Developing High
Performance Sales Processes
Werner Hess
Sales processes
re-engineering
assignments are
particularly tough
to implement. This
is because the
process you are
trying to gain
control of, happens
in an environment
that’s external to
the company!
Introduction
Newcomers to the sales environment may perceive the sales
Very few companies have a clearly defined sales process in place which is used by all the roll players in sales. When we ask the question: “Do you have a clearly defined sales process in place in your company?” we normally get a very reassuring “Yes” as an answer. However, when we ask to have a look at the process, we normally find that there is very little in place. Many sales directors then default to the position that the sales process is executed
intuitively.
Why should organisations implement a sales process? Why not just allow the sales people to get on with it.? They will surely “find their way.” Why should we impose a process that may not suit them? Won’t all of this process work then just add frustration and lead to demotivating the sales teams? Good sales people are sure to rise to the occasion, while those that fail, will automatically find different careers, as an alternative.
If we had to sit back and think about all the reasons for the absence of a sales process, it surely points to a certain unwillingness to manage sales! What if we were to use the same philosophy in production? Let everyone in production follow their own processes! The good production guys will add value, while the weaker ones will let us down on quality, output and reliability. Doesn’t sound like an approach that we can embrace in terms of production, so why do we allow this happen in sales?
High performance sales processes are critical to any company’s ability to manage sales. No process, no management.
At a fundamental level, a process is defined as “the way we work.” Process is well defined in all areas of the business. In finance we define the order to remittance process, in
production we define process in all areas of the production environment very narrowly and in logistics, if you don’t follow the process, nothing works!
In sales there is also work carried out, so there needs to some kind of process in place that governs the way we go about finding, winning and keeping customers. This doesn’t happen automatically.
One of the easy ways of getting to grips with the sales process in your organisation is to simply get some agreement, and map the process of how we currently execute sales. Let’s call this the “As-Is” process.
Process Mapping
An easy approach to mapping the “As- Is” process is to break it down into 3 district areas: What happens before the sale?
What are all the activities that we go though in terms of preparing for and setting up the sale? What is it that we do to identify who the customers are? How do we find the
customers? How do we know the customers will be interested in what we sell? How do we get to meet with customers? Where does the marketing process end and where does the sales process begin?
What happens during the sale?
The sale refers to the process of conversion. We refer to the “during the sale” as the sales conversion process. This is when we are face to face with the customer and we are
interacting in live mode. We also refer to the process as “the golden hour.” Here we need to know what we do to position our value. How do we find out what the customer’s needs are? How do we show that we have the products and services that can be of value to the
customer? How do we qualify whether there are business opportunities with the customer? How do we negotiate? How do we present our solutions and how do we get them to buy our products?
What happens after the sale?
How do we deliver our solutions? What do we do to ensure customer satisfaction? How do we manage the customer relationship going forward? How do we get the customer to buy more of our other products? How do we keep all our other customers happy?
Critiquing the Process
The first step towards process improvement is to study the existing process and to allow as many people as possible to critique the process. Even getting few customers in to look at and provide some inputs from the VOC (voice of the customer) point of view will aid in finding what presents the process from working well.
Very often processes are changed for the wrong reasons and processes very easily become cumbersome and restrictive, inhibiting performance.
Process Re-engineering
The opportunity that now presents itself is to eliminate non-value added process elements, change process where it creates barriers and improve the process. The six sigma process methodology, DMAIC, can go a long way in terms of process improvement. Processes are measureable and one can easily identify the measurable elements of a process and connect these processes to a measureable systems element.
Executive participation (as sponsors) is a critical aspect of process re-engineering as high level decision making is always required when making process changes. Don’t ever attempt to re-engineer a process in a company, without executive involvement.
Results
One shining example of process improvement is when a GE Capital business unit decided to re-engineer the loan application process. What used to be a process cycle time of 28 days, was reduced to 8 hours! This was a significant breakthrough in process management, and this process change saved the company millions of Rands per annum, increased revenues through improved service delivery and contributed to better employee morale and customer experience! The value of process re-engineering cannot and should not be underestimated!
How can Carpedia help your organisation implement high
performance processes?
• High performance processes need to based on a technology that delivers high
performance. Carpedia use the six sigma DMAIC methodology to ensure a high standard of process improvement is achieved.
• Once process changes have been made, the organisation needs to have the
confidence to execute in line with the new processes. This involves workshops where people are exposed the new process logic and start working differently. This step is challenging as people always like to default to what they know and trust. At Carpedia we work side by side with process owners, implementing change.
About Carpedia Consulting…
Carpedia Consulting is an internationally relevant management consultancy firm, dedicated to assisting clients to improve sales and profits through the implementation of improvement programs. Our approach is what makes us unique. The way we design, develop and execute our programs is hands-on, solutions-based and excellence driven.
Our programs are customized to the needs of your organisation and are designed to ensure significant and sustainable improvements are made both internally and externally – by the sales team, for the customer.
www.carpedia.co.za
About Werner Hess…
Werner Hess has spent 20 years of his career in various sales, marketing and leadership positions with Bayer, Triad Electronics, GE and GE Plastics before serving as managing director of GE Plastics and Polymerland. Werner’s first experience in the world of consulting came about when he joined Proudfoot Consulting as Director of Business Development, which included several international assignments in Europe and the USA, leading sales effectiveness projects for global clients. Werner’s current company, Carpedia Consulting is a specialist niche consultancy focused on sales and profit improvement.
Werner’s latest book, The Science of Selling has just been published and reveals approaches, systems and processes that can be implemented to create a successful sales platform. Werner can be reached on: [email protected]
