Articles

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ASSOCIATES RAISE SALES Performance, Productivity, Predictability

Published Articles

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Articles grouped by category:
Process/CARE, Performance Improvement, Management Challenges, Automation

Process/CARE:

Do You Believe in Magic? (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, September '97, TVI)

First of a three-part series, this column defines process and debunks the notion of applying a manufacturing metaphor to sales. In sales you can’t control inputs or the environment, but you may be able to exert some control over traditionally informal sales processes. The question is why bother? Answers presented include the ability to share information, increased cycles of learning and a more compelling way to assess sales call effectiveness.

And the Word Was Process (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, October '97, TVI)

Senior management is looking for measurable, predictable, sustainable, continuously improving business results. Accountability is in here, too, and all of them are explained, including how they can be attained, in this article. Second of a three-part series, process is popular and will increasingly become so as it relates to sales. Read part two to find out why.

Brain Surgery, Anyone? (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, November '97, TVI)

The final segment in this three-part series explains why sales reps are an inefficient, too expensive way to do anything other than sell. Presented is the C.A.R.E. model (Customer Acquisition, Retention and Expansion) that depicts how marketing, sales and customer service tie together. Also discussed is the difference between optimizing sales and synchronizing your organization.

Pyramid Power and Automation? (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, November '98, TVI)

For over ten years, I've been presenting the Levels of Relationship pyramid (eg, Vendor up through Partner). A corollary to this model is the Levels of Insight pyramid (eg, Data up through Wisdom). Today companies are drowning in data while dying of thirst for information. There is essential and meaningful work for your sales force that derives from these models. And important capabilities that must be provided by your automation systems to support them.

Garbage In, Garbage ... Well, You Know (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, January '99, TVI)

This article generated more phone calls and emails that all the previous columns combined! Not one response refuted the challenge I've confronted Sales VPs and CEOs with for the past: "I'll bet my house, right now, that you have people out working hard, trying to get business you want." The article discusses why this incredible waste of selling resource continues in companies today and outlines a lead qualification scale to begin to change things.

Gone Fishing (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, March '99, TVI)

A follow-up to January's column, this article discusses the "Life of a Lead" in your organization. Have you mapped this process and do you know where the bottlenecks are? Do you have an agreed upon, workable definition of what a lead is? Five steps are outlined and discussed to guide you in organizing and/or improving your lead generation and, specifically, lead handling processes.

No More Wishes Wants and Misinformation (The Culpepper Letter, January '94, TVI)

This article actually summarizes the TVI White Paper OMS: A Step Beyond & Before SFA listed under the Case Studies section. If you want to give your manager a quick overview of sales process and why it matters, and its critical role in improving forecasting accuracy, this is a good place to start.

Building Better Customer Relationships (The Culpepper Letter, April '94, TVI)

One of the early articles outlining TVI's levels of relationship pyramid and related sales abilities. Lots of people are making a fuss today about not just the selling cycle, but the buying cycle; this article raised the issue three years ago.

Performance Improvement: [top]

How Do You Measure Up? (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, February '98, TVI)

First of a three-part series introducing metrics. This article expands on the axiom "You can't manage what you don't measure," and provides insights into the differences and different value of leading versus trailing indicators. Metrics provide a basis for value-added coaching. Finally, mean performance, as measured by metrics, is the individual's responsibility; the size of system variance, also measured by metrics, is management's responsibility. What does that mean? It means management can't continue to simply dictate higher revenues year after year, without also addressing what system improvements have been made to enable improved individual performance.

Driving by the Seat of Their Pants (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, May '98, TVI)

The final installment of this three-part series, samples of other metrics are presented. In addition, charts depict the way measures vary and the importance of understanding normal variance and trends. What all this means to managers, reps and the company as a whole can mean the difference between World Class performance and running out of gas on the final lap.

Moving Beyond VooDoo Forecasting (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, April '98, TVI)

Second of the metrics series, this column focuses on the issues surrounding forecasting. First, that there is a difference between making your number and making your forecast. Second, the "hockey stick" phenomenon is addressed where sales are essentially flat for three quarters, then go ballistic in the final quarter. And finally, the importance of cycle time and the impact of not understanding what your cycle length is are discussed.

