Aligning To Sales Processes

According to the book, World Class Selling: New Sales Competencies, aligning the Sales Process has several key actions:

1. Aligns and relates work to sales success - How work products contribute.

2. Incorporates selling sensibilities into work execution - How the customer is a partner.

3. Demonstrates a systemic understanding of sales - Relationship buying and selling.

4. Ensures that work helps to advance sales - Facilitating sales processes.

A well-defined sales process ensures focus on the right sales activities aligning how the customer buys. A good visual would be a road map outlining the activities and steps that would be accomplished to ensure the probability of success in your sales role.

There are several areas of expertise that are involved when executing sales activities that lead the new customer to an intelligent buying decision with you.

Tangible Action Items

1. Strong Internal and External Marketing Support

2. Sales Training Education: Product Knowledge, Industry Information, Competitive Strategy,

3. A good automated Customer Relationship Management System (CRM)

4. A defined lead generation system qualifying Inside and Outside prospect leads

5. A lead follow up system shared by Marketing and the Field Sales team

6. A sales person "scorecard" that prioritizes and measures activity performance

7. Prospecting Development outline

8. Prospect Closing Outline

9. A dashboard to show your current position in the sales process

ROI Analysis of your Sales Action Plan

1. Setting a goal oriented action plan that meets business results and executing the number of prospect sales calls to meet that goal.

2. Volume over Time Evaluation - lead volume, opportunity volume, pipeline volume and closed deals.

3. Conversion Rate Analysis - lead-to-qualified opportunity, opportunity-to-forecast, and forecast-to-close.

4. Value chain Analysis: cost per lead, cost per opportunity, cost per closed deal.

5. Compensation Analysis - Measuring transparent earned income over time based on individual / Team and Company performance.

Intangible Action Items

1. Understanding the difference between your sales role and your identity.

2. Owning responsibility for your actions

3. Mastering your sales Attitude / Behavior / Technique

4. Sales Behavioral Assessment: listening, effective questioning techniques, influence management, handling conflict, working with various personality types