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Sales & Marketing Assessment

December, 2016

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Missing Revenue Targets

Declining Margins

Shrinking Market Share

High Seller Turnover

Inability To Enter New Markets

Inconsistent Marketing Messaging

High Cost Of Sales

Common Problems We Solve

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Identifies areas of strength and areas in need of improvement across sales and marketing organizations

Typical activities include:Review of sales strategy, structure, process, sales support systems, and roles Interviews with a cross section of sellers, sales managers, sales executives, and sales

support personnelObservation of sellers interacting with potential clients either in person or remotely Customer Interviews On line surveys to gather feedback from key leadership personnel and identify

strengths and weaknesses of selling skills across organization (14 critical skill areas)

Information would be compiled to produce an easy to implement roadmap for immediate, long lasting improvement in revenues and margins

What Is A Sales & Marketing Assessment?

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Assessment Focus Areas

Strategy and Marketing

Sales Support Systems and

Tools Sales Process Seller Skills

and Behavior

• Solution Orientation

• Differentiators

• Go To Market Strategy

• Brand Marketing

• Product Marketing

• Lead Generation

• Automation Tools

• Sales Tools

• Social Media Usage

• Organization Structure

• Performance Management

• Recruiting and On-

Boarding

• Compensation and

Rewards

• Sales Process

• Sales Management

Process

• Planning Process

• Sales Culture

• Forecasting and Financial

Plans

• Selling Skills- Tactical

• Selling Skills- Strategic

• Seller Time Utilization

• Manager Skills

• Manager Time Utilization

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Typical Assessment Process

Interviews with Sellers, Managers, and Sales Support Personnel

Ride Alongs With Sellers and/or Mangers

Review Of Available Documentation About Sales Activities

Customer Interviews

Web Surveys – Skills Assessment and Organizational Assessment

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On-Line Assessments

Sales Situational Survey Example – Target Sellers And

Sales managers

Organizational Survey Example – Target Sales, Marketing, And Executive Staff

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Sales Skills Assessment

Assessment Topics ScoreTerritory Planning 5.1Account Planning 2.6Pre-call Planning 5.3Prospecting 2.9Conducting a First Call 4.9Consultative Dialogue 3.6Competitive Selling 4.5Accessing Decision-Makers 5.5Controlling the Buying Process 3.8Giving Presentations 5.8Value and Differentiation 4.1Negotiating 2.5Executive Level Selling 3.6Strategic Opportunity Selling 4.5

Green

Yellow

Red

:4.3 and Up

:3.6 – 4.2

:3.5 and Below

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Sample Communication

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Sample Interview Guide Topic Focus Specific Questions

Purpose Let seller know the reason for the interview session.

 

General Background Of Interviewee and role in organization

Understand the seller’s role and personal and professional background.

If a manger, role in organization?

ProductsDetermine what products the seller (or manager) is involved in selling

Discuss the sellers role in each product line;

Sales Process

Have the seller discuss the typical sales process from lead inception to close. Also, discuss variations.

Take typical opportunity. Discuss of inception (planning) to close. Who is called on? Face to face or on phone? Access to power an issue? Presentations given? Other resources involved? Are proposals written? Are RFP’s part of the world?

Non-Sales Activities Discuss what, if any, non-sales activities the seller is involved with.

Customer service? Administrative?

Automation Tools What, if any, automation tools are used? CRM?

Relationship With ManagerIn general, how does the seller interface with his or her manager?

 

Sales Training Experience And Sales SkillWhat, if any, exposure has the seller had to sales training methodologies? Are there specific skills that the seller feels needs to be addressed?

What do sellers in general do well? What skills could sellers improve upon?

Wage and CompensationHow is the seller compensated? (Base, commission, etc.) Does the seller feel the compensation plan incents proper behavior?

 

Performance MeasurementHow is the performance of the seller measured? Are there metrics in addition to achievement of revenue goals?

