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"We don't have sales people, we have order takers."
"How can I hold anyone accountable for sales when the economy is so bad?"
- quotes from CEOs of large privately held companies
Anemic revenue can stem from a weak economy. And also from: unwise marketing choices, product design flaws, irrational competitors, etc. Chances are you've heard every excuse at one time or another. But if you've heard them from your sales managers, it's time to worry because you can be sure of two things:
- they accept similar excuses from those they "manage," and
- within your company "sales management" is an oxymoron.
How Snap Vector Can Help
Just as revenue growth relies on more than effective selling, effective selling relies on more than sales management - it requires recruiting, training and retaining personnel with sales aptitude. If you need help assessing or developing individual sales skills, Snap Vector can recommend firms who excel at meeting those needs.
But if excuses are flying, "sales management" is probably the weak link, and that's where we come in. Snap Vector can help develop the clear sales goals, well-understood responsibilities and properly aligned incentives on which effective sales management depends. Although it isn't rocket science, these basic attributes are surprisingly uncommon, especially among companies that impulsively and frequently reorganize their sales force.
Specifically, we help sales managers:
- set "output goals" for results - e.g. sales or gross profit - consistent with company objectives,
- set "input goals" for activity - e.g. # of customer and/or prospect calls - consistent with sales person ability,
- establish aligned incentives to reward achievement of output and input goals,
- prioritize prospects and customers,
- allocate coverage responsibility to individual teams,
- develop size-appropriate system(s) to track calls, and
- effectively communicate all of the above.
Of course Snap Vector can't do the actual managing, but if you're serious about revenue growth we can help you build the foundation on which it relies.
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