18. Management Briefing
Territory Overview
My territory consists of
•# of accounts
•Geography covered
•Predominant vertical markets and accounts
The environment is
•Current economic conditions and trends
•Vertical market impact and trends
•Government regulations impacting the territory
Microsoft situation and trends
•Revenue trends
•Product trends
•Licensing situation
•Anti-piracy situation
18
19. Management Briefing, Continued
Territory Overview
Competitive situation
•Significant competitors
•Market share trends
•Significant competitive wins/losses
Partner coverage
•Predominant partners
•Strengths and weaknesses
•Gaps in coverage
19
38. Why Do Customers Buy?
A Universal Truth
Businesses and organizations do not buy
technology just because; they buy
technology to solve a business problem.
38
39. Microsoft Offerings
Sample Listing
Client
Server
Windows
SQL
Collaboration
Office
SharePoint
Exchange
IW
Security & Management
Dynamics
CRM
ERP
BizTalk
39
40. Opportunity Map Terminology
Individual Account
An A account
Significant future business potential
Deserving of significant sales effort
Group of Accounts
Accounts who have similar needs
Can be verticals, Next Logical Product groups, accounts covered
by the same partners, etc
Offerings
What Microsoft sells
Products, services, solutions
Sector
The intersection of an Offering and an Individual Account or Group
of Accounts
40
48. Identifying Sectors
Considerations for Selecting Groups of Accounts
Measurable: Can revenue be tracked
according to the sectors you’ve defined?
Substantial: Are the sectors of sufficient size
in terms of potential revenue?
Unique: Are the sectors different enough to
warrant unique focus?
Growth Potential: Do the sectors represent
considerable upside?
49. Opportunity Map
Sector
Total Potential Revenue
200000
Microsoft Resource
Partner
Campaign
Selected
49
82. Develop Your Plan
Targeted Opportunity Areas
Objective Objective Objective Objective Objective
Action Outcome Owner Resources Date
Action Outcome Owner Resources Date
Action Outcome Owner Resources Date
Action Outcome Owner Resources Date
82
107. Implement Your Plan
Prepare
Monitor,
Measure, Workshop
Report
Review with
Implement
Virtual Team
Allocate Review with
Resources Management
Finalize
Plan
107
We will be using a format that looks like this. I am going to divide you into 3 teams, with each team taking one of the groups we have been talking about, either Microsoft, our partners, or our customers.Divide the room into 3 teams. On a flip chart have the following roles identified:Team LeaderScribeTime KeeperDevil’s AdvocateDescribe the roles:Team leader: responsible for the conduct of the group, and makes sure that everyone participates equallyScribe: decent handwriting, record on the flip chartTime keeper: keeps the group on schedule, periodically lets people know how much time is leftDevil’s Advocate: When it is time to reach consensus, asks the tough questions to make sure the best decisions are reached.Ask participants to decide on who will play each role on the team.
Key Message: From chaos to patterns, from chaos to focus.As a territory manager, you have a significant number of accounts in your territory. What do you suppose happens when you try to pursue each of those accounts without first qualifying which ones have the most potential? You waste time and valuable resources on opportunities that don’t help you meet your quotas. So, the first step and most important critical success factor for you is changing how you view your territory.Look at the slide for a moment. What does the graphic look like to you? Capture participant responses on the flipchart. The answer you are looking for is “chaos.” You may get answers like “puzzle pieces.” However, the idea you need to convey here is that the graphic appears uncoordinated, unfocused. That’s right. The graphic looks like chaos. It is a list of random accounts. Now, let’s talk about a more effective approach. Click to display the right side of the graphic and the text “One Territory.” What does the right side of the graphic look like to you? Capture participant responses on the flipchart. The answer you are looking for is something like coordination or patterns. Either of these words implies that there is some strategy or purpose in the arrangement of the pieces. The idea here is that you must take a step back. You must look at your territory as a whole to understand who your customers are, what the market trends and economic trends are, who your partners are, and who your competition is. Then, with a thorough understanding of your territory, you can focus on and select the areas with the most potential and create a plan of attack. The key is focusTransition: This workshop is all about focus. So let’s look at what we hope to achieve in this workshop and how we will go about doing that.
In speaking of what we want to achieve, we have some business objectives for the workshop.Review the business objectives and expand on one or two.In the course of the workshop you will learn how to (Click) then review the learning objectives and expand briefly on one or two .Transition: We will go about achieving these objectives through the agenda.