Activity metrics?

CompetitionWho does the seller compete against most often? What strategies does the seller use to position against competition?

Differentiators?

MarketingWhat marketing activities or campaigns does or the company use to support seller activities?

 

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Sample Assessment Heat Map

Strategy and Marketing

Sales Support Systems and

Tools Sales Process Seller Skills

and Behavior

• Solution Orientation• Differentiators• Go To Market Strategy• Brand Marketing• Product Marketing• Lead Generation

• Automation Tools• Sales Tools• Social Media• Organization Structure• Performance

Management• Recruiting and On-

Boarding• Compensation and

Rewards

• Sales Process• Sales Management

Process• Planning Process• Sales Culture• Forecasting and

Financial Plans

• Selling Skills- Tactical• Selling Skills- Strategic• Seller Time Utilization• Manager Skills• Manager Time

Utilization

High Low

Score

Required Focus

Red – Address

Yellow – Monitor

Green – Model

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Findings And Recommendations

Upon completion of the Sales and Marketing Assessment, Lawson Associates will provide you with a detailed report that outlines your strengths as an organization and highlights your opportunities for improvement. Report recommendations will be prioritized and time lined so you achieve maximum benefit in the shortest time possible.

In addition to the Sales and Marketing Assessment, Lawson Associates provides sales consulting services in many areas. These services include but are not limited to:

Sales process creation and implementationGo To Market strategiesSeller and management trainingNew hire profilingSales and Marketing alignmentAutomation tool training and implementationProductivity and efficiency strategyWage and compensation plans

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Sample Findings

Sales Support Systems and Tools

Automation Tools - Findings Salesforce.com (SFDC) in use by inside and

outside sales teams Should consider migration to enterprise

version to enable easier app configuration Quality of data in SFDC could be improved.

Review of 35 opportunity records revealed improper stage coding on 15 records

May benefit from some SFDC add-ons such as ‘Inside View’

SFDC forecasting should segregate ‘booked business’ from projected revenue attainment. Project revenue attainment should be projected over at least six quarters in SFDC

s Process

• Automation Tools• Sales Tools• Social Media Usage• Organization Structure• Performance Management• Recruiting and On-Boarding• Compensation and Rewards

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Sample Recommendations

Recommendation Specific Actions

1. Develop a formal hiring process for new sales staff

Define competencies for each sales position Consider hiring a recruiter to help fill staff positions Develop more formal processes for resume screening and interviewing Develop a formal talent assessment process for potential new hires Develop a formal on-boarding and training process

2. Develop a formal sales process and define methods for improving time from

contract to revenue and cross selling

Identify selling strategies – small trial/pilot versus exclusive contract Identify add-on sales strategy and process Develop Customer buying process Develop more formal ACME Sales Process Align existing 10 steps into 5 to 6 steps For each step, identify activities, sales tools, verifiable outcomes, and yield probabilities Align SFDC with the new sales process Adopt the new language of the sales process in weekly account and opportunity reviews

3. Formalize the opportunity planning process

Define what a key opportunity is in the ACME world (i.e. revenues > X, strategic, etc.) Develop formal (but simple) opportunity planning process. Process should have templates

to analyze players in the opportunity, competitive strategies, and a formal win plan Develop a cadence for opportunity planning and communicate to the sales force

4. Better define and incent the role of the Client Services in the sales process

Define sales and account growth expectations for Client services managers Improve CSM sales skills Modify CSM wage and compensation plan Measure improvement in time to revenue and sale of tech docs and prosecution services

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Sample Project Schedule

TASK 1 2 3 4 5 6

Project Planning And Kick Off

Conduct Interviews

Conduct Ride Alongs

Conduct Customer InterviewsConduct On-Line Assessments

Analyze Data And Build Report

Final Report Out

Week Number

*Timeline will vary depending on size of the organization

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Get the most out of your sales department. We want to help you create a more efficient and disciplined sales force.

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