As marketing experts we spend a lot of time working with our partners on the
sales side of the business. We refer to this as "bridging the gap" between
the two critical functions of marketing and sales.
To highlight the current key sales issues, we asked Debbie Depp,
president of The Fenemore Group, to describe the critical factors for
success in sales. The following is an excerpt from an article just published
on the Fenemore Group's website (see link below).
As executives plunged into first quarter, I heard a common concern - anemic
sales execution. For many companies in 2002 there was a performance gap
between plan and actual. And many predict that their first quarter is also
expected to be below target. Sales seems to be having trouble articulating a
differentiated value proposition and can't convert enough opportunities into
revenue. Sure, you can blame it on your salespeople but it's probably not
your salespeople, it's your sales process - or lack of one.
Take the first step
You can start by interviewing your sales reps, reviewing your sales process
and sales tools, and benchmarking successful salespeople to determine what
worked well and why to build on those strengths. Identify areas of potential
improvement and areas of opportunity that can be exploited. Then, answer
three questions:
- Why do we do this?
- Do we need to do it
at all?
- If so, how can we do
it better?
Get focused on the 4 P's
Priorities drive performance. Without the right priorities a company
will quickly lose its direction. Top performers distinguish themselves by
focusing on priorities that exceed corporate goals, while satisfying the
customer. To stay on track corporate priorities need to be constantly and
clearly communicated, so that everyone is driving in the right direction.
Performance drives progress.
Monitoring your organization's improvement over time is the key to
sustaining sales productivity. Measurable performance processes promote the
goals of improved customer satisfaction and referrals, long-term
relationships, and increased repeat business. As a result, cost savings and
increased profitability can be expected.
Progress drives payback.
Every company needs to convert its investment in sales and marketing into
revenue and profits. For instance, a 5% improvement in customer retention
increases revenue by 17%.
Other
forms of payback that may result include a stronger company image, better
morale, faster decision-making, more incremental business from existing
accounts, and lower operating costs.
As you
solve problems and establish new priorities you will continue to create new
opportunities. And so the sales process continues in a closed-loop system -
from the top of the sales funnel to the bottom.
Read more about
building a repeatable sales model...
|
|
Getting Marketing and Sales to Work Together |
 |
|
The closed loop system that Deb refers to encompasses far more than just
the sales process. In our work with Deb, we bring the voice of the sales
organization (and the customer) into the earliest planning stages of
marketing.
In this manner, the needs and pain of the customer are represented
from the very beginning and the marketing strategy is built around a
comprehensive outreach to the "right" prospects.
In doing so, we find that marketing and sales work in concert to
identify, engage and close the best prospects. A simple example
illustrates how this works to the company's benefit.
In conducting customer outreach activities, we have found that
"dumping" large numbers of direct mail or conducting large volumes of
outbound telesales calls will simply swamp the typical sales
organization. They simply don't have the bandwidth to follow up on all
the leads that are generated by this activity.
So they don't follow up on any!
Instead, we plan small bursts of outbound activity, giving the sales
people sufficient time to follow up an giving us the opportunity to
tweak the message or the target before the next burst.
While this may sound simple, we find that most organizations don't
coordinate their marketing and sales activities. When companies do, the
return on investment is significantly higher! |
|
Resources |
|
|
