and drop-down menus can help capture targetaccount information in a fast, consistent method. In short, all of the previous sections of this compendium can be facilitatedthrough the use of a CRM system.

CRM training should be conducted with a fully active database,not a generic training database. Special reports and/or screensthat display how each user is complying with the new process areimportant and should be shown to all users, even if onlymanagement will have access. A comprehensive trainingreference manual showing actual screen shots of proper dataentry is much more effective than generic user guides and onlinetraining modules. Easy to use job aids to reinforce key skills,combined with supervised practice using the actual database, willshorten the learning curve and reduce errors.




3.3 Coach Your Coaches onthe System

Executive Summary

One of the most powerful, yet underutilized ways to enhance aCRM system is to ensure that the sales managers fullyunderstand and are completely comfortable using the new systembefore it is mandated to the rest of the sales team. The salesleaders must be coached to become coaches. Once they becomeCRM advocates, they can help drive user adoption downward.Sales managers need to learn how to ask questions and giveadvice using the new process vocabulary. Using the system

themselves will encourage use by their direct reports. Forexample, managers will love the system if they have screens toshow them at a glance whether a particular salesperson isproperly following the sales process and documenting plans andactivities. The salespeople in turn will quickly learn to use thesystem, knowing that the manager is monitoring it closely.Conversely, they will reflect the content frustration at incompleteor incorrect information impacting their decision making.

Management needs to be involved in more than a cosmeticfashion. A senior member of the sales management team needs

to attend the training, and this same manager should inspect thesales activities for a period of time to make sure theycontinuously are consistent with the new sales skills introducedduring the training. “After implementing the new sales process,you should plan to reinforce the process by coaching managerson how to sustain the new processes in the field. This mayinvolve sales management training and the introduction of automated tools or CRM software, as required. … Finally, youshould measure the impact of the project, using the metricsoriginally identified during the management alignment phase.” 19

A CRM system, properly implemented, can be part of a salesculture that encourages high performance and challenges eachsalesperson. “Top sales professionals aren’t just in sales for themoney. They work in sales because it’s a vehicle to uncover thehidden potential that is inside them as individuals. Good salesleaders are coaches who can help people discover their talents.Great sales leaders know how to coach each individual so thatunique strengths emerge. Outstanding sales leaders go beyond




this and create meaningful experiences that help salesprofessionals connect with their basic goals and needs.” 20

Change management is the hardest part of implementing a CRMsystem. It is never easy to undo old habits and create new ones,but it can be done with appropriate coaching. The best coachingis not just about the system, it is about speeding up the salescycle - which usually motivates everyone.

Smart Practices

Sometimes, good coaching can be nothing more thanrecognizing success by e-mailing good news to allmembers of the sales force.

- “We constantly coach and combine coaching with success

stories. We forward success stories to other salespeopleon the team as motivation and recognition.”

- “I monitor the system first thing every morning. If I see agood success, I let him know right away. This makes himrealize I’m using the system, too.”

- “Reps will do what they think will make them successful.”

Simply making sure to use the information in the systemduring sales calls and meetings quickly reinforces thevalue.

- “We developed coaching tools for the managers – you cansimply download discussion points from the system beforegoing on a joint sales call – our salespeople saw how easy it was to be well prepared”

- “If you don’t push it from above, and get the managerssupporting it, the CRM system won’t work”

- “We have quarterly territory reviews where the sales repwalks top management through his activities and plans,

using the CRM system as a resource. It becomes obviousvery quickly who is and isn’t using it properly, so we givehelp where it is needed”





A good CRM system lets a sales manager view the calendars,history, opportunities, and quotes of each individual salesperson,as well as team level activity by account, territory, region,

product line, and numerous other variables. Having constantly upto date information about what salespeople are working onwithout the need for time-wasting meetings and call reports isone of the biggest benefits of a CRM system.