Key Message: Sell the modules – help them see what’s in it for them(Click 1) Right after this introduction, we will gain insight into your territory. We will find some patterns in your territory, and we will prepare a management briefing that describes the factors that are impacting your territory today.(Click 2) Then we will segment your territory, breaking it up into smaller pieces, and finding the pieces that have much greater revenue potential than others. We will spend a significant amount of time on this today.(Click 3) By the end of the day, we will begin identifying the resources that will help you achieve the results you need.(Click 4) We will spend some time working on a critical set of resources, our use of marketing, to determine how to maximize the impact of our marketing campaigns. This part of the agenda “Leverage Marketing Campaigns, usually takes place on day 2. It is at this point where we will have made a significant number of decisions, including our areas of focus for our territory (which we will call Targeted Opportunity Areas) , the potential revenue in those focus areas, and the resources we are going to apply.
Key messages – continue to sell the modules. Also create the ‘safe environment’In just a second, I will be showing you the two deliverables I mentioned earlier: the Territory Plan and the Opportunity Map, but let me refer to them here in the agenda.Continuing on with day 2, we will learn a simple and easy to use planning methodology to set objectives and take action on our Targeted Opportunity Areas. And we will develop a full plan for one of those Targeted Opportunity Areas.(Click 1) Then, because our Opportunity Map is almost completed, we will take some time to review that, along with some of the other work we have done, in the next part of the agenda, Review and Improve Your Opportunity Map. (Click 2) And finally, we will briefly discuss the follow on steps and phases of the territory management processNow, often when I discuss reviewing the map, and other work, people get a little nervous. After all, you haven’t yet ‘perfected; it, and already you are being asked to review it. So let me state one of the ground rules here. This is a safe environment. It is okay in this room, not to know something. It is not okay never to find out, but as long as you have acknowledged the need to discover something or learn something, you are doing just fine.Also, this room is Vegas, and as everyone knows, “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”Transition: I promised that I would give you a glimpse of the deliverables so here they come.
Key message: a snapshot of the territory and areas of focus, all on a page (maximum 2)In this workshop you will have almost completed your Opportunity Map. I say almost, because there will probably be some ‘scrubbing’ of data. And some info may be missing. At it’s broadest level, the opportunity map will combine the offerings I have or (click 1) ‘what I sell’, with the customers that I have (click 2) or ‘where I sell’. And at the intersections of those two categories, we will define the potential revenue and resources that are associated with the ‘what’ and the ‘where’. Think of the opportunity map as the headlines of the newspaper, it’s front page.Transition: and when you need to know more, that’s when you turn to the inside pages.
Key messages: Understanding the factors that impact your territory is important. The output is the management briefingWe’ve just discussed the importance of looking at your territory from a new perspective. The first step in changing your perspective is to clearly understand your territory and the factors that influence your ability to sell there. With a clear understanding of the nature and dynamics of your territory, you can effectively apply available resources to capitalize on the strengths and opportunities in your territory. At the same time, you can overcome its weaknesses and the competitive forces within it. So with this in mind, we will focus on gaining insight into your territory by characterizing your territory.The purpose of this module is to identify the critical factors impacting your territory. Understanding these factors will better prepare you to prioritize the opportunities you will work on. The output of this module will be a statement that describes the current conditions and factors that influence your territory. That statement will form a management briefing. Imagine that you are on a plane, and sitting next to you is a senior manager from Microsoft. After you discuss your respective roles, he says to you “Tell me about your territory.” This management briefing, the statement you write, will enable you to do that in a clear, informative and interesting way.Transition: Let’s begin by investigating the factors that impact your territory.
Distribute the Territory Plan templateBefore we discuss the activity, I want you to look through the Territory Plan template in total. We will be completing various pieces of the template in this workshop, and I want you to get a preview of some of the work we will be doing. Then we will discuss the activity.The first section is the Management Briefing and that section has two parts to it. The first is the Territory Overview which we will be going in a minute. The second is a description of your areas of focus in your territory. While you will make the decisions about the area of focus in the workshop tomorrow morning, we will probably not have time to document that in the plan. But you will have that information documented on your map, so putting it in the plan will be easy to do after the workshop.The next section is the Summary of Objectives. We will learn how to write an objective tomorrow, and you will have one documented. The others will be done after the workshop.Turn the page. Each objective will have an action plan, and we will document one of those tomorrow as well. Again, the others will be developed after the workshop. And by the way, once people have practice developing an objective and action plan, it takes no more than 15 – 30 minutes to put one together, so even if you have 7 or 8 more objectives, you should need no more than about 3 hours to develop the plans. The plan template has 5 pages of action plans, and you can add more pages as needed.The final part of the plan is the documentation of a marketing campaign. We will develop one of these tomorrow, and there is a page for another one if you need it.So that’s the Territory Plan Template. What we will be working on right now is the first page of that plan.Transition: Let’s review what information goes where in the template.
