Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Thu, Sep 02, 2010
Effective, successful new product launches have become more important than ever, but are one of the highest risk business investments. You can, however, increase your chances of success with these new product launch best practices.
Make sure everyone is on the same page - before you launch. Successful new product launches require that the sales organization, marketing and customer service are well aligned and work together to create more opportunities and win customers. If everyone is working together, your company will gain new customers more effectively and improve lead generation, prospecting, and conversion rates.- Establish a cross-functional launch team with dedicated leadership. A major product launch isn't a part-time job. Successful new product launches usually are managed by teams solely responsible for building the market for the new product or service. These launch teams should also reach broadly across functions: public relations, marketing, product management, sales, project management, customer service/support and other core function involved in bring the new product to the market.
- Leverage past successes. Build on proven processes and systems to manage the new product launch. Look for a team leader and for team members who have successfully launched new products in the past. If your company has experience gaps, hire or contract with people who have a proven track record.
- Formalize the launch plan. Ensure there is a detailed, formal launch plan that includes: sales objectives, sales channel strategy, promotional plan, contingency plans, and schedule with key milestones. Plus, make sure the entire executive team is on board with the plan before the launch starts.
- Expand your organization with consultants. Bring in consultants to staff up in areas where you have talent and/or experience gaps. After the launch is well underway, you can easily downsize without disrupting your organization.
- Launch aggressively and pre-empt the competition. Most new products need to be quickly established in the marketplace before the competition can respond with an imitation. So make sure that when you launch, you are ready to take a dominant position. Many new product launches fail because there was a lack of time for pre-launch planning or inadequate resources to properly introduce the product and pre-empt the competition.
- Track progress. Establish a process to track, monitor and review launch progress against financial and schedule goals throughout the entire process. Make sure that the oversight process is rigorous, regular and required.
Need help with your new product rollout? Our team can help.
Photo credit: jurvetson
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Wed, Aug 25, 2010
For the past couple of years every major sales force automation (SFA) company has been talking about how vital Sales Force Automation 2.0 (SFA 2.0) technology is. Combining the wireless Web with social technologies brings sales, marketing and consumers closer together, but does it solve the basic issues facing your sales team?
Vendors promise that SFA 2.0 will solve almost every issue a company has from pipeline management practices to building customer relationship that will hold up in today’s brutally completive marketplace. But SFA 2.0 is just another tool and it is useless unless it is part of an overall sales strategy. Investing in these solutions without have a plan, is a bit like buying the most expensive power tools and hiring an expensive construction crew to build a house without first investing in a set of blueprints.
Why do most SFA investments fail to pay off?
Most companies do not have a clearly articulated sales strategy. They do not have processes that help their sales reps find the most effective way to sell. If they haven’t done this vital planning, even an investment in the best new technology invariably results in costly SFA implementations that do not have the expected ROI.
How can you avoid this trap?
First and foremost, make sure that your management team has defined the overarching sales strategy and put in place processes that will enable your sales team to find the most effective sales message. Then make sure that your organization has put in place these five elements of effective sales process management.
- Formalize the lead qualification process so that your reps can focus on the later part of the buying process.
- Develop sales messages tailored for different market segments.
- Design a flexible organization with the ability to ramp up or down rapidly based on changing market conditions.
- Test, measure, track and optimize results.
- Leverage market intelligence from other business sectors.
For most large companies, this is all achievable because the organization has the staff and resources to rapidly accomplish this. For a mid-sized company, putting these elements in place often stretches the sales management team too far and distracts from ongoing sales efforts. The most successful path for a mid-sized company is to hire an outsourced sales force and strategy organization to aggressively fill these gaps.
Has your company used an outsourced sales force or sales strategy partner to accelerate your sales efforts?
Photo credit: CP
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Mon, Aug 23, 2010
Yesterday, I had lunch with a business associate. He is a very successful Korean businessman who owns a couple of high tech manufacturing firms. He was in the U.S. to unwind a failed joint venture (JV) with an American company and wanted to ask my advice. The story was a simple tale that I had heard too many times before.
A business can enter the U.S. in a number of ways
Licensing, joint ventures, acquisitions, working through existing distribution networks, establishing a U.S. subsidiary or even direct to consumer via the internet. Sometimes companies combine these approaches to enter the U.S. market. But no matter what path a company takes, the decision the CEO and his team make about how to enter the U.S. can be the difference between a success and failure.
