Ali Ghaemi

The Remote Or Hybrid Workforce

Jul 132022

Image Credit: RoadLight

Statistic Canada reports that 40% of Canadian jobs could be performed through telecommuting. The same study indicates that 80% of people who were asked to telework due to the pandemic look at the arrangement favourably and would like to continue doing so at least half their work time.

What is bad news for Aeroplan status hounds and addicts is good news for Cloud and technology providers. We have known for some time that employees prefer this arrangement. Employers is another matter, of course, and I must confess that I am of two minds about this situation, as well, given the mental and physical health issues – the very important matter of the need for social distancing to prevent the transmission of the virus aside – that arise, but what is the implication of the virtuality of virtual work?

Salespeople need to double their efforts and work almost twice as hard to make up for lack of access to prospects and customers at the latter’s places of work. They have to contend with less group meetings or on-sites at offices. Group e-mails, conference calls and video meetings are the new normal. Everything else is the exception now. Going against this grain makes it difficult to recruit and retain employees to start. On the plus side, employers have access to a larger work pool and can cast a geographically wider net.

People need to ramp their knowledge of digital technology and seek out ones that are easier to use for customers. Many people are not comfortable with the technology and even more people do not wish to contend with difficult applications. Make it easy on yourself and insist on making it easy for your customers. Even if the pandemic is vanquished the outcome is a hybrid work format so choose correctly.

That is, have the right tools, be set up properly, test everything to ensure it is monkey-proof and double down on clarity and explanations because things can get lost in translation when communication is remote. Also, spend a moment to thank technology and the Cloud because without these advances a pandemic would have been a disaster by a multitude. Actually, never mind, the providers are getting paid handsomely for their efforts.

A few telework tools to add to email and the telephone.

Asana: Workflow management software that helps organizing and keeping on top of the team’s work.
Flock: Video and audio calling, texting and chat for businesses.
Monday.com: Project creation and collaboration software
Slack: Business communication and ‘channels’ dedicated to specific topic that allows voice calling as well.
Teams: Microsoft’s chat, audio and video call and file storage platform. It has gobbled up Skype as well.
Zoom: Video calling

*Things That Need To Go Away: The proliferation of difficult-to-use software whose accumulation is itself as much a headache for users as is using it.

Image Credit: Nuzree

Sales Process

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May 192022

A Sales Process is a structured route for the salesperson to get from Point A (a customer is just a gleam in the salesperson’s eyes) to Point B (a sales has been made). For sales to succeed a repeatable and logical set of steps need to be taken. Otherwise, the salesperson and sales manager are relying on luck and we all know how that works.

Sales processes of course could be flexible; however, not having one is a first step to oblivion and not following one is arrogant, lazy and foolish. Customers have their own buying process and that needs to be respected and understood. However, merely and blindly following the customer’s process is a ticket to not realizing that serious customers will not buy unless a series of triggers and events are satisfied, which is the seller’s job.

Here is a high-level sales process cheat sheet:

Sales processes are typically depicted as a funnel with logical steps following one another or more recently as a flywheel or a circle. The idea behind the former is that one step follows another and it is logical to follow the steps from left to right. The idea behind the latter is that the process is repeatable and moreover customer is not dropped into a vacuum at the conclusion of the sale and account manager, customer success, cross-sell and up-sell follow. Both depictions have advantages and disadvantages. They both work. What does not work is not having a sales process.

Points for more detail:

Prospecting: Includes calling, e-mailing, LinkedIn, advertising, marketing events, referrals from existing customers and even inbound leads that would be assessed as qualified.
Qualification: Speaking of which, what is the problem that leads itself to your solution, who is responsible and is there a budget to do this?
Development: In-depth discovery of the situation and lay of the land. Is there an alignment between problem and your solution? If yes, time to have a mutual plan to move forward.
Presentation: An already discussed and semi-validated solution is presented. In-depth discussion about details ensues.
Discussion: Problems, objections and roadblocks are discussed and removed. Depending on the level of complexity and product/service legal, licensing and post-sale services teams are engaged.
Closing: Negotiation and paperwork. Signatures on contracts required.
Account Management: Delivering on promises and contractual obligations, exchange of funds and execution on promises/obligations.

*Things That Need to Go Away: Salespersons who skip steps thinking they got this.

