Introduction
to Sales
While
this sounds pretty basic, in sales it is always very important
to understand the needs, function and attitude of the person
with whom you are hoping to do business. In any organization
there are generally four different personality types, and
depending on which one you are talking to, they are going
to view your proposals differently, because they have different
needs. In our Introduction
to Sales training class, you will meet users, authorizers,
purchasing agents and guardians, and learn how to discuss
your services and products with each one in a way that makes
sense to them. This will save you valuable time, and perhaps
be the difference between earning
a sale or getting a blank stare.
Improving
Selling
Most
organisations have invested heavily in Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) initiatives at some point
in time. Yet, despite the vast amounts invested in CRM, it
has become a discredited term for many because few companies
are achieving a return on the investment (ROI) made in CRM.
The picture is even worse for direct sales teams, with higher
failure rates from CRM initiatives than in any other part
of an organisation. Despite all the experience that has been
gained by organisations many analysts predict that this trend
will continue. So, why do so many CRM implementations fail
to deliver a return on investment? Why are sales force initiatives
even more likely to fail than other front office initiatives?
There
are of course many reasons why CRM initiatives fail to deliver
benefits and ROI to the sales organisation. In this article
I look at the most common barriers to CRM effectiveness in
sales teams.
1.
The Nature of Selling Technology
Most
sales applications date back to a time when sales professionals
were equipped with diaries and filofaxes. The early sales
force automation software applications merely automated many
of the functions contained within a filofax, such as a diary
for appointments, contact information, activities (to do list),
products, pricing and rudimentary pipeline information for
leads and opportunities. Despite the advances made in other
areas of CRM applications, the functionality for sales
professionals has changed little over the years. These
systems often add little value to what sales professionals
do and the time spent updating information in them is often
disproportionate to the benefit derived. It is common therefore
for usage of these systems to trail off markedly not long
after an implementation has gone live. Consequently many implementations
of sales force technology are seen to fail.
Today's
tougher business environment means increased global competition,
eroded margins, heightened customer expectations and reducing
customer satisfaction. Thus, a greater level of sales effort
is required to continue to deliver shareholder value.
The
challenges of managing
sales are often complex and include specific processes,
key milestones and a series of tasks requiring completion
at each stage. However, sales professionals are not supported
in terms of managing either complex sales or many sales simultaneously.
These professionals need tools that define the selling process
and help the sales person know, at any point, where they are
within the sales process and what needs to be done next. The
application needs the flexibility to define a sales process
for different market segments, geographies, accounts, products
and industry verticals if required. Once sales professionals
are given a sales application that supports what they do they
will see the benefits of fully embracing the technology and
the organisation will derive benefit from the investment.
2.
Evolving Sales Teams
Sales
teams are dynamic and constantly evolving to reflect changes
in markets, competition and customer needs.
Most
organisations have evolved from a straight buyer/seller relationship
through a co-operative account management focus to a collaborative,
crossfunctional account team. In essence, sales professionals
move from ‘rep’ to ‘consultant’.
The
challenge is not only to manage an evolutionary approach to
the sales organisation, but also to be able to support different
stages and processes for various geographies, customer segments,
product groups and accounts where required. To maximise selling
effectiveness across these groupings requires an innovation
in process design and a highly flexible technology approach
that does not impose constraints on the organisation.
3.
What Customers Want
Research
carried out for the Centre of Information Based Competition
in 2003 suggested the following:
Up
to 70% of a customer’s decision to buy is based on how
they are treated
Only
30% is based on product attributes (price, features etc)
Yet despite this:
More than 80% of CRM investment focuses on matching products
to customers – i.e. targeting, cross-selling, up-selling
etc.
Few if any focus on treating customers better – i.e.
the customer experience Not surprisingly, the research concludes
that customers don’t want relationships, they want to
be treated like human beings – they want to be professionally
sold to.
One
key to professional
selling and building loyalty is brand strategy and the
customer experience. The brand is the sum of a customer’s
experience with a company and it encompasses the entire range
of an organisation’s products, services, behaviours,
distribution channels, technologies and processes. For example,
a company that prides itself on its quality products and superior
customer service, yet makes customers wade through complex
options when ordering, is damaging its brand with a poorly
designed customer experience. In truth, strategic goals rarely
drive CRM initiatives, most are characterised by an ad hoc,
tactical approach, lacking an overall strategy and few if
any are tied to the company’s customer, channel and
brand strategies.
4.
Back Office / Front Office
Many
organisations and even some professional services providers
fail to recognise the major differences between back office
and front office when implementing change initiatives –
where back office is defined as; accounting, procurement,
production, distribution and the legacy environment and front
office as; sales, call-centre, customer service and marketing
(the CRM environment).