Back to my business associate
For many years his only efforts in the U.S. were to provide private label merchandise to a few very large U.S. retailers. The U.S. private label efforts focused on a small portion of his company’s product lines – inexpensive accessories. These private label initiatives were not as profitable as most of the other parts of his business.
This CEO recognized that the U.S. market was the largest and most profitable market in the world for his company’s products. He knew that it was time to fully enter the U.S. market. After considering many options, the CEO decided to establish a joint venture with a U.S. based company who was in a similar, but non-competitive business.
Even before the ink on the JV agreement was dry, issues started to arise. His U.S. partner had access to the right distribution channels but did not have the financial or technical capabilities to really support the market entry. Over time, the issues did not go away and the Korean company’s U.S. entry had stalled. My associate was in the U.S. to terminate this JV agreement but did not want to give up on the U.S. market. He wanted my advice on the best next step.
In listening to this story, I realized that the CEO had not considered entering the U.S. market with an outsourced sales team. His company had the financial resources and technical support team needed to support a U.S. entry. All he really needed was cost-effective access to U.S. distribution channels and a U.S. sales force. The cost to enter the U.S. market would still be low, and the company would control pricing and the arrangement should net a higher profit then other business arrangements. Plus, if properly structured, his company could avoid U.S. income taxes. The biggest trade off is the company would also have to assume more financial risk.
Entering the U.S. market with an Outsourced Sales Team is not always the best course, but it certainly should be on every CEO’s list of options.
Contact us for more information on sales outsourcing options for your business.
Photo credit: murphydean
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Mon, Aug 02, 2010
Sales outsourcing is commonplace - over 90% of businesses report using vendors for at least some of their Sales functions. Small and mid-sized businesses use outsourced sales teams to enable them to compete with large companies. Companies outsource sales functions to reduce costs without reducing revenue or negatively affecting their sales pipelines. Many companies use outsourced sales teams to accelerate the pace of new market entries. Some companies use sales outsourcing to expand their capabilities and credibility in specialty markets.
Even though almost all companies use sales outsourcing, the strategic use of sales outsourcing to accelerate sales is rare. I recently spoke with a few sales innovators to see how they were using sales outsourcing as a rapid sales growth driver. All of these business leaders had achieved sales increases - even in this tough economy.
New Territory
A CEO of a large manufacturing firm told me he accelerated his company's market entrance into new territories by partnering with a sales outsourcing company who had existing relationships and market presence in places where his company did not have sales reps but had untapped market share. A market entry that would have taken them a year to accomplish was completed in less than half that time by leveraging the resources of their sales partner.
New Product Introduction
The VP of Sales for a technology company said that one of the main reasons he adopted sales outsourcing is that it is the most cost-effective way he can launch new products that fall outside of his company's current product set. He keeps his in-house staff focused on existing markets and developing current clients. He then expands the company's new product marketing efforts by contracting with a sales outsourcing company that has a proven track record in selling similar technology. By doing this he has been able to move rapidly and beat his competitors by being first to market.
Digging Deeper
The head of Sales and Marketing for a business services firm actually lets an outsourced sales team compete with her in-house sales force. She says that the competition has kept everyone motivated to sell more and dig a bit deeper. Because of leveraged compensation plans, her sales reps were motivated to produce results where they can get them quickly and easily. They went after the low-hanging fruit, leaving much of the available market for the competition. Adding additional outsourced sales resources has enabled her company to gain additional market coverage, at a lower cost, and got her internal sales team to look at prospects more carefully before passing on them.
Running with the Big Dogs
My final conversation was with the CEO and owner of a mid-sized company who needed to do a better job competing with much larger companies. He also needed to reduce costs and reduce the company’s sales and marketing investment risk. After careful evaluation, he and his executive team decided to outsource the company's entire Business Development effort. Using a shared sales force allowed the company to dramatically expand their sale force reach while passing on some of their inherent risk to their service providers
Four different companies, all who had achieved sales increases in the past year. Four different companies who adopted innovative ways to integrate sales outsourcing into their growth strategy.
What's your growth strategy? We can help you with sales outsourcing.
Photo credit: Knokton.
Posted by Chris Foran on Wed, Jul 28, 2010
Research shows organizations that spend more time recruiting high-caliber people earn 22% higher return to shareholders than their peers. Ponder for a moment the last sales person that you hired. After you selected them, did they work out as intended or did they turn into somebody totally unlike what you thought when you interviewed them? The most important aspect of any business is recruiting and retaining top sales people.