Let’s Talk Artificial Intelligence

Articles, Management, Marketing, Prospecting, Selling, Selling More Add Comments »

Apr 302022

I posted an article on Sales Enablement recently. Much of the modern software used in that niche utilizes Artificial Intelligence (AI). So let us focus on AI now.

What Is AI?

Firstly, let us understand what AI is. Most of us will think back (forward?) to Arnold, Terminator and Skynet and why not? Machine Learning is a subset of AI, but more precisely Artificial Intelligence is programming that teaches a system to mimic human behaviour and actions, but obviously at a faster and more effective manner that brings with it the consistency of a machine. More completely, AI is a series of networks that leverages statistics and instructions over and over to emulate humans. It is designed to improve overtime as well because the more ‘experiences’ (a.k.a. statistics) it has the more complete it becomes.

One more thing, AI may be all the rage now, but it is hardly new. This notion goes back to Alan Turing and the 1950s. For an early application look up ELIZA from the 1960s.

So What (For Sales)?

The end goal, however, remains somewhat elusive. Systems are not perfect. It is thought that perfection has been attained when humans cannot fathom whether they are dealing with a machine or a human being and results are impeccable. If AI, therefore, includes Machine Learning, analytics, natural language, simulation, learning and interaction then how can it help the profession of sales? Here the idea is to take all the information and transaction in sales – conversations, e-mails, responses or lack thereof, every CRM entry, every sale, every lost deal, et cetra – and put them into one place in order to help the seller. The goal is to identify the correct course of action, the next step, the way to help customers and sellers and to win business. Is it possible? To some extent the answer is yes. The hesitation, however, stems from the unpredictability of human psychology and of course different cultures and needs or wants. Yet, AI is supposed to learn those too because after all, it is all data translated to action.

So, Is AI Going To Take Over The World And Rid Us Of Our Jobs (And Sustenance)?

Maybe. Still, as of today the reality on the ground is that AI is here to assist, help, improve and enhance the seller’s efforts not replace it. Put that way, would anyone argue against help? Which salesperson would claim he or she does not need help? One issue, that one can foresee easily, is that AI may be trained to be biased to think like a seller or a vendor. To be successful, this writer supposes, AI needs to think like a customer or prospect. That is the way to successfully sell after all.

So Which Are The Tools?

Like any other category, AI solutions are bound to be comprised of the good, the bad and the so-so and trials, proofs of concept and honest assessments are a must. It is smart to gauge results, ask the user community (the sales team) honestly and measure revenue enhancement before committing. Randomly picked, because TNG and SugarCRM are as good or bad as any other to keep an eye on, I have bookmarked this in order to track the revenue for my ‘proof is in the pudding’ hobby tracking, but truthfully the market will speak sooner or later.

One last thing. Candidly put whether effective or not, the reality is that the market for AI-driven solutions in sales is going to expand. Just keep in mind how much salespeople have traditionally disliked using CRM and yet the parallel expansion and growth of the sector! One factor that speaks to my hypothesis is the growth of AI in other niches. With increased adoption of AI in healthcare, customer service, arts and more the concept is becoming mainstream, which means more revenue for the sector to enable improvement and also for more people to become more comfortable with the notion.

Here goes a list of vendors and providers in the Sales AI space:

Affinity (including Nudge.ai) – A tracking CRM for industries where relationships are important.
Conversica – Provider of a conversational AI. Claims that all its AI Assistants are more accurate than a human. Suited for business development and marketing.
Clari – An opportunity management and forecasting tool to offer better visibility to sales teams.
Drift – Sales and Marketing conversation at the right time with the appropriate content plus insights especially for inbounds.
Exceed.AI (Part of Genesys) – Similar to drift geared towards inbound prospects and leads for sales and marketing, it automatically picks up the conversation, sets appointments and updates Calendars.
Gong.AI – Captures and analyzes customer interactions for insights and next steps.
Heyday – Tuned for retail, Heyday’s AI connects inventory and catalogue to customer search results and nudges sales to connect with customers when most appropriate.
Introhive – Relationship intelligence that leverages CRM to reveal ones network and relationships with customers.
Kixie – Automates calling and texting of the names in CRM and records and tracks the events.
People.ai – Provides persona-specific productivity tools and provides insights.
SalesDirector.ai – Offers predictive insights into sales team’s pipeline and customer interactions.
Salesforce – Salesforce, the leader in CRM, has embedded AI in much of its solutions for insights and automation.
Saleswhale (Part Of 6Sense) – An AI assistant to engage with and follow-up with leads.
VeloxyIO – A platform that integrates e-mail, CRM and calling into one solution and view.
Zendesk – Engage with and support customers across a myriad of channels and keep all interactions in one place.