One
of the reasons why so many CRM initiatives fail in the front
office is that organisations adopt the same approach to process
design, programme management, system selection and system
implementation as they have adopted in delivering back office
systems. This means that often IT departments lead projects
of this nature or system integrators are used to assist with
the process. The result is that back office approaches are
used when delivering CRM change initiatives in the front office
– when the requirements of the front office are fundamentally
different.
The
back office functions are procedurally driven and are characterised
by the need for operational efficiency and a high degree of
conformance. The environment is stable, with changes to procedures
happening within lengthy timescales.
The
front office by contrast is the direct interface with the
customer, it is event driven and is characterised by a need
for flexibility and innovation. The environment is dynamic
and it is where an organisation can create differentiation
and competitive advantage. The rate of change is high in responsive
organisations with requirements changing in months rather
than years, in order to respond to changes in markets, competitors,
products and customers.
For
these reasons, CRM initiatives need a rapid implementation
approach with a highly flexible toolset that recognises the
dynamic nature of the environment. Unfortunately, many of
the well established front office software applications have
been developed either from existing back office ERP systems
or have grown from sales force automation tools into complex
applications. The result is that these systems are characterised
by lengthy implementation timescales and integration with
the legacy environment adds greatly to cost and timescales.
The end result is effectively a front office legacy system,
that lacks the flexibility required for a dynamic environment,
and because of the lengthy implementation timescales, no longer
meets the needs of the business.
5.
Changing CRM Technology
Consider
for a moment that the front office is the key area for an
organisation to create competitive advantage in order to increase
shareholder value. Yet, many organisations have invested in
mainstream CRM technology for the front office that restricts
their ability to innovate and differentiate the customer experience.
Why?
Complex CRM applications are inflexible and they impose constraints
on the flexibility to innovate. Furthermore, by using similar
CRM applications to major competitors, sharing similar screens
and fields, the question has to be asked - “where is
the competitive advantage to be gained from?”
Organisations
need to constantly innovate in order to create competitive
advantage. Nowhere is this needed more than in sales, where
successful selling professionals can become an organisation
most valuable asset. It is only by defining winning strategies
that the real benefits of innovation will be realised.
CRM
systems must not be allowed to impose artificial constraints
on the creativity of the front office organisation. The choice
facing businesses is between complex CRM applications that
allude to cover all the front office functions, often favoured
by those in IT, or between applications that provide flexibility
and depth within key front office functions such as sales.
There are a number of tools that cover individual front office
functions, or that may in some cases sit over established
front office applications to provide further functionality.
Conclusions
- Using technology to produce better results
Organisations
need to change the way they operate in order to increase their
selling effectiveness. These changes can be made through the
innovative use of the latest CRM technologies but only if
the common pitfalls are avoided. If they are to achieve a
successful return on their investment in CRM organisations
must:
Define successful sales strategies
Give
customers a great experience
Develop
innovative sales processes that close more business
Use
best practice selling methodologies to support the quality
of the sales process
Coach,
mentor and motivate individuals to achieve peak performance
Implement
innovative software solutions for the sales force that support
the selling process, methodology and that add value to sales
people
Tony
Welch
"Make Your Mark in Sales"
Assertiveness
in Sales - Suggested Reading
The "OH Norman" Diary: The Moment
of Truth - Selling to Your Customer's Needs
by Uly Meixner, Erich Mock
Sharpen Your Team's Skills in Effective Selling
(Sharpen Your Team's Skills Series)
by Trevor J. Bentley
Sales Effectiveness Training: The Breakthrough
Method to Become Partners With Your Customers
by Carl D. Zaiss, Thomas Gordon
Secrets of High Ticket Selling (Psi Successful
Business Library)
by Hal Slater
Secrets of Great Sales Management, The: Advanced
Strategies for Maximizing Performance
by Robert A. Simpkins
Tough Calls: Selling Strategies to Win over
Your Most Difficult Customers
by Josh Gordon
Breaking the Sales Barrier: How to Develop Million
Dollar Producers
by Randy Schwantz, Brian Jenkins
Sales Training Handbook: A Guide to Developing
Sale Performance
by Robert Craig, Leslie Kelly
Brain Sell: Harnessing the Selling Power of
Your Whole Brain
by Tony Buzan, Richard Israel
Selling Automobiles: A Complete Training Manual
for Automobile Salespersons
by J. Akm Alam
High-Performance Sales Training: 64 Interactive
Projects
by Lee Boyan, Rosalind Enright
How to Succeed As a Real Estate Salesperson:
A Comprehensive Training Guide
by Lowell R. Hodgkins
Creating In-House Sales Training and Development
Programs : A Competency-Based Approach to Building Sales Ability
by William J. Rothwell
Why Customers Don't Do What You Want Them to
Do and What to Do About It
by Ferdinand F. Fournies
Secrets of question based selling: How the most
powerful tool in business can double your sales results
by Thomas A Freese, Thomas A. Freese |
