Your sales process sets up the success or failure of your production team.
I’ve often been in meetings with operational people who are overwhelmed and not hitting their targets. They struggle to get more efficient or productive, and desperately seek more resources that rarely come.
But when I see a target that is missed more than 5% of the time, I ask, “How did you set the target?”
It’s then that we find out that there is no good rationale for the target. It’s also often the case that the sales team is part of the problem.
Although it certainly makes it easier in the short run for salespeople to tell customers they can have whatever they want, it usually ends up costing the company money. Why? Because it puts excessive burden on the production team to meet targets that aren’t a good fit for the business.
Most customers can be managed. When they understand the costs and risks of different options, they will make a reasonable selection. But it requires a sales team that is able and willing to talk with customers in an educational, supportive, and firm way.
If your operations team is struggling, dig into your sales process, and understand how you’re setting customer expectations. It’s likely to have a huge impact on your operations team – and will likely improve your profitability too.
How good is your business’ radar system?
Do you have a radar system for your business?
For my clients who are using my 12-month strategic planning process – and for those of you who want to create a system for sustainable success – summer is the time we wrap up our survey of market trends and forces. So, as I look back on the process I’ve been through over the last 3 months with my clients, it’s interesting to think about the RADAR system we’ve built for their companies.
How can you build a radar system for your business?
You can build a system on the cheap by using what your company already has:
New project or product ideas customers have asked for over the last year
Recent customer requests
Internal brainstorming about new ideas
Clippings of trade journal articles that you can collect throughout the year
You can build a more robust system by adding some resources:
Using a consultant or service (or intern!) once a year to get more information about your markets – through web searches, customer interviews, and/or research reports
Building a searchable database of market intelligence facts
Naming one of your managers Trend Czar or Head Trendie, and
Once you have your company’s radar system built, then you have to read what it’s showing you. There are 5 steps to turning your “readings” into action:
1. Determine what resources you can devote to pursuing trends and new areas of business (as opposed to improving or expanding your current lines of business)
2. Assemble a long list (at least 12) of important trends from all the data you’ve collected
3. Filter your long list down to a short list (at most 5) by evaluating the general impact and potential of the trends
4. Determine which short-list trends will get resources by evaluating the details of the opportunity, the likelihood of your company’s success, the investment needed, and the risks.
5. Create an action plan for the trends that will get resources
Like any radar system, yours will give you advance notice of issues coming your way, so that you have time to prepare and react.