the death of field sales

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The death of Field SalesA 12-step program to kick the field sales addiction


Hyperbole alert!

The message is NOT that we should eliminate field salespeople

The message is that we should view sales as

essentially an inside function


Old paradigm

Sales is an outside function

New paradigm

Sales is an inside function

New rules

1

2

3

4

Centralize everything you can

Commit to the web as your primary source of sales opportunities

Add outside salespeople only as a last resort

Eliminate commissions and all performance pay


Then

Historically, sales was done outside because clients were … outside


Now

Today, your clients are essentially insidethey no longer need a salesperson to

ferry data back and forth

The costs: outside salespeole in an inside world

Higher labor cost1

Less Activity2

Poor integration3

Selective engagement4


When is outside sales required?

New Client?

New service line?

High-risk purchase (lots of intangibles)?

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Weak case for outside salespeople

Strong case for outside salespeople

No

No

Sales Opportunity


What about relationships?

It’s a myth that sales is all about relationships

Clients will invest in a relationship only when:

They don’t pay a premium

They don’t suffer any inconvenience

1

2

Clients don’t want relationships (with salespeople): they want products and services, delivered fast, at competitive prices.


The inside-out sales function

Customer Service

Promotions

Inside Sales

Sales Coordinator

Field Salesperson

Field Sales

Sales Opportunities

Accounts

Transactions

Customer Outcomes

Accounts

The Market

Transactions



Customer Service

Promotions

Inside Sales

Sales Coordinator

Field Salesperson

Field Sales

Sales Opportunities

Accounts

Transactions

Customer Outcomes

Accounts

The Market

Transactions

Everything starts with customer service

Order entry, issue and job management, quote generation



Customer Service

Promotions

Inside Sales

Sales Coordinator

Field Salesperson

Field Sales

Sales Opportunities

Accounts

Transactions

Customer Outcomes

Accounts

The Market

Transactions

Inside sales is your primary sales front-line

Outbound sales, semi-technical inbound sales (phone work only)

Sales Opportunities



Customer Service

Promotions

Inside Sales

Sales Coordinator

Field Salesperson

Field Sales

Sales Opportunities

Accounts

Transactions

Customer Outcomes

Accounts

The Market

Transactions

Promotions generates outbound sales activity

Generates outbound opportunities from accounts and market



Customer Service

Promotions

Inside Sales

Sales Coordinator

Field Salesperson

Field Sales

Sales Opportunities

Accounts

Transactions

Customer Outcomes

Accounts

The Market

Transactions

Field sales prosecutes complex opportunities

Complexity can be technical, commercial or both

Sales Opportunities



Customer Service

Promotions

Inside Sales

Sales Coordinator

Field Salesperson

Field Sales

Sales Opportunities

Accounts

Transactions

Customer Outcomes

Accounts

The Market

Transactions


Making it work

The challenge: division of labor

Clients expect one conversation


Daily, 10 min, stand-up WIP meetings synchronize the rest of the organization

Making it work

The challenge: division of labor

Sales Coordinator

The Sales Coordinator owns and manages complex opportunities


Performance pay also inhibits team work: (piece-rate pay was eliminated 50+ years ago)

Making it work

Eliminating performance pay

Dan Pink shows that performance pay inhibits knowledge work


Customize the inside-out model

Design the resourcing model


Customize the inside-out model

Map critical workflows


Up next …

Kicking the field-sales addiction: a 12-stepprogram

40-min Best Practice Briefing

Read chapters 1 through 5 of The Machine

Review day-in-the-life of key stakeholders

Discuss current sales structure and resourcing model

Identify easy wins to improve sales

Explore longer-term approach to improvement

1

2

3

4

5

Review (and improve) the performance of your sales function


12-step program

Customer service: the foundations

Create a customer-service team

Route all repeat orders and issues to customer service(make it mandatory)

Route all inbound calls to customer service team

Build a register of all customer-service jobs – review daily as team

1

2

3

4

Customer Service

Customer Outcomes

Transactions


12-step program

Inside sales: the transaction flow

Find (or recruit) two or more inside salespeople

Convert inside salespeople into customers’ primary point of contact

Centralize the management of ALL salesopportunities (use a CRM)

Allocate only discrete tasks to field reps – only those that cannot be performed internally

Build a register of all opportunities – review daily as team

5

6

7

8

9

Inside Sales

TransactionsSales

Opportunities


12-step program

Field personnel: the growth

Retain only those field personnel who you can easily maintain at 100% utilization

If possible, keep sales activity inside and perform only technical tasks in the field

If it’s necessary to sell in the field, provide your few remaining field salespeople with executive assistants (who manage their calendars – as well as the majoropportunities in which they are engaged)

10

11

12

Sales Coordinator

Field Salesperson

Field Sales

AccountsSales

Opportunities


Questions

Customer Service

Promotions

Inside Sales

Sales Coordinator

Field Salesperson

Field Sales

Sales Opportunities

Accounts

Transactions

Customer Outcomes

Accounts

The Market

Transactions

the death of field sales

Business

sales functionfield

sales functioninside

primary sales

sales functionpromotions

sales functioneverything

step programinside sales

current sales structure

inside functionnew rules1