How To Grow a Sales Rep (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, October '99, TVI)

Combining common process and metrics foundation with clear performance coaching offers the keys to growing the sales operation's capability, and increasing the salesforce's productivity growth. SFA technology is the mechanism to provide the accurate, timely, objective, individualized performance feedback essential to both coaching and improvement.

Sales Excellence vs. Excellent Sales (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, May '97, TVI)

This column discusses several key issues related to, supported by and separate from sales automation. Among topics covered are: levels of sales competence, aligning the development of these with corporate missions and the beginning of a pure (ie, open-ended) sales career path. Sales mastery shows the possibility of "life beyond the numbers" and points the way to increased earnings, job satisfaction and future requirements.

Form Counts! (The Culpepper Letter, September '93, TVI)

The first of several Sales Mastery articles written for Culpepper, discussion of paper based forms supporting sales training may now seem outdated--we reread the article and found it still applies.

Management Challenges: [top]

Was It Bad for You, Too? (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, July '99, TVI)

First of a two-part series on six major management challenges Sales Managers have to deal with every day (Span of Control, Managing Reps from Afar, Forecast Accuracy, Competition, Attracting/Retaining Great People, and Ramping Up New Hires), setting them as foundation for part two, Managers Have Needs Too, Ya Know, in which the challenges are examined for how automation software systems could be applied to help meet them.

Managers Have Needs Too, Ya Know (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, August/September '99, TVI)

Second part of a two-part series on six major challenges facing sales managers (first part, Was It Bad for You, Too?), in which we examine the six issues (Span of Control, Managing Reps from Afar, Forecast Accuracy, Competition, Attracting/Retaining Great People, and Ramping Up New Hires) and how CRM/SFA automation technology can assist managers in meeting the challenges by providing the information they need to bring them into significantly better operating control.

The Real Cost of Sales Rep Turnover (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, September '98, TVI)

An argument could be made that replacing a rep can cost up to the value of that person's annual quota. Long accepted as a "normal" expense of running a sales force, sale personnel turnover rates are now soaring past 30-40% in many companies. The costs of interviewing, hiring, training and ramping new reps is only the tip of the iceberg of what the whole real cost of turnover amounts to in lost revenue production.

Selling the Sellers (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, April '97, TVI)

This article appeared as a cover story using the carrot and stick argument. Recognizing that without the sales force buying into the SFA project you can't be successful, this article highlights issues and concerns of sales and suggests what benefits could make it worth their while.

Give 'em a Reason Why (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, April '99, TVI)

A dozen real-world questions are presented for consideration from the sales reps' point of view. These questions were first posed without elaboration in the April '97 cover article "Selling the Sellers." Barry presented the questions with some discussion in his DCI keynote address, "It's the Implementation, Stupid." Results from informal survey of attendees are summarized.

Hockey Sticks and Space Shuttles (The Culpepper Letter, October '93, TVI)

If the year-end "hockey stick" phenomenon is part of your sales revenue results production reality, this article gives an example of how you can undermine a rep's credibility and suggests a few things to keep in mind as the eleventh hour approaches.

Telesales + Field Sales = Team Sales (The Culpepper Letter, November '93, TVI)

Another old chestnut from three-and-a-half years ago, still relevant in today's sales environment. The hand-off between lead generation, inside sales and the field are still critical today and, for the most part, are not done smoothly. Discussion of appropriate roles, Cost of Sales and specific actions to address these are outlined in this article.

Don't Promote Your Best Reps Out of Sales! (The Culpepper Letter, May '94, TVI)

The last of the series, this article addressed the lack of a pure sales career path. Included are at least a few ways veteran sales reps can play, contribute and be recognized at levels higher than new and/or intermediate sales personnel.