*Things That Need To Go Away: AI technology companies that are made to be acquired as opposed to being there long-term to help customers.

Let’s Talk Sales Enablement

Articles, Management, Marketing, Negotiating, Prospecting, Selling, Selling More, Uncategorized Add Comments »

Apr 182022

Sales Enablement has been quite an oft-discussed concept in sales circles for the last decade or so. As the name suggests the concept should be simple. Sales Enablement is the who, what, where, when and how of enabling sales (defined here broadly as inside, outside, SME, enterprise, BDR, etc.) to achieve its goals in general and quota targets specifically. Simple enough. Yet, there is a lot more to helping sales, and indeed the whole company, deliver the value message to customers.

Personally, Sales Enablement for me is anything and everything that enables sales. As such, and for me, marketing is sales enablement. A company executive travelling or getting on the telephone with a salesperson to aid his or her effort is sales enablement. Training is sales enablement, et cetra.

However, there is a niche and segment for Sales Enablement all to its own in the marketplace. The segment is large given how the addressable market is vast. The number of vendors vying for a piece of the pie is large because sales is so crucial to everything everybody does. These vendors and suppliers define the market more narrowly than my definition and seek to inhabit the more focused and accepted definition of what the marketplace for their solutions is.

This narrower definition speaks to tools, solutions, programs, software and content that allow the Sales team to find prospects or take a top of the funnel prospect and convert it to a paying customer at the bottom of the funnel. Yes, it is still multi-disciplinary and multi-faceted, but defined more narrowly than my definition above. And with the advent of technology, Sales Enablement in the hands of its official suppliers and vendors has become more technical, more up-to-the-minute as pertains to the needs of the individual accessing it and more relevant for the type of sale it is accessed for and, notwithstanding the automation of much of it, has become more advanced and scientific. That automation piece is actually important because salespersons do not always have the will or time to engage with the technology proactively. it is a win for the sales team’s time and also insurance that the rights steps are being taken when the solution triggers events in an optimal sequence. Modern AI-powered solutions do wonders sometimes.

The more focused definition is fine and here you will find a list of the vendors in the space as of today. The sentence says ‘as of today’ because by the time this writer finishes this paragraph and hits the ‘publish’ button half a dozen vendors have sold themselves, merged or failed rendering the list dated. This is only half a joke. Another half a joke is how a company that is in Sales Enablement could not enable its sales team to take over the world (yet wants to help everyone else do the same). Yes, it is understood that many companies do not seek to remain or grow. Like any sector, half of the companies out there seek to be acquired and cash out. Here is another quip: it is said (by me) that any company with a a.ai domain is flashing a sign saying ‘buy me! buy me!!’

The list is coming shortly, but first a few bullet points on why Sales Enablement is seriously important and a comment on its integration with other departments.

Why are companies adopting formal Sales Enablement programs and solutions?

Sales is not an insular position. It needs and feeds everyone else at the company. From the management team to Marketing and Delivery sales needs to be hand in glove with everybody else. Sales and other departments need to be in sync. The right Sales Enablement environment enables this aspect. This is internal alignment.

Similarly, sales needs to be in sync with its prospects and customers. Sales needs to supply the right impetus, content and information to its customers – whether the two parties are speaking currently and directly with one another or not. Sales Enablement needs to ensure that the two sides (supply and demand) are related and relevant. This is external alignment.

Finally, all of this should be measurable and accountable. How many videos professionally filmed and uploaded by companies have you seen that despite clearly having cost time and a monetary bundle in preparation, lighting, filming and editing have a paltry one hundred views (half of which is the producing team)? Isn’t something amiss? Yes, there is. It is not serving the needs of sales or its customers obviously. How many leads from Marketing were garbage? How many quality leads were mishandled by Sales? Why are people not responding to content? These are mere examples of a mismatched Sales Enablement piece of the puzzle that is not performing and is screaming for a programmatic review, be it content-wise, consumption-wise or perhaps even forming an accessibility point-of-view challenge. Things need to be measurable so they can be manageable so we improve and consistently recaliber.

