Sales Growth Strategies
NEWS
Inc. Magazine: Accountability Partners helped grow Savid Technologies' sales by 400 percent in 2 years:
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Crain's Chicago Business: We help Jupiterbay double its sales in six months and streamline operations processes:
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Comcast Lessons Learned podcast series: J.R. Samples provides insight about the difference between sales and marketing functions within an organization:
Listen now
Inc. Magazine: Accountability Partners helped grow Savid Technologies' sales by 400 percent in 2 years:
Learn more
Crain's Chicago Business: We help Jupiterbay double its sales in six months and streamline operations processes:
Learn more
Comcast Lessons Learned podcast series: J.R. Samples provides insight about the difference between sales and marketing functions within an organization:
Listen now
Success Stories
"I knew I could close deals, but I didn't know how to build and manage a sales team. Accountability Partners helped us develop a sales training process that led us to a 400% increase in just two years.” - Mike Davis, CEO, Savid Technologies
"I knew I could close deals, but I didn't know how to build and manage a sales team. Accountability Partners helped us develop a sales training process that led us to a 400% increase in just two years.” - Mike Davis, CEO, Savid Technologies
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© 2011 Accountability Partners Phone: 312.217.2080 Email: info@accountabilitypartners.com
Our Sales Workshops include Sales and Market Planning and Pipeline Analysis and Sales Forecasting; just look under our Events page - or just click here!
Improving Sales is hard…frustrating for most everyone and impossible for some. In fact, a business that has “only” had a decrease of 30% in the last several years is considered a success. Obviously many businesses have succumbed completely. So maybe 20% are really achieving sales growth? The good news is sales growth can be achieved and in a variety of methods.
It can be as simple as revising or restructuring your pricing model, adding new products and services, opening a new location or expanding sales staff be they direct, agent or in the form of additional channel partners. What is sometimes overlooked is the impact of formal Business Development – and certainly there is misunderstanding about the different meanings of sales, marketing and business development (see my interview with Comcast on the sidebar).
Lastly, in today’s global economy and internet marketing environment, you must consider your marketing efforts to have a direct impact on sales growth. Marketing is still in many cases getting the short-end of the investment stick in many organizations - both from a people investment as well as a direct financial investment. While marketing can be frustrating in its challenge to measure impact (see our Marketing ROI Study on how we are measuring and effecting positive marketing impact on sales) leads some to prefer an investment in direct sales.
If you are considering additional sales staff growth as your primary action to increase sales, step back for a moment and consider expanding your marketing efforts as the second step and hiring staff being the fourth step. What are the first and third step, you ask? Click Here!
Sales Review and/or Sales Planning
Sometimes a short conversation on the areas of under-performance, frustration or challenge you are experiencing can produce the clarity and breakthrough necessary to move forward. Or perhaps there are some burning questions on your quota-setting or incentive plans where an experienced, unbiased recommendation is required. Not everything needs days of assessing and consulting! It is amazing what we can uncover, clarify and resolve in a few hours of dialogue.
Alternatively, there are times where a deep-dive is the only method to truly get below the surface, challenge the perceptions, get objective data and find the not-so-apparent items that are really your road blocks to improved sales.
In these environments we provide a formal Sales and Marketing Review of your performance, process and management procedures with a Finding and Recommendations deliverable.
Our Sales and Marketing Assessment covers 11 Major Categories and covers:
1. Marketing Planning, Activity and Tools
2. Marketing and Sales Support Roles
3. Prospecting, Business Development and Qualification Process
4. Sales Process (after suspect identification)
5. Professional Services and Project Management (if applicable)
6. Incentive Plan Analysis
7. Training and Development of Staff
8. Automated Sales and Marketing Systems
9. Skill set of Sales Staff (is there a misalignment between current staff and required skill set)
10 Skill set of Sales Management (is your manager a Rain Maker or a Teacher/Guider?)
11. Skill set of Business Management.
For Sales Planning, we most often are engaged in an organizational level to assist in preparing a comprehensive sales plan – in concert with the type of business plan selected – Stakeholders, Internal Financial or Capital Raising (see Business Planning). Upon request we can also assist in the development of Individual Sales Plans as well as account-specific sales strategy consulting.
