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34 Winning Edge

pplying performance
A
management
principles to sales
makes good
business sense in
any operating or
economic climate.
But the current
downturn, and the
resulting nervousness it generates
within prospects and customers, is
having a significant impact on the
volume of opportunities and the sales
cycle time. It is essential for any
manager to ensure the resources they
have at their disposal are being used
in the most effective way.
Those who invest in their teams and
improve both the individual and team
sales effectiveness will be the winners
today, tomorrow and in the longer
term. While hard decisions in the
current climate have to be made,
cutting back on sales is a risky
strategy as the market needs top
talent, there is a six to nine month
ramp up time for a new hires and you
can lose relationships with customers
and prospects.
Earlier this year, the 2009 CSO
Insights Sales Performance
Optimization report listed the top
sales effectiveness initiatives
identified by sales leaders. I have
picked two that are in the top four –
sales knowledge management and
sales process – that I believe are key
to sales performance management
and I also discuss ways to tackle all
aspects of sales effectiveness as I
believe they are all important.
As CSO Insights notes overall, the
stronger the relationship with your
customer base, and the more dynamic
the nature of your sales process, the
better the result. It is a powerful
combination that results in significant
differences in performance ranging
from ‘sleepless nights’ through to
‘successful years’. Those in the
‘successful years’ categories achieve:
■ 13% more sales representatives
making quota or above
■ 10% more companies achieving
their sales targets.
First I’d like to suggest a heath
warning. It has been my experience
that when changes are made that are
not followed through or seen to be
supported by the management team,
then the results are generally worse
than if you had done nothing. In other
words, commitment and leadership
are critical success factors in this mix.
To support this I’ll recommend three
initiatives and supporting actions
structured as a 30, 60 and 90 day plan.
I’d like to position the areas I
recommend in the context of the
factors involved in an individual’s
performance. This bears a direct
relationship to the way you approach
performance management. The
model (see diagram) shows the three
factors that influence an individual’s
performance. Each one is important in
its own right but when combined they
present a model or picture of overall
motivation and effectiveness.
Skills and
knowledge
Working Motivation
environment and drive
Looking at the model, it’s probably
fair to say that most companies
invest in training their sales teams
and they recruit people who have
demonstrated a track record of sales
competence. If this is the case, the
‘skills and knowledge’ bubble is taken
care of or is fairly easily fixed. The
other two are more complex.
Personal motivation and drive are
infectious, both within the team and
with clients. My experience suggests
this goes both ways. If someone is
negative, lacks enthusiasm and is
always moaning about how it is not
their fault, then this will negatively
affect others.
The working environment can be
summed up as the prevailing culture,
management style, processes and
procedures. These have an equally
positive or negative impact on a sales
executive. If the other two bubbles are
positive and in good shape but the
working environment makes the
internal sales process as hard as
selling and closing the deal, then
it will negatively impact the
effectiveness and motivation of a
salesperson.
SALES MANAGEMENT
Looking at sales process and sales
knowledge management, it is useful
to use the model to ensure you have
considered all aspects of the initiative.
If the initiative is focused on skills and
knowledge then consider the impact
or what needs to be done in the
other two – say if you implement a
knowledge management resource
then also look at the motivational
aspects to ensure its use.
Sales knowledge
management (SKM)
Ensuring your sales team has the best
possible information available to
them is something most companies
strive for. There are intranets bursting
at the seams with information on
almost all of the SKM topics shown in
the graph (see overleaf). The issue we
hear the most is that because there is
so much information, what you want
is often difficult to find. Finding a way
to establish what is most useful,
when, and in what context starts a
process that leads to giving real
information benefit to sales reps.
From a sales performance
management perspective the SKM
goal is always about raising
performance in the most effective way
possible. The list of priorities shown is
a great start for any company, but I
urge you to look hard at what can be
done quickly and effectively before
kicking off a major SKM programme.
The people who know what would
be the most useful are the sales reps
themselves. Ask them. If you have
access to win-loss analysis then this
can provide valuable insights into
some of the SKM factors that either
had a positive or negative impact on
the outcome.
Once you have decided on a
particular SKM area to work on,
engage the sales team and in
particular the top performers, as they
will know the answers to some of the
issues. For example if the chosen area
to start with is objection handling, then
working with the team to identify the
top 10 or 20 objections should be fairly
straightforward. Then use experts to
craft the response. They could be
from sales, product specialisms,
professional services or marketing.