Finally, Sales Enablement should be integrated. The more all the sets of data, material and processes are integrated the more likely for them to actually work, to be leveraged by sales, to save the requisite time and ultimately to contribute rather than detract. Moreover, when all solutions are integrated the company can better measure the effectiveness and garner insight into what is working and what is not at scale.

Perhaps an ancillary reason to adopt these solutions is to recruit salespersons in the first place. Obviously, enablement tools help the team be successful, earn more and treat customers correctly, but what a recruitment tool? A company adopting the right tech can expect to have more successful sales teams and give people more reasons to work there, right? After all, this whole article is about adding value.

Is there a list of providers and vendors in this space?

With that said and without further ado, here is a list of companies in the space. As mentioned, this is narrowly defined and offerings such as marketing-only, training-only or CRM are omitted. One further ado: Having not personally used all these solutions, inclusion does not equal warrantee that it does what it says. My experience is that several are quite useful and helpful. A few are a waste of time and have proven themselves to be a nuisance. The advice goes doubly for readers who are not in the USA. Contact data are more scarce internationally in many of these tools and process norms do differ from country to country. Review and analysis before buying are your friends.

Adapt – Real-time customer data that integrates with your CRM
Apollo – Find prospects, segment them and connect with them
Bombora – Buyers’ intent data to understand who is looking to buy
CallMiner – Analyses your communication with your customers to drive your actions
Chorus – Conversation intelligence to analyse sales meetings and suggest improvements. Owned by Zoominfo since 2021
Cognism – Market and Sales intelligence including contact information and intent data
D&B Hoovers – Contact information including areas of responsibility and job titles
Datanyze – Contact information for businesses and which solutions they use
DealHub.io – Share information and quotations with customers, automate steps and track engagement
Demandbase – Connects first and third-party data for one view of accounts – now includes InsideView for CRM data management
DiscoverOrg – Contact information and profiles that is integrated with your CRM. Part of Zoominfo
Dooly – Organizes opportunity notes and fields and syncs them into Salesforce to share with others
Enablix – Connect Sales and Marketing content for data-driven decisions on what content is needed next. Also measures engagement
Enthu – Analyses team’s calls and collates them for management for intervention, training or other insights
ExecVision – Conversation intelligence and mining platform in multiple languages
Global Database – An international business directory
Gong – Captures and analyses customer interactions to determine best course of action and areas of hit and miss
Groove – Automates sales activities and lightens the administrative burden of sales. It also automates action items
Guru – Create, share and access data and within the sales workflow
Highspot – Combines content, customer engagement and knowledge sharing in multiple languages
InsideSales.com – Playbooks for sales to optimize sales interactions including appropriate contacts and triggers
Jiminny – A coaching tool to record, analyse, track and learn from your customer conversations to enable improvement and analytics
Klue – A competitor insight platform compiled from internal and external sources
Lead 411 – Company and employee contact information and triggers
Leadgenius – Scale your outbound by finding the right contacts and lists
LeadIQ – Targetted information on potential leads integrated with CRM
Lessonly – An eLearning solution including presentation, tracking and assignments. Purchased by Seismic in 2021
LinkedIn (Sales Navigator) – A professional networking and communication social media. LinkedIn is a part of Microsoft
Lusha – Identify a prospect’s e-mail and telephone number, especially in the USA. It acts as a browser extension
Mediafly – Create and enhance your presentations, including trackable links and analytics
MindTickle – Identify the right sales behaviour and train the team on it
Observe – An analysis of your customers’ audio calls and text communication to derive sentiment signals
Outreach – Helps create and manage sales workflows and track them
SalesHood – A Learning Management System (LMS) that includes testing and tracking
SalesIntel – Helps you identify your prospects with buying intent and provides contact information
Seamless – Finds your prospects’ contact and LinkedIn information
Seismic – A content management platform that allows Marketing to create and customize sales-related material and for the sales team to discover and brand it for a particular engagement
Showpad – Sales content management, training and coaching in one. Track content usage by the customers as well
Showell – Content management, digital sales room and sales content analytics in addition to presentation capabilities. They make a free version available as well.
6Sense – Uncovers buying behaviour and information based on web activity, which triggers for ABM efforts
Slintel – A market intelligence and buyer intent tool. Part of 6Sense now
TechTarget – Identify target contacts and acquire their contact information
Uplead – Business and contact data including e-mail verification
Volley – Convert leads into customer using intent data and personalization
Zoominfo – 360 degree view of customers including intent data and hierarchies

Any names missing? Let me know.