Cover briefly the key bullets in each section, giving some examples to expand. For example:My territory consists of 150 accounts in northern California, with a predominance of high tech companies primarily in the San Jose/Silicon valley area.
Partner Coverage Example:There are numerous partners covering this territory, with a strong presence from Licensco, as a LAR. We have a Dynamics CRM partner (CRMCO) who is very effective, but struggling to meet capacity demands, and additional coverage is needed.
Handout the Reflections WorksheetThis is your private worksheet. I may ask you to debrief on other work you do, but I will not ask you to discuss what you put here. This is your commitment that you make to yourself.
Review the steps and give them 5 minutes to complete.
Total Timing 2 hours, 45 minutesTeach & discuss segmenting accounts 15 minutesActivity and debrief to segment accounts 35 minutesTeach & discuss approaches, offerings, map terminology 25 minutesActivity and debrief 20 minutesTeach and discuss grouping accounts – 10 minutesActivity 15 minutesTeach and discuss sectors and sizing - 5 minutesActivity and debrief 35 minutesReflection – 5 minutes
We have just finished characterizing our territory and developing a management briefing. We have investigated our territory as a ‘whole entity’, and now it is time to break the territory down into it’s component pieces.Does anyone know how to eat an elephant? (Pause while they think about it and possibly give you the answer.) That’s right, one bite at a time.This section of the workshop is all about determining where you will focus. In order to do that, we are going to figure out the highest potential accounts and groupings of accounts, and the offerings available to sell. We are going to begin development of our territory map, and by the end of the module, you will have identified, on a preliminary basis, the highest potential territory sectors, and you will identify the estimated total potential revenue in those high priority sectors.As a result, you will be able to ‘bite off’ the parts of your territory that have the highest potential for revenue.We are going to do this work in 3 steps:First, we will investigate a subset of our account to determine which accounts have extraordinarily high potential, and are deserving of some very focused attention.Next we will group our accounts into logical groupings and identify those groups that have some similar needs for our offerings.Finally we will do a preliminary selection of the parts of our territory with high potential, and we will estimate that potential.Transition: So let’s get started on investigating our accounts.
Microsoft has determined the following as definitions to be used for current revenue and future potential:Current revenue = Lifetime Value Future potential is based on # of PCsWhat does lifetime value mean?Are there any other characteristics you would consider for future potential? You can certainly use your judgment on some of these other characteristics for future potential as you identify it for you accountsNote that at this time it may make sense to review some of the data sets they will be using in the workshop. Make sure that everyone understands the data and how it is to be used. In the pilot this took about 30 minutes and was presented by the Regional Tele Director . This time is not calculated into the timing estimates for the workshops as it may vary from one region to another.Transition: So let’s get started on this activity.
Note that on this slide and each of the companion slides, the bullets are deleted on the book. There is a handout “Account Approach” that has the bullets. Distribute the handout AFTER you have completed the discussion on all 5 approachesKey Message: A1 = Business DevelopmentWe will approach our A1 accounts in a Business Development/Invest manner. So what do you think is the activity that you would engage in with these accounts? (Flip chart their responses, and add any that they have omitted, showing the build)Transition: We said we need to understand their business. That is a very broad statement, and can mean a lot of different things. Probably the most critical things we need to understand are their pressures and challenges.
Key Message: Understanding their challenges will help us determine how we can help them.Our customers have business issues and challenges in a number of different categories and this diagram is meant to ensure that we consider all of those categories when we think about our customers worries, pains, etc.Ask & flip chart, their responses: What are some of the (financial) issues a customer might have? Can you give me some examples? (Make sure you ask them to consider the BUSINESS issues, not just the technology issues. Below are some examples. You can also consider using Microsoft as an example, and then asking them if they can be as articulate about one of their top customers )FINANCIAL – think of industry specific - e.g.. Airlines – load factors, retail – inventory cost, hotels – revenue per roomOPERATIONS – marketing, selling, distribution channels, skills mix, re-org., downsize, unions, government regulationsCUSTOMERS – satisfaction, retention, grow base, demands – features, functions, costsCOMPETITORS – traditional, new entrants, strengths, weaknesses – exploit, niche playersPARTNERS – can they fail us, selecting, co-opetition, complementarySUPPLIERS – can they fail us, reducing #s, quality, ease of doing businessTransition: Let’s continue with our investigation of the different approaches.