Reigning In the Costs of Sales (The Culpepper Letter, March '94, TVI)

So much emphasis is hurled around concerning the catch-all phrase "cost of sales" (COS), but so very little has been done to openly address or fix the root causes in the fundamental ways a traditional sales operation operates itself. Until the leverage that improving process effectiveness has over revenue productivity and profitability is understood, "COS" will continue to elude control.

Automation: [top]

SFA Takes Wing (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, July '97, TVI)

Sure there’s a lot of technology and this whole endeavor can get off the ground—but is that sufficient for commercial viability? Barry Trailer identifies the five components (SFA vendors, Sales Mastery, Sales Training, Consultants and Systems Integrators) and their interplay necessary to get your automation project up and flying. Must read for anyone associated with your automation or process improvement project and everyone in management.

Selling the Sellers (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, April '97, TVI)

This article appeared as a cover story using the carrot and stick argument. Recognizing that without the sales force buying into the SFA project you can't be successful, this article highlights issues and concerns of sales and suggests what benefits could make it worth their while.

Is Your ROI Bogus? (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, March '97, TVI)

As a Contributing Editor to the magazine, Barry writes a monthly column ("Can We Talk?"). This first column outlines the importance and increasing scrutiny of SFA return on investment figures and also points out many of the fallacies which may be incorporated in your own calculations.

Patience is a Virtue (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, August '98, TVI)

An article summary of the actual case study based on TVI's work with The Tennant Company of Minneapolis over a two year period. Tennant was once again named one of Fortune magazine's Top 100 Companies to Work For. This column (and Barry's keynote July 30th in New York) describe the trials, some helpful tips and the rewards of staying the course on SFA. The full version is below in the Cases section entitled, Meaningful, Measurable Sales Success: A True Story.

Who's on First? (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, June '97, TVI)

Who’s responsible for SFA success: IS, Sales, Management? Since sales impacts the entire company, management has a role. Do they know it and are they actively involved? Sales itself is obviously a customer of SFA, but have they done more than articulate some vague wishes, non-negotiable demands and unrealistic timelines? Information Systems will be the installer, administrator and supporter of an SFA system; how are their requirements balanced against the needs of a diverse set of immediate and eventual end-users? The trade-offs and responsibilities of each of these groups is outlined in this column.

A Pop Quiz From Your Sales Force (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, April '97, TVI)

Appearing as a sidebar to the article below, Selling the Sellers, this short piece challenges you to answer a dozen questions from the sales rep's point of view. This is also the basis of Barry's presentations at the DCI Field & Sales Force Expo & Conference in '97. See the DCI calendar for upcoming dates or you may wish to order the audio tape (recorded in Chicago 4/23/97).

In Honor of "Win/Win" SFA Projects (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, February '99, TVI)

For the past two years, Barry has served as a panel judge for the prestigious Microsoft Industry Solution Awards program. The program recognizes SFA vendors that have materially contributed to a customer's success. Barry outlines what the decision criteria for the awards are and suggests the weighting is appropriate in evaluating your SFA program/vendor relationship.

An Industry Gets Real (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, December '98, TVI)

Barry's year-end state of the industry column. Last year he claimed ERP was just a "bigger, badder lie." This year's topics include pokes at the "squishy" definitions of sales automation success/failure figures and boldly imprecise return on investment (ROI) claims. Changes in the SFA/CRM marketplace in '98 and projections of what these mean in '99 are also discussed.

Six Tips to SFA Success. (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, July '98, TVI)

Adapted from Barry's welcoming address to the DCI Sales Force Automation Conference, this article outlines a half-dozen tips to selecting an working with an SFA vendor. The insights are gleaned from the past several years working with clients and vendors, speaking to consultants and listening to war stories. Check it out.

The Night Before Year-End (Sales & Field Force Automation magazine, December '97, TVI)

Most reps still carry paper based Day-Timers, top producing reps still shun as many automation requirements as possible (including a current sales rep at an SFA firm who’s more than 300% of plan), accurate forecasts remain elusive, and rep turnover and need for faster ramp up to productivity continue to dog managers and organizations. Now we’re told ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is the answer. In this article Barry calls ERP a snow job and says SFA still has plenty of work to do.
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