One final important note: All applications should be tested for ease of use. Salespeople are busy and dislike spending time when a software is not user friendly. All purchase decisions should take this, as well as utility, into consideration. Need to heavily configure? Need to code? Need to wait minutes for it to load? Need to complete a curriculum to use the application? Need to become versed in boolean search parameters? Skip the tool.

*Things That Need To Go Away: Sales Enablement solutions that make the sales team neither more effective nor more efficient

Switching To A Technical Role From Sales

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Sep 072021

Photograph Credit: Ross Findon

An acquaintance and a friend called recently. We used to catch up in-person, but those times seem like so long ago. After some catching up and chitchat the conversation drifted into a desire to switch from making a living as a salesperson to a technical programming role.

The discussion was ‘is it wise to switch to a technical role?’

This is always a tough question to answer. It is doubly difficult when someone is putting food on the table and is gainfully employed as a salesperson.

My generic answer, of course, is that a life spent not pursuing what you really want to do is a life wasted. That is simplistic perhaps, but absolutely true. Secondly, the old adage that you won’t do a good job if your heart is not into it probably applies too. The opposite may also stand. You will do a good job if you have a passion for your work programming.

Either way, kudos for the introspective question and honesty to explore a more desirable life.

Photograph Credit: Ben White

With that said, past the above, here is my advice:

Firstly, do you have the skills to be competitive? Are you as good as the average next person out there with whom you have to compete? If not, do you have the time and financial wherewithal to get there? There are plenty of courses and programs out there if you are not where you need to be today.

Secondly, writing and applying software, as well as changing careers, require both someone to sell the application to users and explain the career change respectively to buyers and employers. Taken as such, the sales experience becomes a useful skill (again). Moreover, the best programmers have business and people acumen and can speak to and understand that aspect of technology as well. It is likely that a (former) salesperson could tick that box.

Every business has a lifecycle requiring someone to build something (an engineer or, in this case, a programmer), someone to sell it and someone to account for and keep track of both sides of the ledger i.e. revenue and expenditures. In the context of these needs, one could make a more rational decision.

Consider:

Are you technical enough? Do you understand the principles?
Do you mind not being the lead?
Do you like interacting with colleagues or customers?
Do you know the industry?
Can you communicate and are you articulate?
Are you interested in recurring education and upgrading yourself?

Individual circumstances vary and one size does not fit all, but the above should be a good starting point. What do you think?

*Things That Need To Go Away: Not Liking What You Are Doing

The Buyer And The Seller’s Journey

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Jun 272021

These pages have written about Sales Process, Sales Department Set-Up and Sales Coaching for the team and department.

What about the modern customer’s and seller’s journey however (yes, they somewhat follow one another). The sales team must be trained and acutely cognizant of how the buyer journey example works, control, facilitate and expedite every step of the way and the organization has to deliver on each in tandem (and expeditiously). If a step is to be skipped then every party needs to understand why and to what end.

How is your organization performing against the below buyer journey funnel and template?

Modern Customer Journey

*Things That Need to Go Away: Salespersons who do not have discipline to cover every aspect. “I Don’t Need This Stuff. I know Better.”

SAP ERP Support

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Jun 172021

This should have grabbed your attention if you are either an ERP software watcher or run SAP ERP and, in turn, likely work for a larger enterprise company. SAP has announced the deadline for supporting its ERP S/3 6.0 ECC (and earlier products) is 2027. Good news is that this was quickly updated from the initial 2025 time-line mere days after the earlier deadline ostensibly due to adverse customer reaction. Installing, running and certainly upgrading or tossing SAP ERP is no simple matter. This is not to single out the SAP ERP system, as most ERP module providers have had their share of implementation challenges, but SAP is the market share leader and has had a few more publicized issues. Notably, in parallel SAP has committed to supporting S/4 HANA until 2040 only. That itself is less than twenty years only. History points to SAP extending that deadline however.

