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“Sales as an Organizational Process”
by Michael Kenney
A review of most organizations would show accounting, manufacturing, engineering, research & development and human resources
have established written operating processes. Sales departments, however, generally lack a structured sales process that reflects the way management wants the organization to sell. The ability of
management to control and direct the sales force can be compromised without a documented process.
Symptoms of a lack of sales process:
Sales personnel performance cannot be reviewed and
quantified on a monthly basis. Sales performance is equated to forecasting and making quota, but how many of your salespeople make their quota and how many can forecast on an opportunity level? Hiring
errors can go undetected for months or years.
Managers lack a method to assess individual selling skills, therefore, they cannot develop an individual action plan to assist their salespeople in
improving personal skills and overall performance.
Management has no structure, other than quota, to evaluate it's sales force. With long sales cycles, how do you control the pipeline and selling
activities on an ongoing basis?
Senior sales executives accept their manager's forecast solely on faith.
It is difficult for management to design compensation plans to drive sales behavior,
because there is no "road map" to direct and focus the sales effort.
Without a clearly defined process, sales becomes a case of "ready, fire, aim" for senior management.
RESULT, is a sales forecast based on the verbal opinions of salespeople that can be enhanced by below quota sales managers. These forecasts usually meet or exceed quota, but have no proof to substantiate
the figures.
Steps to sales process:
NOW, what if senior management could personally participate in defining an overall sales process that would include the following:
•Unique sales
process for each major target market (large, medium, inside sales, VAR's telesales, etc.) and for each vertical market (government, national or global accounts, etc.).
•Identify the tasks comprising each process and the people responsible to execute the tasks.
•Define the skills needed at the salesperson, manager and senior management levels and an evaluation
system to determine skill levels today; and individual activity plans to address skills deficiencies.
RESULT, can be a forecast that uses consistent pipeline milestones, which can be audited
against written sales process standards and documents.
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