S S Ten Slides in Ten Minutes: Thinking about ‘The Sales Phase of the SDLC*’ [Capturing the Hearts and Minds of Prospects & Clients]

Presented by:

Bill Graham CP.APMP

December, 2014

bill.graham@sales-synthesis.co.za

* Service Delivery Life Cycle [SDLC]

Source: Various

The Service Delivery Life-Cycle [SDLC]:

End of Sales & Bid Management Phases

Start of Delivery & Commissioning Phases

2

Start of Sales Phase

3

Client Value Strategic

Alignment

Sales Management Value-Based Sales

•Business Strategy •Market Strategy •Compensation •Solutions/Products

•Processes •Support Tools •Relevant Solutions •Client Benefits

•Drive Processes •Situational Analysis •Opportunity Scout •Mentor Resources

•Execution/Delivery •Within Budget •Value Derivation •Mutual Roadmap

The Sales Value Continuum is an Imperative for ALL Stakeholders

Underpinned by People, Processes and Systems

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1. Marketing: • Develop a relevant Go-To-Market Strategy • Develop a strong Brand in the marketplace • Continuously integrate new business offerings

2. Sales: • Build a world-class sales conversion capability • Capture, Develop (grow) and Retain anchor clients

3. Organisation: • Develop a positive organisational culture relevant to South Africa • Infuse Marketing / Sales into the organisation

4. Partnerships: • Build relationships with Strategic partners • Develop partnerships with anchor clients • Define channel strategy

5. Service Delivery • Ensure ongoing best practice service delivery supported by world-class services

capabilities • Align with anchor clients’ requirements

Know your Organisation’s Value Drivers for focused Sales Support activities

5

Support of Successful Sales is Embedded Across the entire Organisation

A holistic organisational view, skills, knowledge, experience and integrated processes & systems are required

Bid

Management

Review Sales

Strategy &

Plan

Client

Management Sales

Tools Client

Interaction

Closure

An investigation is required to identify any (potential) breakpoints in the sales phase

6

Lim

it v

aria

bili

ty f

or

succ

ess

Success depends on ‘Complacency & Familiarity’ versus ‘Positive Continuous Client Interactions’

Potential failure points in the Sales Phase

Submission Review Sales

Strategy &

Plan

Client

Management Sales

Tools Client

Interaction

Close

An investigation is required to identify any (potential) breakpoints in the sales phase

Potential failure points in the Sales Phase

7

Lim

it v

aria

bili

ty f

or

succ

ess

Success depends on Complacency & Familiarity versus Positive Continuous Client Interactions

• Unmanaged salesforce during a growth era

• Missed opportunities

• Weak – or missing - Bid Management

• Poor opportunity cost derivation

• Inaccurate risk identification

• Data inconsistency across support systems

• Role clarity & ambiguity

• Visibility of sales-related information across the

organisation

• Misalignment of solutions to client needs

• Ignoring of best practice(s)

• Management’s will to invest in long sales cycles

8

Problem Indicators

Inaccurate forecasting Poor client submissions Unknown opportunities Poor client feedback Sales GAP increasing

Possible Reasons

Non-Conformance to process

Lack of discipline No professional Bid

Management Incorrect salesforce Lack of sales leadership Overpaid salesforce Unmotivated salesforce Contract not driving

required behaviour Weak/unknown brand Territory mis-alignment No RIP No client/industry

knowledge Unfocused salesforce Company takeover

• The unknown?

Interventions

Micro-management Re-evaluate salesforce Direct sales leadership Weekly sales meeting

• Salespeople to present product value props.

• Industry knowledge Bid Reviews Performance letters Review collateral Product training

• Plus development targets

Territory allocation review • Restructure

Client technology updates • Based on industry • Relevance to client

Presentation to client boards

Ideal Situation

Salesforce • Well equipped • Motivated • Passionate • Pro-active

Compensation contract • Defines territory • Defines remuneration • Drives behaviour

Sales Service support • Sales Operations • Bid Management • Collateral • Systems • Methodology & policies • Marketing

Metrics • Solid qualified pipeline • Win/Loss ratio > 80% • Well crafted submissions

(with clear crafted value props)

• Target achievement

Problem Indicators must be Identified in order to move to the Ideal Each organisation will have their own unique points…

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Reality: Bad People, Processes and Systems are at the Heart of All Problems

1. Non Team-Players: Unhelpful, Unapproachable, Negative, Apathetic, Uncaring, Caustic 2. Political Animals: Self-Absorbed, Personal Ambitions Conflict with Organisational Needs 3. Unskilled Resources: Poor Recruitment Practices, Nepotism, Cronyism, Poor Decision-making, lack of business agility 4. Dated Resources: Mis-Aligned to Marketplace, Irrelevant, Ineffectual 5. No Positive Organisational Culture: Poor Recruitment Practices, Deadwood, 6. Guerrillas in the Midst: Competitor’s Ally, Disruptive, Disgruntled 7. Corporate Tourists: Retired at work, Focused on Personal Interests, Time-Wasters

1. Dated: Irrelevant, Administrative Overhead, Mis-Aligned to Best Practices 2. Bureaucratic: Cumbersome, Time-Wasting, Soul-Destroying 3. Silo’d: Disconnects across Business Units, Mismatched Data, Revenue Leakage 4. Business Unit Relevance Only: Meaningless to Organisation, Manual Interventions 5. Informal: Confusion, Optional, Irrational 6. Over-Governance: Debilitating, Regulatory Strangulation, Stagnation

1. Outdated: Irrelevant, Administrative Overhead, Burdensome 2. Non-Integrated: Manual Interventions, Revenue Leakage, Time-Wasting 3. Monolithic: Feeding the Monster, Indivisible, Slow to Change, Glacial Inactivity 4. Inability to eBond: Islands of Data, No Linkage to Clients’ Systems, Insular Elements 5. Proprietary: Inability to Support International Standards; Challenged, Restrictive Growth and Evolution

People:

Processes:

Systems:

In many sales organisations there are People, Processes and Systems that inhibit effective and efficient sales activities.

Without good People, Processes and Systems an organisation becomes a Cliché

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The Cliché Corporation Eventually Collapses…

'Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives; very few are able to raise themselves

above the ideas of the time.' - Voltaire

People, Processes & Systems

Progress

Collapse

Status Quo

Fear Management

Positive Climate & Culture

Share Price and Credibility

New Business Growth