In short, if you haven’t already you should do this from the perspective of enhancing your team’s sales effectiveness but also from the perspective of if you have an aspiration to raise funds or sell your business.
I’m writing this as I travel to the first of three sales director forums on consecutive days in Leeds, Birmingham, and London where I have been asked to speak on this subject. I could give you any number of reasons but I think this comment from one of our clients answers the question well and highlights the importance of taking this step:
“Our partnership with SBR has helped us to clearly define how we win work. Now all our team recognise how they can maximise the value that our clients gain from the full range of our capabilities. Beyond the internal benefits to the team, we have also seen the value of a clearly defined approach in conversations with our investors.” Chief Commercial Officer
Let’s look firstly at the impact on sales effectiveness:
– According to a study conducted by Vantage Point Performance and the Sales Management Association, B2B companies that defined a formal sales process experienced 18% more revenue growth compared to companies that didn’t.
CSO insights add to that by highlighting how companies with a defined sales process have:
– Higher numbers of reps making quota
– Higher percentages of company target attainments
– Higher percentage of forecasted sales reached
– Lower sales turnover
– More meaningful relationships with their clients
– Far better chance of becoming trusted partners
From the perspective of raising funds or selling the business the reality that we often hear from our partners in the investment space is that its hard to convince someone to buy an organisation where the approach to winning business sits in the heads of key people that are likely to leave or seems to be based entirely on a “hope” strategy eg business will keep coming to us because….. the market is growing or because…. we have the best product, etc, etc.
Would you invest in a business that couldn’t prove that it has a clear handle on how it can effectively and efficiently generate, convert, and maximise the value of a lead?
One of our consulting team recently blogged on this topic. I wanted to add to it because of how fundamental we see that it is to ensure that the activities that Tim describes are:
a) Conducted with the input and involvement of a cross-functional team – teams win deals, marketing, operations, finance and beyond are all key in successfully winning, retaining and growing accounts. Make sure to get their perspective.
b) C-Level sponsorship – mapping the process should lead to an evolution of a wider business process, tools, technology (e.g. CRM), and beyond. Will this really happen in your organisation without C-Level engagement?
c) Focused on hearts and minds – at all stages make sure that you are selling the value to the individual of change. What will adhering to a consistent process mean for them as individuals? We always have to bait the hook to catch the fish!
Alan Morton, Managing Director
Read more, related SBR Service: Creation of Sales Tools
Contact Alan on amorton@sbrconsulting.com if you’d like to know more about codifying an effective sales process. All call us on +44 (0) 207 653 3740
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