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« Got a Technical Team? Here’s a Great Way to Help Them Sell | Main | How to Make Salespeople 25% More Productive in 90 Days or Less »

February 17, 2009

How to Design Your Sales Process to Help Customers Buy Now

Everyone’s attention these days seems to be riveted on sales.

And rightly so, given the economy. Recently I received inquiries from several people working with a large organization that is very concerned about its sales process. Seems the CEO is having difficulty telling Wall Street where next quarter’s revenues will be.

No surprise there! The economic crisis affects large and small companies: everyone needs to know where next month’s revenue will come from.

Forecasting sales has always been difficult, but, in a threatening market like this, the problem is compounded by the need to get enough people to buy in the first place!  This is a scary challenge, especially with the state of the sales process in most organizations. Ask yourself:

  • How much thought went into the design of your company’s sales process?
  • Was your sales process designed for the kind of market we have today?
  • Does anyone really care how a salesperson got the business, so long as they actually get it?

If you are like most companies, the answers to those questions are:

  • “It wasn’t ‘designed’; someone just sort of did what seemed to work at the time”
  • “No”
  • “Nope!”

So, with the sales process so much in the spotlight, what are you supposed to do? How can you figure out what changes will have the right effects? How can you get everyone to realize that improving the sales process is the solution?

On Thursday of this week, Robert Ferguson and I will present the first of two initial webinars around design principles and tips you need to make your sales flow like water - and get results fast. Part one is this Thursday, February 19:

“How to Design a Sales Process

For Customer Value and Continuous Improvement"

Guidebook Launch Webinar
Thursday February 19, 2009, 3:00pm Eastern Time
http://www.salesperformance.com/member-services/feb-19-webinar

Visit that page now, and register for this unusual and timely event.

Part two will be next Thursday, February 26. More on that event soon.

Michael J Webb
February 17, 2009

February 17, 2009 in sales process improvement |

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Comments

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  • Frank Wiley, President - Magnitude Marketing, LLC
    "Webb's breakthrough ideas show how marketing, selling, and servicing functions can be approached as a process - with input and outputs, causes and effects. I highly recommend this book to all senior executives - whether they are aiming for better forecasting, better market share, higher margins, or reduced cost of sales. It will completely change the way you view sales and marketing, and help you get a handle on sales process improvement."
  • Bill Bentley, President - Value-Train
    "Hats off to Mike Webb for tackling this challenging subject. Improving sales and marketing is like training your cat to come when you call it. It's an interesting thing to think about but full of pitfalls to the uninitiated. Mike however is very initiated and this book does a good job of showing you how quantitative methods can apply to a traditionally hard to manage business. It's not that sales forces don't have metrics. You could argue that they have the ultimate metric. Did we make the sale? Like your cat, these groups seem to have a mind of their own and the cause and effect of the activities that go into making the sale aren't usually methodically examined and improved. Mike shows you how to do that with style."
  • Jeff Kostermans President & CEO, LeadGenesys
    "Think about it... marketing and sales can easily represent nearly half of your company’s annual expenses. This expense is far from being optimized when 9 out 10 leads are typically discarded early in the sales cycle. Companies that do not apply a systematic and truly accountable approach to blending marketing and sales will undoubtedly struggle to survive in this increasingly competitive business climate. This book concisely applies practical Six Sigma methods to help companies boost customer value and realize greater ROI out of their marketing and sales investment. If you know there’s room for improvement between your marketing and sales teams, I highly recommend you leverage this book as a key competitive advantage."
  • Dan Kosch and Mark Shonka, Co-Presidents of IMPAX Corporation
    “This book is essential reading for anyone in sales and marketing. Mike Webb’s unique perspective is captured in this excellent roadmap on how to organize, measure, and lead both marketers and sellers to greater success."
  • Ray McKinney, Director of Development - Matrix Technologies
    “Michael Webb has once again demonstrated his clear and systematic thinking about delivering value to customers in this must read book, ‘Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way.' In this book, Mike provides tools to help measure your sales processes in terms important to your customers. Then, you can continuously improve your processes of Finding, Winning and Keeping Customers.”
  • Aaron Ross, Director, Corporate Development, Salesforce.com
    "Sales and marketing organizations have historically been slow in adopting the benefits of Six Sigma for a variety of reasons, especially because of the effort required to "translate" the ideas, tools and case studies in ways that make clearly sense to their world. Michael Webb has created a book for them that finally makes it easier to understand both what the benefits are, and how to achieve them. Thank you Michael!"
  • Perry Marshall, Principal - Perry Marshall and Associates
    "Michael Webb has a very incisive, clear-headed approach to untangling complex sales problems. 'Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way' breaks the sales funnel into its component parts and systematically identifies bottlenecks and disconnects that waste your time and resources. Selling might have been done by the seat-of-the-pants in the 20th century, but that isn't going to work now. Those who miss this shift will find themselves further and further behind quotas and locked in a corporate pressure cooker. But those who recognize and act will discover that the current business climate can be enormously rewarding and profitable. This book is not a sales rah-rah session. It takes enormously successful methods from manufacturing and applies them to the toughest job in your company - getting orders from customers. I wholeheartedly recommend Michael and his innovative methods."
  • Willis Turner, CAE, CSE - President/CEO, Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI)
    "Michael Webb brings true understanding to sales and marketing through process thinking. If you want a harmonious relationship between sales, marketing and customer service that will drive customer value, you need to read this book!"
  • Sheila Mello, Author, "Customer-Centric Product Definition"
    "If you don't know what you have done to succeed or what has caused you to fail, you are leaving your destiny to chance. In our experience, when you understand and remove obstacles to your customers achieving their objectives, you create customer value by helping them succeed. In addition, putting your own processes under the microscope can reveal the what's inhibiting you from achieving your sales goals. Michael Webb's straightforward approach to sales and marketing using the popular Six Sigma method is presented with a sense of humor and lots of examples. Well worth your time!"
  • Kamal Hassan, Global VP of Business Development, BMG
    “If more books on the subject were as concise and fun to read as 'Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way,' the business world would be a better place. The book will provide sales and marketing executives with money-making tools they can use daily.”
  • Jack Snader, President Systema Corporation
    "Applying Six Sigma to Sales and Marketing?? Initially I was skeptical, but after reading this book, I'm a believer. Applying these principles correctly will help sales managers solve many of the challenges they face every day in their quest to improve sales performance.”
  • Paul Greenberg, Author, CRM at the Speed of Light
    "It isn't often that I can recommend a Six Sigma book because reducing defects tends to be product focused and internally oriented. This book is not only different but better than any other Six Sigma book I've ever seen because it actually shows how to use it to increase the value of your relationships and experiences with your customers. This is the way Six Sigma should be done."
  • Gregory T. Deininger, V.P. National Accounts, Marriott
    "The name of the game is not to design the sales process around ourselves, but to create customer value. 'Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way' is relevant to all executives who are looking to deliver maximum results internally and externally.”
  • John Biedry, Senior Vice President Continuous Improvement, ServiceMaster
    “Sales and marketing are new frontiers for Six Sigma and Michael’s book provides practical insights for any organization that is considering how to connect their continuous improvement efforts with top line growth and customer satisfaction."
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