Sales Transformation, have you got the fundamentals, right?
Enterprises are struggling with their Sales transformation journeys even after spending millions on digital Solutions (Omni channel Marketing, CRMs, Persona based AI driven Sales pitch and what not). As there is a spike in digital solutions to manage Customer engagement and journeys, it’s imperative to get the fundamentals right for optimal output.
Continuous improvement of Sales Function is always one area all product-based distribution focused (B to C) enterprises face.
In my last 2 decades of experience working on transformation, I have always been asked — “What a transformation / Continuous improvement team can do for Sales optimization”.
As I was deliberating with few inquisitive Distribution Leaders in Global Business-to-Consumer brand, I thought to write down my experience on this subject.
There are several aspects being worked upon right from sourcing a prospect to final conversion but the top three aspect with priority sequence are:
- Sales Team value cornerstones: No straight answer to this, every organization has to dive deep into what is required for Sales Roles in 4 dimensions i.e.
Learning, Earning, Stability (Peace of Mind) & Growth. Adjust these four dimensions and align with balance score card metrics (Customer, Financial, Business Process, Learning and Growth) and continuously keep evolving with changing paradigm.
2) Effective Sales Funnel Management i.e. traceability of every lead till last mile: This I will summarize in four blocks i.e.
2a: Focused Sourcing of Leads through digital and other relevant medium keeping Cost of lead and Quality of lead as key lagging indicators
2b: Harmonious Lead allocation and prospect discovery with regimented attention to every prospect irrespective to its stage in the funnel
2c: Follow-up & instance traceability (Includes post Sales) till the last mile, as the medium of customer connects are Omnichannel it’s imperative to leverage technology to trace every single interaction and its maturity towards making a buying decision
2d: Layered Engagement of Sales hierarchy to keep a constant stock of lead funnel maturity i.e. daily/Weekly/Monthly/Quarterly spanning across global Sales roles. It is easier said than done and require a focused governance.
3) Product/Solution showcase in an optimal mode considering the prospect persona i.e. having the ability to capture prospect persona and suggesting right solution with digitally consolidated marketing collateral (Digital Storytelling).
As we do above right there is one non-negotiable, I want to highlight, which takes your distribution function to next level of maturity and i.e.
· Well-founded Sales Team hierarchy and succession planning to establish ongoing accountability of the prospects in pipeline and ownership of Sales teams if there is a leader shrinkage (movement/attrition).
In large organizations with Global, regional, national and branch level Sales roles if there is a resource transition than what should happen to prospect in pipeline & existing customer should be defined. Also define who will take on Agent/broker relationship forward if one of the channels in your Sales organization is distributing through them.
Ensure your CRM framework is tuned to achieve the above and define a gold standard which is your very own bible of doing business. Invest in outside in perspective through Mystery shopping to ensure compliance with proper rewards for right way of doing things.
As someone said “How” is more important than “What” in your journey of Sales Transformation.