Companies depend on SAP ERP software to run everything at their companies and the decision to upgrade or change this all-encompassing software is a multi-year engagement either way that will certainly come with both user experience and process challenges.

Customer choices are:

To upgrade to SAP S/4 HANA, which utilizes SAP’s own HANA database or
Switch to another ERP.
A third, and perhaps more short-sighted, choice is to switch from SAP direct to a third party support organization beyond 2027. Third party providers certainly have their place and often offer good value, but the change has to happen sooner or later. It essentially delays the inevitable.

It is important to note that S/4 was rebuilt from the ground up and this is not a matter of a ‘simple’ upgrade. Moreover, the change in database requires that this large piece of the puzzle undergo its own transformation as well. SAP would remind customers of the upgraded architecture, capabilities and speed boost of its S/4 HANA product. Customers new and old should look at their SAP choices carefully and consider (right as they look at their numerous customizations) what to do soon as the SAP expertise out there is limited and one should not be caught shorthanded. SAP integrators would be delighted to help with what is surely not a mere software change, but a company transformation. A new implementation or upgrade is a multi-year effort and should be weighed against SAP’s 2027 deadline.

Frankly, springing into action last minute may give your company less leverage when speaking with SAP or others.

In short, the time to look at your current and future needs, processes and capacity for change is now.

*Things That Need To Go Away: A Pound Of Cure Instead Of An Ounce Of Preparation

Astounding Move By SAP

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Jun 012021

Anyone who has read anything on these pages should know by now the emphasis on and advocacy for selling by role (role-based selling) and industry (selling by vertical KBR). It is the only way to sell an enterprise solution and software in particular.

While the Enterprise software market remains fragmented, SAP maintains the largest single share. That is why it was a surprise to see SAP pull back from the financial services’ sector and spin off much of its industry capital. SAP’s decision to spin off its vertical IP means the world’s biggest ERP provider could not effectively compete in one of the world’s biggest industries. Presumably, and this is the author’s speculation, the new entity can pick and choose which technologies and platforms it offers its customers and not be tied to HANA (platform and database of choice at SAP) or even SAP’s Cloud.

Photograph Credit: ArtisticOperations

SAP and a company called Dediq have formed a partnership using the FSI (Financial Services Industry) name, which was then branded SAP Fioneer (all indications are that this name is final). What do you make of this scheme by a company that counts Comerica, Deutsche Bank Italia, Bank Of India; et cetra as customers and yet cannot effectively compete in the arena? What is the contribution of Dediq to this venture aside from a multi-million dollar cash outlay? SAP and Accenture had an agreement regarding developing solutions for Financial Services previously. SAP was called “a leader… in retail banking” by Gartner among others in 2016.

Two points come to mind. Firstly, what hope do other ERP providers have in serving multiple industries when SAP and its €28 billion in annual revenue cannot? Secondly, does this serve as another reminder how important it is for enterprise service providers to focus vertically and do so in-depth?

*Things That Need To Go Away: Horizontal Solutions With No Depth

Photograph Credit: DawnFu

Should You Try Again?

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May 132021

Photograph Credit: Stocksnap

Salespeople know the routine.

Telephone call goes out, no one picks up and you leave a message

You hit ‘send’ and the e-mail lands in the customer’s Inbox. No reply.

Third scenario: Customer asked to hear from you or you have a planned next call and the customer is AWOL.

What is going on? Should you try again? Should you keep trying to reach the customer? Should you knock it off and pack it in?

The answer is you need multiple follow-ups. There is research that an enterprise sale requires five follow-ups and most salespeople give up too early. There is also valid research about how cold calling should be warm and messaging should be exciting. Putting those aside, for the moment, if you believe in your solution here is why you need to keep politely trying until you connect or the customer tells you otherwise.

10. Your message was just not exciting enough.

You are contacting humans after all.

9. You do not get to score/sell if you don’t take the repeat/follow-up shot as someone famously said.

Well, something like that. You don’t see quotation marks around that statement, do you?

8. Message was never received.

The electronic dog ate the electronic message.

7. Customer knows that he/she is the customer and you are the salesperson.

The customer expects you to put in the extra effort to get the business. The ball is in your court!

6. The project has been postponed or cancelled or been given to a competitor who adeptly followed up.

You did not follow-up adequately to either know this or get the business.

5. Customers are simply disorganized.

Help their lives by reaching out.