When considering the delivery
mechanism for the information,
Winning Edge 35

SALES KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES
Competitive analysis information
Best practices used by the salesforce
Strategic account plans
Customer objection handling information
Customer references/case studies
Details of customers and prospects
Proposal templates/business case samples
Details of customers’ and prospects’ executives
Details of past/current marketing/selling efforts
Customer/prospect contact information
Details of past customer purchases
Other
Source: CSO Insights
take a careful to look at how and
when it would be used. If it can be
made available in a form that is the
most useful to the sales rep, then it
will get used. If not, then its use will
be patchy at best. When we are
constructing SKM solutions we use
the following to guide us:
■ The sales rep has the attention span
of 5 to 10 seconds
■ “I want it and I want it now,” is seen
as a reasonable request by a sales rep
■ If it takes more than two to three
clicks to get what they want there is a
danger they will give up.
These are bit tongue-in-cheek but
are useful guidelines when looking at
how the information will be accessed
and structured. If the information can
be delivered in the context of the task
in hand then so much the better. The
less a rep has to worry about where
information is the more focus or
opportunity they have to prepare
for their next meeting. Here is my
suggested start to SKM.
30 DAYS
■ Catalogue what is already available,
in what format and where it is located.
■ Work with the sales team to identify
the top three SKM factors that would
make the most difference to them.
■ Pick the one that has the closest fit
to the following:
– Can be completed within 30 days
– Has the highest benefit for the
least cost
– Easy implementation.
60 DAYS
■ Progress the implementation of the
other two identified factors.
36 Winning Edge
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
■ Review the success of the first,
reflect lessons learnt in the next two.
90 DAYS
■ Consider a wider programme to
involve the lifecycle of leads though
to sales to fulfilment.
■ Review the first three factors and
support a wider programme based
on success.
■ Consider distributing the ownership
and responsibility for content to
individuals who are:
– Highly respected within the
company
– Have a vested interest in the content
being the best it can be
– Are goaled in some way to ensure
the currency and validity of the
content.
Sales process
The CSO Insights reports indicates
that a dynamic sales process is one
that is being reviewed regularly.
Lessons learnt are reflected back into
the process. This aspect of dynamic
process improvement is one that can
be achieved with limited effort and
can help immediately. It clearly sets
up a positive long-term approach.
Having said that, the report also
suggests that a significant number of
companies have no sales process or it
is random or informal. Companies in
these categories can run the risk of
over-reliance on the top few sales
executives. They are not in a position
to capitalise on best practice as there
is no way of modelling their success.
I often hear the criticism that the
sales process constrains the sales
team, making them conform to a set
approach. My view is that it does
almost the opposite. If the sales
process is viewed as a framework
then individual style and flair can be
accommodated within it. The benefits
then accrue as more consistency
builds. New hires come up to speed
quicker, the extended sales team have
a better view of what is expected of
them, and best practice can be
identified and structured in the
context of each sales stage.
When defining the sales
methodology or process my strong
recommendation is that you do not
overcomplicate it. We have completed
the design, overlaid forecasting,
applied compliance and governance
and got extended sales team
involvement in a day. Obviously this
depends on the complexity of the
solution you sell, your markets and
the complexity of the customers’
buying cycles. But just be aware of
overcomplicating the approach and
overengineering the sales process
itself. Look at the sales process more
as a framework than a highly detailed
set of flow diagrams that ends up not
being used because no one can follow
it, or sales reps will lose the will to live
when looking at it.
30 DAYS
■ Assemble a small number of
respected individuals from marketing,
sales and professional services to
form the core team.
■ Using a facilitator (consider an
external professional) map the
process from lead to closing the deal.
Reflect this in your CRM system.
■ Develop a series of short
communication and training sessions
for all stakeholders on the new or
redefined sales process.
60 DAYS
■ Set up review sessions to evaluate
how the process is being adopted and
where it is being successful. Publish
the results.
■ Look for the early wins and
communicate.
■ Build the process into new hire
training.
90 days
■ Start a quarterly review of best
practice and build into the individual
sales stages. I’d recommend each
review covers just two or maybe three

of the sales stages. Document in the
context of the sales stage.
■ Check that the forecast process
maps to the new sales process and
adjust as necessary.