Opportunity management is a powerful part of any true CRMsystem. Smart sales managers keep an eye on the balance of opportunities at various stages in the sales process. Asalesperson with too few opportunities about to close may behaving problems with qualification or needs analysis. A rep withvirtually no opportunities in the early stages may need help withprospecting or developing target account lists.

Balanced selling also can be monitored by product line or marketsegment. If a company is launching a new product, a flexible CRMsystem allows all planned and completed activities that arerelated to that product to be displayed in a report or dashboard.




Conclusion

This compendium of smart practices will never stop growing, aslong as successful sales and marketing leaders are willing to trynew methods and to share their stories with their peers. We are

constantly impressed with the number of innovative ideas beingdeveloped. We hope that the readers of this document will sendus their new discoveries as they embark on the salesimprovement journey.

The highlights of the research clearly point to proven ways tosucceed in the adoption of CRM systems in the sellingenvironment. The stories of failed implementations can surely betraced to a lack of understanding of a few or all of the coreprinciples outlined in the preceding pages. Smart companies thatare clear about their market direction and focus, that are

intentional about what they expect from the sales force, and thatare deliberate in the step-by-step introduction of technology as asupport tool – these companies can and are clearly using CRM asa strategic advantage.

Commence Corporation is committed to the continuing success of the sales and marketing efforts of our customers. Please feelfree to take advantage of our experience – go towww.commence.com, or speak with one of our experts at 732-380-9100.




Footnotes

1 Caxton Growth Partners, 2006;

Gager, Bill. “How Low Can You Go?” Construction Equipment Distribution. October 2005. Available online at:

www.cedmag.com/article-detail.cfm?id=1136.

2 Eades, Keith M. The New Solution Selling. McGraw-Hill. USA:2004.

3 Berry, Michael J.A. and Linoff, Gordon S. Data Mining

Techniques. Wiley Publishing. USA: 2004.

4 James, 2006.

5 Kahle, “Do you have a selling system?” 2005.

6 “Study reveals 12 steps to improve sales.” Progressive

Distributor . May/June 2005. Page 10.

7 “Study reveals 12 steps to improve sales.” 2005.

8 Besier, Klaus. “Learning from the Supply Chain.”

destinationCRM.com. June 17, 2002. Available online:

www.destinationcrm.com/articles/default.asp?articleid=2280.

9 Eades, 2004.

10 James, 2006.

11 Eades, 2004.

12 Cargill, Gil. “Coaching: The Number One Success Strategy For

Sales Management.” 2005. Available online at:

www.salesleadershipforum.com.

13 Kahle, Dave. “Transforming Your Sales Force.” Progressive

Distributor . ISCON 2005. page 12-14.

14 Emerson, Mike and Marks, Mike. “Case Study: Missing Sales

Management.” Modern Distribution Management . 2004.

Available online at www.mdm.com/stories/marks3505.html .

15 Blades, 2003;



Cargill, “Coaching.” 2005;Cargill, “Six Reasons.” 2005;Eades, 2004;Reilly, Tom. “Help Your Sales Manager To Be A Better Coach.” ValueAddedPartners.org. 2005. Available online at:

www.valueaddedpartners.org/articles/articles.BeABetterCoach.asp.

16 Cargill, Gil. “Compensation Doesn’t Manage… Very Well.” 2005.Available online at: www.salesleadershipforum.com.

17 Eades, 2004.

18 Beasty, Colin. “CRM Initiatives Are Not Meeting Predefined

Goals.” destinationCRM.com. April 14, 2005. Available online

at: www.destinationcrm.com/print/defualt.asp?ArticleID=5020.

Caxton Growth Partners, 2006;D’Antonio, 2003;

Peppers, Don and Rogers, Martha. “The Adoption Problem.”

1to1. March 27, 2003. Available online at: www.1to1.com;

Peppers, Don and Rogers, Martha. “How Do We Overcome

Employee Resistance to Our Customer Initiative?”. 1to1. May

22, 2003. Available online at: www.1to1.com.

Symens, 2003.

19 Eades, 2004.

20 James, 2006.

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