4. Customer means to call you (see below), but has lost your number or e-mail.

“What was the salesperson’s name/telephone number again?”

3. The e-mail or voice-mail was deleted or buried.

It could have been assigned to the ‘will take care of this later’ column, but time has not freed up yet.

2. Customers forget.

We all forget things especially if it is not in our Calendars.

1. Customers are at work.

They are busy and have many things on their mind.

Things That Need To Go Away: Salespersons Who Have Better Things to Do Than Try And Try Again

MARKETING LED: SALES DRIVEN: BY AJAY K SIRSI

Book Reviews Add Comments »

Apr 202021

The Why And How Of A Marketing Plan

Whether the Marketing program of York University in Toronto, Canada ranks highly or not is beyond my knowledge, but reading Marketing Led Sales Driven it occurred to me multiple times that professor Ajay K. Sirsi who teaches/taught there is not just knowledgeable about marketing, but is also very passionate about marketing plans. In his opinion the Marketing department at a company leads and Sales follows. The Marketing department sets the plan, parameters and outlines the steps and Sales executes in tandem. That model is one Pandora’s Box that won’t be opened in this review! The author notes that Marketing and Sales are two sides of the same coin and the company needs to rally around this notion. Figure 2.1 depicts this simple connection. Speaking of which, and to be clear, the book’s title hints at a broader topic than the rather focused content of these pages.

A colleague of mine from work handed me this title as a gift and, despite it taking me a while to begin reading due to a backlog of books waiting on the shelf, it was something well worth reading not only because of my occupation or that one of my degrees is in Marketing, but because the author and his self-published book have attentively included multiple charts and graphs to explain the contents in detail. It is always beneficial when the book augments its text and information with samples of which there are three in this book in the form of three appendices; a complete Marketing Plan sample, a complete Sales Plan sample and a complete Key Account Plan example. The author provides the reader with templates. There are even time-lines and a calendar as well.

The book does occasionally become confusing layout and order-wise, but overall it is concise and easy to read and understand.

In seven chapters (200 pages fifty of which are the aforementioned appendices) Marketing Led Sales Driven describes the imperatives of a Marketing plan, the Sales execution that needs to follow including the necessary and mandatory components and the pitfalls to watch for step by step. Page 59 really kicks things off by posing the question we all need to pose, “what business are we in?” and relates and insists that the planning is a must and relevant to all manner of companies, namely from a solo endeavour to a multinational corporation. Examples abound. The question is key because everything one does is to benefit the customer and to do that one needs to segment our customers and markets. Once that is done, the winning company is one that serves its customers better and faster than the competition. Success, Sirsi reminds us, is not accidental and absolutely depends on developing and executing a strategy.

As the author describes the flow is as follows:

Understand Your Market
Create A Marketing Strategy
Deliver And Manage It (including specific time-lines).

A successful enterprise is in alignment and does not work in silos. Successful companies implement at the customer level and the customer level is not the strategic plan level. Also, the author recommends taking the strategic plan one year at a time and implementing at the customer level. Then the team meets regularly to review the marketing activities. In fact, the professor is insistent that a good marketing plan is actionable on a daily basis. The qualities of a good one are outlined in page 66, including the most important one namely being ‘customer focused.’ Chapters 3 and 4 provide more details. All of this, importantly, hinges on data. It is the data that drives everything and without those the exercise is futile. Moreover, the author is of the mind that customers should not be asked regarding their interests, wants and needs. Any customer would ask for more at a lower cost. What the author wants the marketers to determine is what the customer segmentation’s value chain and benefits are. This information not only forms the basis for the annual plan, but should also be relayed to the customer segment as a form of service! An outline of questions to ask in the service of the customer segmentation is on page 56 as is a hi-level way of delivering a SWOT Analysis.

One more thing the author emphasizes is the simple fact that the marketing Plan is to make the company money. One that costs money has it backwards. This is an important point and one that does not get enough sunlight in the corporate world. Elsewhere, the author warns against benchmarking against the competition. It is something the author warns against and calls “a slippery slope.”

On a personal level, the contrasts between Exhibits 5.3 and 5.4 came across as whimsical. You will have to read it for yourself. Suffice to say that the author mocks overly complex and irrelevant customer Marketplace Analyses against simple and matter-of-fact ones.

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