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Sales Effectiveness Newsletter |
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Table of Contents Managing the Business of Sales Announcing 21st Century Selling
Other News Market-Partners expands to Chicago and Dallas
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Managing the Business of Sales:
What do you want me to do, sell or fill in forms?
Martyn Lewis |
| Much of the work we do with
sales organizations runs across all industries, and particularly with
companies in the high technology industry. It is no secret that this
industry is presently going through an abrupt change of fortune from the
highs of a few years ago to the current reality of missed sales targets and
forecasts. It is my opinion that a significant contributing factor to this
current crisis is a lack of maturity in the discipline of managing the
actual business of sales. In many other industries, I see that the approach to sales is more mature and consistent and that the management aspect of the business is simply better understood and organized. Sales professionals in these industries know that their weekly and monthly reporting requirements are a fact of life. They are also fully aware that sales management utilizes this information to better manage the business and to work with the selling teams to increase both overall and individual performance. One outgrowth of the good times in the high tech industry was that a "sales superstar" culture was allowed to develop. An environment existed where the mythical natural sales person was encouraged to be the entrepreneur and when successful, became the hero of the moment. The epitome of this style was reflected when you heard the claim that "if you are making quota, you can do anything you want". However it is in today's tougher times when the fallacy of this approach becomes evident and problematic. Too many sales managers lack the ability to forecast business, lack the information to know what is happening in their business, and indeed lack the knowledge of what to do about it. Not for one moment would I recommend stifling sales reps with a heavy administrative burden or placing sales managers in a role of checking up on every aspect of their selling team's day. However I think most organizations in the high technology industry could significantly benefit from adopting a more mature and disciplined approach to managing the business of sales. In this article, Martyn Lewis explores the topic of balancing good business management against micro-management within the function of sales. |
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How do you measure
up?
Barry Trailer |
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| The first step to improving
sales processes is finding ways to quantify what's happening, instead of
what's happened. Continuing on
our theme of dramatically improving business performance, we are including a
reprint of an article published by Barry Trailer. In this article, Barry
discusses the sales metrics leading indicators and ways in which management
can improve sales performance. |
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Announcing the
publication of 21st Century Selling |
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| 21st
Century Selling, an anthology of advice from top selling pros, was recently
published by Joe Cullinane of 21st Century Selling. The book is for sales
executives, sales managers, professional sales people or anyone who wants to
take their sales to the next level. The book combines the thoughts of 14
experts in the various arenas that comprise a world-class selling
organization in today's environment. Subjects that are discussed range from
partnering strategies, through using new technologies and tools, to
interviewing skills. The quest for customers, focusing on what is really
happening in the business-to-business sales process was authored by Martyn
Lewis, Market-Partners President and CEO.
21st Century Selling will shortly be available on Amazon.com for US$19.95, or Canadian $29.95. Meanwhile, for more information, or to order copies, e-mail us at 21stcenturyselling@market-partners.com. For a downloadable copy of the chapter by Martyn Lewis, click here.
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