Sales & Marketing Management - January/Februry 2008 - (Page 16) MANAGEMENT STRATEGY [By Rick Bakosh and Patrick Mosher] SUPE UP SALES PERFORMANCE These 10 tips help CSOs keep the team running on all cylinders human resource and training support for the sales function. Some companies don’t have a proper connection between the business and HR and training effort. Other organizations either aren’t measuring the impact of the HR and training efforts or, when they are measuring, use metrics that don’t necessarily translate into business results. Still others make insufficient investment in sales training. A survey by CSO Insights, for instance, found that 70% of participating companies invest just $2,500 or less per rep annually—an inadequate figure when one considers that sales force attrition rates are in the 17% to 27% range, new product introductions are at an all-time high, and product complexity has grown substantially. What levers can CSOs pull to improve sales effectiveness and, thus, help the company achieve higher performance? Companies should start by revisiting how they support the sales function from a talent management perspective, ensuring they get the right people in the right roles. Ten key steps can help: rowth-oriented companies face myriad challenges in their pursuit of high performance: more demanding customers, tougher competition and shorter product life cycles, to name a few. Yet one of their greatest challenges comes not from outside the organization, but rather, inside it. That challenge is an underutilized sales force. According to research from CSO Insights, about 40% of sales reps did not make their quota over the last four years. Indeed, a bevy of research has revealed that companies of all sizes and in all industries have sales forces that are not achieving growth targets. Research further illustrates that one of the primary factors for the shortcoming is insufficient human resource and training support. In a recent Accenture study, for example, 251 senior executives from around the world were presented with a list of 12 corporate functions. They were then asked to identify which three were most important in their companies, as well as how well they thought each of their top three work forces performed. Sales emerged as the most important function, named by 61% of respondents. But just 25% of executives naming sales a top-three function indicated that sales performed at a high level. Why do these performance gaps exist? One major factor is that many companies provide inadequate G 1. Define a profile of sales reps and managers with superior performance. It is critical for a company to have a fact-based perspective on what high performance means for its own workforce. CSOs should identify their top performers through metrics and year-over-year performance, and know what makes them tick. Likewise, CSOs should gain the same type of insight into their front-line sales managers, who have a huge influence on the entire sales force. 2. Create specific roles and corresponding responsibilities. Every person in the organization should already know what his role is, what’s expected of him and how his performance is measured. These roles and responsibilities may differ from business to business, but a company must ensure that it’s always clear who is responsible for what. Well-defined linkages between sales, sales support/operations, marketing and operations are critical. www.salesandmarketing.com www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com 16 SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT istock photo JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com
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