In our planning we use specific templates based on your Business and Revenue Model. For example:
1. Business Model
a. Product Manufacturer
i. Direct Sales
ii. Channel
b. Reseller
c. Direct Services Provider
2. Revenue Model
a. One-time License and Maintenance
b. Recurring Revenue
i. Cloud/SaaS
ii. Service-based i.e. Managed Service provider in IT space
iii. Contingency or Success Fee (Percentage of Savings)
c. Services
i. Fixed Fee
ii. Time and Material
Each individual template allows for specific solution offerings under multiple revenue models. For example, a series of services (Assessments, Implementation, Training) may be offered in either of a fixed or T&M basis. There are hybrids to the above which are taken into account in our planning process.
Our planning engagements begin with a financial focus on past, current and future considerations. We challenge the status quo and look for breakthrough revenue opportunities. As we identify aggressive opportunities we create awareness and agreement on realistic financial sales goals. Our revenue planning timelines are typically three years and our templates provide monthly and quarterly roll-ups. It is very critical to provide monthly revenue analysis in order to plan for spikes in ramp-up time for a product or sales team, as well as for seasonality adjustments in the selling process. This allows our business plan templates to be updated with accurate cash flow projections. Our sales planning engagements maybe standalone engagements or part of a firms overall business plan for comprehensive corporate planning. Our business planning templates have optional templates for valuation analysis.
Additionally our sales planning engagements may include:
• Ideal Prospect and Demographics Analysis
• Recurring, add-on and new sales opportunities to existing clients and as new clients are acquired
• Multi-level Quota Setting (Corporate Goal; Sales Management and Individual Contributor)
• Structured sales cycle timing analysis based on your market conditions
• Sales compensation review, recommendations and design
We generally start with a half-day or full day on-site meeting during which we identify the specific goals of a client’s Sales and Marketing requirements.
Outsourced Sales Management
For unique situations where you need part-time or short-term executive leadership to develop, sustain or achieve a specific business objective, we are willing to discuss if our resources are available and appropriate for your engagement.
This is a small-but-critical aspect of our value. As business operators and drivers, we know how to get things done and know that getting things done is what is important at the end of the day. We are willing to "come along side" and participate in your high value, critical situations where external resources are necessary.
Professional Services Development
Our professional development services for sales include:
* Creation of Consulting Services on the front-end of typical sales transaction to create early credibility, revenue and value. These services replace the “free” analysis many firms are “forced” to provide by the customer, the industry…..and their sales force.
* Sales Training on the Positioning and Client Value of Consulting Services and SOW Process
* Analysis of current offerings for extending services and solutions (Profit from the Core).
Improving Sales is hard…frustrating for most everyone and impossible for some. In fact, a business that has “only” had a decrease of 30% in the last several years is considered a success. Obviously many businesses have succumbed completely. So maybe 20% are really achieving sales growth? The good news is sales growth can be achieved and in a variety of methods.
It can be as simple as revising or restructuring your pricing model, adding new products and services, opening a new location or expanding sales staff be they direct, agent or in the form of additional channel partners. What is sometimes overlooked is the impact of formal Business Development – and certainly there is misunderstanding about the different meanings of sales, marketing and business development (see my interview with Comcast on the sidebar).
Lastly, in today’s global economy and internet marketing environment, you must consider your marketing efforts to have a direct impact on sales growth. Marketing is still in many cases getting the short-end of the investment stick in many organizations - both from a people investment as well as a direct financial investment. While marketing can be frustrating in its challenge to measure impact (see our Marketing ROI Study on how we are measuring and effecting positive marketing impact on sales) leads some to prefer an investment in direct sales.
If you are considering additional sales staff growth as your primary action to increase sales, step back for a moment and consider expanding your marketing efforts as the second step and hiring staff being the fourth step. What are the first and third step, you ask? Click Here!