Hiring is both art and science. Refusing to improve this vital process will almost always guarantee you will be spending money and time hiring the wrong people. Here are several reasons why traditional techniques are inadequate:
- The majority of applicants exaggerate to get a job
- Most hiring decisions are made by intuition in the first few minutes of the interview
- 2 out of 3 sales hires prove to be a bad fit within the first year
- Most interviewers are not properly trained nor do they like to interview applicants
5 P's to Help You Improve Sales Team Hiring
- Prepare - Prior to the interview make sure you understand the key elements of the job. Develop a simple outline that covers the job duties. Screen resumes to gain information for the interview. Standardize and prepare the questions you will ask each applicant.
- Purpose - Talented sales people have more choices and job opportunities to choose from. The interviewer forms the applicant's first impression of the company. Not only are you trying to determine the best applicant, but you also have to convince the applicant this is the best place for them to work.
- Performance - Identify the knowledge, attributes, and sales skills the applicant needs for success. If the job requires special education be sure to include it on your list. Identify the top seven attributes or competencies that the job requires and structure the interview accordingly.
- People Skills - The hardest to determine, as well as the most important part of the process, is identifying the people skills a person bring to the job. Each applicant wears a "mask." A good interviewing and selecting process discovers who is behind that mask and determines if a match exists between the individual and the job. By understanding the applicant's personality style, values, and motivations, you are guaranteed to improve your hiring and selecting process.
- Process - The best interview follows a structured process. This doesn't mean the entire process is inflexible without spontaneity. What it means is, each applicant is asked the same questions and is scored with a consistent rating process. A structured approach helps avoid bias and gives all applicants a fair chance.
Hiring and retaining a great sales team isn't easy. We can help you with this all-important process.
Photo credit: I Don't Know, Maybe
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Mon, Jul 26, 2010
I was in Las Vegas last week and one of the first things I thought about was "How can I improve my odds through sales planning and lead management?"
OK, I can read your mind, sales planning and lead management is boring. I would never think about that in Vegas. Anyway, we have vendors that care of lead management. They have it under control. As for sales planning, that's just a normal part of our sales process. Well my bet is that your company has a patchwork quilt of lead sources and no one is managing them. And the odds are in my favor!
Several recent studies found that about 75% of companies do not have an effective process for managing, dispersing and tracking leads. And over 90% of companies do not integrate lead management into their sales planning process. Yes, I can see you nodding off. But hang on for just a minute. There is a payoff!
Most companies outsource lead generation and let their lead management efforts operate on autopilot. There is rarely any effort to make sure that the vendors know about changes in the marketing program, new product development plans or changes in sales strategy. Once leads are received, there is rarely an effective process for managing, dispersing and tracking leads. And it is almost impossible to find any companies that effectively plan the lead generation program as part of the sales planning process.
Every now and then a "sure bet" really does comes along. In this case our sure bet is a sales strategy that incorporates all aspects of the sales and marketing process into a coherent plan.
- Aligning sales with lead generation. The first step in that process is to take at look at your lead generation efforts and integrate them into your sales planning. Are you getting leads and new customers from emerging markets? Are there underserved markets with weak competition that offer you new growth opportunities? Then look at your capabilities. Is your sales team able to keep up with the marketplace? If not, what can you do to make sure that you can expand capabilities rapidly?
- Accelerating the sales process. The competitive gap in sales planning and lead management provides a great opportunity to the few companies who rethink their lead generation programs. This gap has also given rise to a new generation of Integrated Sales Management outsourcing firms – agile, sophisticated companies that have moved beyond generating qualified lead lists to offering a full range of integrated sales planning, lead management and strategic marketing services. Companies who have invested in the latest sales automation technology. Companies who can efficiently manage turnkey new client acquisition programs that really reduce the cost to acquire a new customer. Bringing in this kind of capability can rapidly improve sales and allow you to exploit new markets quickly.
Look at your current lead management capabilities. Think about integrating them with external teams that incorporate planning, management and lead generation. Sales outsourcing provides a low-risk, high reward way to improve your odds of achieving success. But don't miss this opportunity. You can bet that an opportunity like this won't happen very often.
Photo credit: Roadsidepictures
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Mon, Jul 19, 2010
Earlier today I came across an article that explained that the "cold call" was dead. The author claimed that in a world with LinkedIn, Twitter and other Social Media, a direct phone call to an unconnected person was wasted effort. At first I was nodding in agreement, but then I thought about it. Did this really make sense? Was a "cold call" in the pure sense ever an effective sales strategy?
