Focus Magazine - Spring 2015 - 26

FEATURESTORY

The Anatomy of a Sales
Effectiveness Initiative
I By Tom Manos

I

n today's business environment, the importance of
optimizing the revenue-generating capability of
organizations for business leaders is well established.
While many companies around the world have undertaken
sales eﬀectiveness initiatives, the reality is that there still
exist a very high percentage of firms, both large and small,
that have not undertaken this important task that can
transform an organization's culture and performance.
A salesforce eﬀectiveness initiative requires the
organization to have a clear understanding of its current
state and its strategies to earn customer commitment. It
involves creating organizational alignment through
intentional actions, embedding changes in performance
support systems and sustaining the transformation through
a cycle of continuous learning, feedback and coaching.
Done well, a sales eﬀectiveness initiative can yield longterm benefits that maximize the probability of success in
driving cultural change and business results.
e anatomy of a sales eﬀectiveness initiative will vary
from one company to another, however, the key
components of a strategic plan to execute the initiative
should include raising awareness, creating organizational
alignment, providing needed resources, preparing sales
professionals and evaluating the initiative's impact.

Raise Awareness
Surveys, interviews and focus groups can be used to
create awareness of sales eﬀectiveness that will establish
positive momentum and create a buzz around the
organization. Gathering the voice of the customer through

surveys will provide valuable insight and establish a baseline
for measuring improvements.
Completing internal assessments in the area of sales
eﬀectiveness, sales management and change management
will provide leadership with data to be integrated into
subsequent steps in the sales eﬀectiveness initiative. During
this phase it is critical that executives, marketing, HR and
business leaders are aware that the findings may require
change to current approaches, account planning processes,
sales tools, job descriptions and marketing collateral.

Create Organizational Alignment
e information gathered while raising awareness can be
used to define what sales eﬀectiveness means inside the
organization and to establish a common definition that can
be leveraged in establishing a company sales and/or
commercial language. Sharing the results of the customer
experience surveys will provide visibility to the findings and
an organization-wide understanding of customers'
perceptions of the company, its people and its products.
e internal assessment findings will identify strengths
and opportunity areas related to sales eﬀectiveness and
change management that will recognize what is done well
and create an understanding of existing performance gaps.
Knowing these is important for creating the necessary
alignment and gaining buy-in to make positive changes and
move away from the status quo. Developing a project
charter and plan that has buy-in and support from all key
stakeholders is key during this step.

Provide Needed Resources
Identify existing job descriptions,
learning materials, tools and systems to
assess what is in place and what is missing.
Once gaps have been identified, teams can
design and develop necessary learning
activities, tools, job aids, assessments and
other resources to bridge the gap.

Prepare Sales Professionals
Sales directors and first-line sales
managers are essential to leading change

26

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Focus Magazine - Spring 2015

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