Sales Review and/or Sales Planning
Sometimes a short conversation on the areas of under-performance, frustration or challenge you are experiencing can produce the clarity and breakthrough necessary to move forward. Or perhaps there are some burning questions on your quota-setting or incentive plans where an experienced, unbiased recommendation is required. Not everything needs days of assessing and consulting! It is amazing what we can uncover, clarify and resolve in a few hours of dialogue.
Alternatively, there are times where a deep-dive is the only method to truly get below the surface, challenge the perceptions, get objective data and find the not-so-apparent items that are really your road blocks to improved sales.
In these environments we provide a formal Sales and Marketing Review of your performance, process and management procedures with a Finding and Recommendations deliverable.
Our Sales and Marketing Assessment covers 11 Major Categories and covers:
1. Marketing Planning, Activity and Tools
2. Marketing and Sales Support Roles
3. Prospecting, Business Development and Qualification Process
4. Sales Process (after suspect identification)
5. Professional Services and Project Management (if applicable)
6. Incentive Plan Analysis
7. Training and Development of Staff
8. Automated Sales and Marketing Systems
9. Skill set of Sales Staff (is there a misalignment between current staff and required skill set)
10 Skill set of Sales Management (is your manager a Rain Maker or a Teacher/Guider?)
11. Skill set of Business Management.
For Sales Planning, we most often are engaged in an organizational level to assist in preparing a comprehensive sales plan – in concert with the type of business plan selected – Stakeholders, Internal Financial or Capital Raising (see Business Planning). Upon request we can also assist in the development of Individual Sales Plans as well as account-specific sales strategy consulting.
In our planning we use specific templates based on your Business and Revenue Model. For example:
1. Business Model
a. Product Manufacturer
i. Direct Sales
ii. Channel
b. Reseller
c. Direct Services Provider
2. Revenue Model
a. One-time License and Maintenance
b. Recurring Revenue
i. Cloud/SaaS
ii. Service-based i.e. Managed Service provider in IT space
iii. Contingency or Success Fee (Percentage of Savings)
c. Services
i. Fixed Fee
ii. Time and Material
Each individual template allows for specific solution offerings under multiple revenue models. For example, a series of services (Assessments, Implementation, Training) may be offered in either of a fixed or T&M basis. There are hybrids to the above which are taken into account in our planning process.
Our planning engagements begin with a financial focus on past, current and future considerations. We challenge the status quo and look for breakthrough revenue opportunities. As we identify aggressive opportunities we create awareness and agreement on realistic financial sales goals. Our revenue planning timelines are typically three years and our templates provide monthly and quarterly roll-ups. It is very critical to provide monthly revenue analysis in order to plan for spikes in ramp-up time for a product or sales team, as well as for seasonality adjustments in the selling process. This allows our business plan templates to be updated with accurate cash flow projections. Our sales planning engagements maybe standalone engagements or part of a firms overall business plan for comprehensive corporate planning. Our business planning templates have optional templates for valuation analysis.
Additionally our sales planning engagements may include:
• Ideal Prospect and Demographics Analysis
• Recurring, add-on and new sales opportunities to existing clients and as new clients are acquired
• Multi-level Quota Setting (Corporate Goal; Sales Management and Individual Contributor)
• Structured sales cycle timing analysis based on your market conditions
• Sales compensation review, recommendations and design
We generally start with a half-day or full day on-site meeting during which we identify the specific goals of a client’s Sales and Marketing requirements.
Outsourced Sales Management
For unique situations where you need part-time or short-term executive leadership to develop, sustain or achieve a specific business objective, we are willing to discuss if our resources are available and appropriate for your engagement.
This is a small-but-critical aspect of our value. As business operators and drivers, we know how to get things done and know that getting things done is what is important at the end of the day. We are willing to "come along side" and participate in your high value, critical situations where external resources are necessary.
Professional Services Development
Our professional development services for sales include:
* Creation of Consulting Services on the front-end of typical sales transaction to create early credibility, revenue and value. These services replace the “free” analysis many firms are “forced” to provide by the customer, the industry…..and their sales force.
* Sales Training on the Positioning and Client Value of Consulting Services and SOW Process
* Analysis of current offerings for extending services and solutions (Profit from the Core).