Online networking is a great tool for creating and building business relationships. But it cannot replace the power and efficiency of a phone call or a personal sales call. Plus, combining social networking and a well-placed phone call can result in an unbeatable combination.
Combining networking with a personal phone call is a very powerful sales strategy
- One phone call can replace hours of online effort trying to connect with a prospect.
- One well-placed phone call can quickly provide you with the names of the key decision-makers.
- A phone call can be the best way to identify real sales barriers and objections that can easily be hidden in a virtual relationship.
A real one-two sales punch comes from combining the power of the internet to extend your reach and provide information with the immediacy and personal connection only possible in a real world contact. Long before the internet was created, top sales people knew how to make a cold call seem like something else – they knew how to work the phones to make a cold call into a referral. A pro would call someone in the company and ask for the name of the key decision-maker. Then they would use that person’s name in the next call so that now it was a referral. They used contacts in one part of a company to introduce them to other key prospects. They knew how to prepare an introductory sales letter that promised they would call in the near future then called as promised. To a pro, there was no such thing as a "cold call".
It is no different in today's ultra-connected digital world. The sales letter may have morphed into an email or other digital communication. And it is easier and faster to get recommendations and referrals online. But at some point, the best sales tool is still a personal call.
New technology and new communications methods provide new sales tools but can't change what makes a great sales effort effective – planning, persistence and a personal connection.
How do your reach out to your sales leads and customers?
Photo credit: vasta
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Wed, Jul 14, 2010
One of your greatest assets is qualified sales leads, but many sales leads get lost. No one responds, because no one notices, or they end up in the wrong place, or no one has time. There are thousands of excuses, but the result is the same, sales are lower than they should be.
Every company loses some qualified leads, no matter how well they manage their leads. But some companies lose sales leads in very basic ways – that can easily be avoided.
Here are 10 ways we have actually seen otherwise well-run companies literally leak qualified sales leads.
Customer Service Roadblock: A buyer wants to make a purchase from a company. The first number she finds is a toll-free customer service number. When she calls and asks for a number to talk to a sales rep, she is informed that this number is not available. The buyer goes online and finds another company to fill the order. - Online Form Goes Nowhere: The buyer finds a beautiful website, reviews the promotional copy and is interested in placing an order, but she has some questions. She completes the online form requesting more information. The form goes to someone, somewhere, but there is no response. The buyer gets bids from 3 other companies.
- Secret Phone Numbers: The buyer wants to contact a company to get a bid. She goes to the company’s website and discovers that there are no phone numbers listed. She calls toll-free directory assistance and finds that the company does not have a toll-free number. She moves on.
- Unanswered E-Mail: The buyer sends an email to the address listed in a business directory inquiring about the company’s products. The E-Mail is out of date and goes to an unattended E-Mail account. No one ever responds.
- Phone Message Gets Buried: The buyer calls the company’s sales department and leaves a message. The receptionist promises a sales rep will call back but the message gets buried on someone’s desk. No one every calls the potential buyer. It is found 3 months later in a pile of paper on the former sales reps desk.
- Phone Tag: Everything seems to be working right. The potential buyer calls the sales department and gets to the right person. The sales rep takes the information and promises to call back with a quote. But the sales rep fails to get complete contact information and only has a mangled email address and a phone number. A game of phone tag ensues and the buyer does not get the bid in time to consider it.
- Territory Questions: The buyer contacts the company and requests a bid. No one is sure who "owns" this account and the request goes unanswered. "I thought it was his account…"
- Too Many Cooks: The buyer contacts a large corporation about a complex RFP. The order involved products from three divisions. No one is sure who should respond to the RFP and it goes unanswered.
- Wrong Rep: The buyer contacts the sales department and is directed to a sales rep. Unfortunately, this rep does not have expertise in the products the buyer is interested in purchasing. Rather than pass this lead on to someone qualified to handle it, the rep tries to respond and is completely ineffective. The buyer selects another company’s products.
- "I'm Too Busy": The buyer contacts the company and is directed to the #1 sales rep. He takes all the information and has a great call. The buyer is predisposed to purchase from the company. But the sales rep is really swamped and never gets back to the buyer. He’s just too busy.
What are your sales do's and don'ts? We can help improve your sales results.
