Sales Operations is becoming main stream in many industries and companies, however the deployment and utilization of the function as a whole is inconsistent at best.
This trend opens opportunities for individuals looking to set themselves apart and for companies to keep a competitive edge. We believe most companies are working diligently on improving their sales organization effectiveness, but are missing some of the simple and most effective actions that can drive rapid and high impact returns. We also believe the current climate has created unique opportunities for Sales Operations leaders to take a greater level of leadership in their sales organizations, but must be prepared to take bold steps to achieve the goals.
We are encouraging companies to go back to basics – which in Sales means going back to the SALES STRATEGY. Many sales functions continue to focus on the HOW – how do you get more with less, how to achieve increased returns, how to reduce costs and how to retain. We argue that this may not be the first port of call….understanding the WHAT we will do is more important than the HOW. The only way to create radical change lies in the WHAT (Sales Strategy) and then changing the HOW (tactics, actions, processes etc).
So, what should sales leaders and sales operations leaders be looking to do? Where do you start? As with most practices in Sales Operations, it’s a simple formula. We are encouraging companies to look at a 4 step process, which will determine a revised base strategy. Most important is to work through in the order below:
- Focus areas
- Investment & de-investment
- Incentives & retention
- Sales effectiveness & dynamic processes
Our client’s usual response is 2-fold on this. Firstly, it’s not that simple and secondly, what about short versus long term objectives? Well, it is that simple. As a sales professional, you know if there is no focus, it will not happen. The question to answer is – what exactly is YOUR sales organization’s focus? We recommend a 6 month time period, but could be up to 1 year. You MUST DEFINE and COMMUNICATE these focus areas – and MAKE INDIVIDUALS ACCOUNTABLE.
Typical focus areas for sales organizations would include Product/Solution selection, Geographic coverage, Competitive activities / displacement, Route to Market, Customer Satisfaction & Loyalty.
I’d stress at this point that PROFIT or REVENUE is not a focus, but an outcome of a well thought through focus / strategy. IF your business is in survival mode and needs exclusive focus on Cash Flow, then frankly survival is your priority and focus, and you should take the relative actions in the next 2 – 6 months to stabilize. Stabilizing a business is a focus upon itself. We recommend companies in this situation to consider the mid/long term, but work almost exclusively to stabilize. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can stabilize AND grow.
Once the focus areas are determined, some hard choices need to be made, namely where you will invest & de-invest.
Investment we argue is more about TIME than MONEY. Where will you invest effort and your personal time – if you are not willing to spend time on something, it’s at best Business as Usual, if not a De-investment. It’s impossible to generalize what investment areas should be for your own company, but again, rapid ROI (under 6 months) is recommended. Many companies have failed as they throw money at problems – you must decide your investments wisely and then act with speed, not the other way round.
De-investment should not be left in the closet...we recommend to determine what you will stop or slow down, then communicate and action rapidly. The more time you spend dithering on this, the less time you’ll spend on the growth engine, which is what you will probably be measured on.
We put incentives & retention together, but never mix them up. In times like now, sales teams are typically earning less, but they are also more risk adverse. We argue that retention is LESS of a problem now than a year ago.
We also see many companies still shy to change their compensation and incentive programs. We recommend that you act BOLDLY and tie your incentive programs directly to your focus areas – and do this as quickly as you can. We will explore the options later in this document.
You’ve now determined your focus areas and investments / de-investments, you now should have a good indicator on WHO the key people are going forward. These may be specific sales people in geographies, certain specialists, presales etc. We encourage you to recognize the difference between those individuals you want to retain based on long term career development programs and those you need to meet your focus areas and strategy. They are not always one and the same.
Building retention programs for people you require to meet short to midterm objectives is critical but you may not initially obtain support in HR for this. Put your case forward and ensure you’ve identified the right people for your needs, then get a retention driver in for them. You cannot try to change strategy, structure, investments AND people in one go. Work with either who or what you have and gradually change the other. We believe you must have the right people in to achieve your goals, but change for the sake of change is a dangerous action, usually with negative consequences.
You now have a clear view on WHAT and WHO, now you need to work through the HOW. Armed with everything above, this is where a strong Sales Operations leader will come into their own. You now need to look at everything…and we do mean everything that you are doing in the sales organization. Get this onto a clear list, with timeframes on deliverables, impact to business, impact to the field etc.
Now work through the working plans for enabling the WHAT. You would have spent relative time on defining the critical focus areas – a very clear set of implementation plans will be required to ensure successful delivery.
The next step is the most logical, but overlooked by many companies. You now need to DROP activities not aligning to your focus areas. Many companies try to continue many things at once, and do not succeed at anything. Be ruthless and honest – stop or put on hold activities not delivering directly to your focus areas. Don’t get into debates – be decisive but inclusive. People need to know WHY as many of these people need to be involved in the delivery.
At this stage, we recommend you now look at Sales Effectiveness and Dynamic processes. Why only now? Simple – it’s about capacity. To reduce a cycle time or improve process, you need resource and time.
We cover both of these topics in depth in separate reports, but what you’re looking for is RAPID return and FIELD IMPACT. In today’s environment, we recommend dynamic process improvement – for those not familiar, Dynamic Processes are those where improvements are made in short bursts of activity (usually under 2 weeks) and mix formal and informal processes to ensure controls are in place but creativity at the field level is encouraged.
This is very much a 50,000ft view and we will explore the depths of each one in future blogs / reports.
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