■ Issue the updated sales process
confirming the commitment to
continually review and update.
■ At every opportunity (one-on-one
sales review, team events and
communications) reinforce the
message and success of the change.
Implementing a new sales process is
more about a change programme
than it is about a defining and
implementing a new process.
Sales effectiveness
Strategies that underpin
a sustainable ‘It’s relatively
performance easy to identify
improvement in sales
are being positioned the main barriers
along with sales and work out how 60 DAYS
knowledge
management. The
they could be review
various initiatives that addressed’
are being considered or
undertaken by the companies
surveyed in the CSO Insights
2009 report also include
improving lead generation,
better aligning sales and marketing,
analysing buying processes, channel
strategies and so on. My belief is that
all of the items are important and
should be considered as part of any
plan to bring a more sustainable
approach to sales growth.
However, before we run off with the
sales equivalent to the elixir of life I
would urge you to consider that many
of the answers are already known in
your organisation. Your sales and
marketing team know the issues that
face them on a daily basis and some
of them will have worked out what
would help them the most.
Using the three-bubble individual-
performance model it is relatively easy
to identify the main barriers and work
out how they could be addressed.
This approach does not preclude any
strategic initiatives being considered,
such as sales knowledge
management, but does have the
immediate impact on the team, in that
their views and opinions are being
heard and potentially acted on.
If carried out in a professional way,
the morale and level of sales activity
can increase as individuals see that
something is being worked on that
could have a positive influence on
their ability to close business. But
starting this process and then
abandoning it, for good or bad
reasons, will result in a negative
impact on the team as expectations
are raised and then effectively dashed.
30 DAYS
■ Structure a workshop around the
three bubble model. Work out the
blocks and barriers and potential
actions to address.
■ Review and implement
achievable, low cost options
and communicate.
■ Plan to address the
rest in the context of
other more strategic
approaches.
■ If it hasn’t come up,
the effectiveness
of lead generation
activity, what defines a lead
and the handover from
marketing to sales.
■ Revisit the qualification process and,
in the light of the above, consider a
review and update. In any economic
climate working on deals that are
either not going to close, or bend the
company out of shape in trying to fulfil
them, are wasteful in time and effort.
■ Communicate the progress of the
other recommendations.
90 DAYS
■ Measure and review the results in
the context of the sales process; adjust
the plan accordingly.
■ Build sales effectiveness into each
one-on-one review and team meeting.
■ As a leader of the sales team put
time into your diary to observe what is
working and what isn’t by going out
with your reps on sales calls.
I mentioned that sales performance
management is as much about the
people as it is about measurement.
Measurement does play an important
role in the ongoing process of
continual improvement. But
measuring the results is not enough.
Getting through the current climate
needs leadership and communication.
I urge sales leaders to engage with
performance management rather than
SALES MANAGEMENT
just reviewing the measurements at a
distance. Get back to the basics...
■ Define performance – reflect on the
need for sustainable performance
improvement. Does your definition
support this? For example, is
performance only defined as the sales
target or does it look further, maybe to
the pipeline for next year’s business?
■ Observe performance – there is
nothing like being out in the field
meeting customers and watching the
performance of your sales executives.
■ Coach for performance – understand
the principles of coaching; give
feedback and support.
■ Reward performance – while this
seems obvious, ensure the reward
system is geared to behaviour or
approach as well as the sale.
■ Review performance – at each
quarterly sales review allocate time to
looking at what worked well and what
didn’t. Identify the aspects of the sales
function that can be built on and areas
that require some attention.
Sales performance management
is about measurement, but it is also
about the individual, the team and
the wider or extended sales team. It
encompasses the sales culture within
the organisation and its processes and
procedures. Put like this, any changes
in the performance management of a
sales function can look too daunting to
contemplate. I suspect for most sales
leaders the ‘do nothing’ option is one
that can only lead to their own demise.
The hardest bit is where to start.
My advice is to pick an area that has
the most impact in the short term and
also builds for the future. If it were me
I’d probably start with the team (as
proposed in the ‘sales effectiveness’
section) and in parallel work through
the performance list above (define,
observe, coach, reward, review).
contributor
David Batup is managing partner of
Perperitus, a specialist in developing
sales knowledge management
solutions for direct and partner
channel sales teams. Visit
www.perperitus.com or call
01189 654066. CSO Insights is at
www.csoinsights.com
Winning Edge 37