Photo Credit: Zach Klein
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Mon, Jul 12, 2010
We have all heard the stories about how a sales rep made a huge sale to someone that they just happened to sit next to on an airplane or met at a social event. They were just in the right place at the right time.
But can you really be successful without a sales process? Can you really depend on haphazard luck? Can you integrate internal and external sales functions if there is no process? Can you be sure that your sales team is following up with on leads without a lead management system? Can you maximize sales from existing customers without any customer relationship management tools?
The answer to all of these questions is "no"!
Don't let a few lucky wins deceive you – they will happen with or without a sales process. But you will never beat your competition depending solely on luck and instinct.
A formal sales process enables oversight and real sales management, and is essential to successful selling. A sales process allows you to maximize sales and better utilize your sales team. It also makes it possible to fully integrated outside vendors into your sales process – vendors who can supply qualified leads, assist with new market entries, provide sales support and lead follow-up services and so on.
If you want to win consistently and frequently, you need a sales process
No one would ever expect to win a football game without training, proper equipment and a highly-developed playbook. Why should sales be any different?
If your sales team is properly trained, has great tools and has a playbook of winning plays, they have the best shot at winning. When the real pressure is on, they will know how to execute flawlessly and professionally. Not only will your company win more often but your sales stars will be more likely to stay with your company.
Sure it’s fun to end up winning a football game with a lucky pass, but it is much more rewarding to have a winning season and win the championship with an unbeatable team and plan.
Contact us to discuss your sales plan and process.
Photo Credit: Alex
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Thu, Jul 01, 2010
In the majority of companies, from large multi-national firms to smaller high-growth companies, strict attention is paid to operational efficiency but little or no attention is paid to sales process optimization. Designing an efficient, effective sales process is an essential step in accelerating growth with a strategic approach to sales.
Most companies take a tactical approach to sales. The sales force is focused on acquiring another new client and getting the next reorder. They are playing a numbers game, but they often they do not hit the target. The big question then is, "Why aren't we hitting the sales goal?" The most common answer from internal experts and consultants is usually "low sales force productivity." And the solutions often include increased investment in lead generation, sales force automation software upgrades and additional price concessions.
The real problem is often quite different – the sales force, marketing and customer service are usually disconnected and the company's message is confused. The most effective solution is to move from disconnected, tactical efforts to a strategic sales process. Although this transition can be accomplished by a company's management team, a successful transition to a strategic selling organization usually requires an external consultant to facilitate the process and provide an objective, outside perspective – to challenge the status quo. The goal of establishing a strategic sales process is simple: get everyone on the same page and align all the efforts in the same direction. Like many simple goals, this is one that is easy to set but a difficult to achieve.
A step by step process
- The first step in taking a strategic approach to sales is to clearly define what the company stands for and how it should be presented to prospects, customers and employees – a formal mission statement. If this mission is created through a collaborative process then formalized, you have the best shot of having everyone understand and support it.
- Once you have a clear mission, move on to the value proposition. What can you offer to customers and prospects that will differentiate your company from the competition?
- Now define the target market so that the marketing department and sales support vendors can align your lead generation program to focus on this key target market. Many companies have found that carefully targeted lead generation programs are the most effective way to improve sales force productivity, increase close rates, increase sales revenue per customer and measurably increase sales revenues.
With a mission, value proposition and target market defined, your management team can get the advertising, sales presentations and service support to all communicate a clear, unified message to your prospects and customers.
Sales Process Review
Finally, examine all of your sales processes. Do all of your employees have easy access to the right information to make sure that key prospects become customers and customers prefer to do business with your company? Are your sales processes lean, fast and efficient? Is there a feedback system in place so the senior management team rapidly knows about issues and opportunities for growth? Which sales functions can be done more efficiently and effectively if outsourced and which are best done by internal staff?
There is no standardized template for sales process design and your company's sales processes will be as unique as your employees, your product and service offering, and your customers. But there are some basic principles:
- Abandon the concept of "big quick wins." Look for opportunities to make small, but meaningful changes. Small improvements made in a number of areas across the sales cycle will add up quickly and yield big results.
- No two organizations have the same requirements, the same challenges or the same assets. Take a cold, hard look at your organization to identify the real strengths and weaknesses. Then build on your strengths and take actions to minimize the weaknesses.
- Work to build and maintain shared ownership of the goals and tasks across your organization.
These are just a few of the observations we have made working with our clients. If you have any questions about your sales process, please contact us.