Use the same method as on A1
Use the same method as on A1
Use the same method as on A1
Use the same method as on A1Transition: and just to remind you of the full picture…
Key Message: Understanding the BUSINESS problem, and relating what we have to sell with how it can help solve that problemWhy do customers buy?Let them answer this question until someone comes up with the correct answer.There is a universal truth. (Click) Companies do not buy technology, just for the joy of it. They buy it to solve a business problem. So it is critical that we consider solutions when we sell to our customers. And that we phrase our offerings in terms of how it will help to solve a customers business problems.Transition: So let’s take a look at our offerings.
Key Message: Give a set of product categories for the columns of the map. Also ask them to consider the business solution for these categories .This is only meant as a sample. Make sure you have discussed with Regional Tele director, as he/she may have a preselected set.Your job is to understand the business problem your customer is trying to solve, and translate for the customer how your offering can solve that business problem.So, how does <category> address a business problem?Transition: We are going to begin filling out the Opportunity Map, but first I want to share some terminology with you that we will be using throughout the workshop.
Key Message: learn the termsReview the bullets.Transition: We are now ready to begin working on our map.
Key Message: Understand the powerful picture you can paint with your opportunity map. Pass out the map and the sample map. First show the slide and walk through the various sections using the builds. Refer to the terms we just shared.Then talk through sample.I want to start with the end in mind. When you have completed your opportunity map tomorrow, you will be able to share this kind of information and paint this picture:“ My territory consist of 150 accounts. My primary areas of focus for this quarter will be on 4 accounts that have tremendous potential, not yet realized. They are (name the accounts) and the potential business identified thus far in those 4 accounts is more than $2M. In addition I am focusing this quarter on SQL, SharePoint, Security, Exchange, Office , and Dynamics ERP opportunities, with an additional $5M total potential. Peter Jakes (marketing) is taking the lead on the SQL opportunities valued at over $2M, trying to further qualify them via the SQL seminar next month, and we have a full campaign identified to do that. Centermine is the primary partner we will work with, although Sappora Labs has identified DNR as their preferred partner and of course we will honor that relationship.There is also a significant opportunity with Office. Jan Ferber is working with her partner, PartnerCo, to win significant business at Plexus and Allied. And Pat Connor is working with his partner Instar to investigate over $3M in opportunity elsewhere in the territory….Transition: We will be completing this map in steps this afternoon and tomorrow, so let’s review the first step .
Which is to put your selected A accounts and your offerings on the map in the identified areas.
Key Message: Identify the regionally-selected approach to group accounts.Note to facilitators – discuss with regional tele director to understand their preferred approach. Then present this slide accordingly.We have already identified some accounts for focus. Now we have to determine how we will group our accountsThere are several ways you can break your territory down into groups Some possibilities are: Vertical - Provide examplesLicense typeProduct potential –what do you think I mean by product potential? (next logical purchase)Primary Partner Provide examplesPrimary competitors Provide examples Your regional Tele Director has chosen….Transition: Your choice on your map…
…Will be placed here.
Review each stepTransition: You have framed your Opportunity Map. And now it is time to determine the 3rd stage, which is to identify some specific sectors for focus based on potential revenue.
Key Message: understand important considerationsIn order to be sure that the sectors you will identify are viable there are several things you should take into consideration. Is the sector measurable? In other words, can you track revenue based on the sector identified? Is it substantial? Is the sector of sufficient size to warrant your sales and resource investment?Is the sector unique? Is it different enough to warrant different sales and marketing strategies? Does it represent considerable growth potential or upside?Transition: Now we will begin identifying our sectors.
…and here is where we will be working on the map (Click)
Timing:Teach and discussion: 15 minutesIdentify resources activity and debrief – 30 minutesAllocate resources activity and debrief – 20 minutesReflections – 5 minutes
Key message: we will identify the resources that will help you achieve the results you need.Review purpose, output and benefitTransition: We will begin by looking at some of the Microsoft resources that can help you.
… and they will go here (click)
Depending on the presentation of data from the region, this may be the last module of the day, in which case, you should summarize and briefly discuss tomorrow. If no regional data presentation, or a brief one, you may have time to put the marketing module into day 1
Teach 30 minutesActivity to complete the marketing campaign template and debrief 35 minutes2 activities to complete the map and debriefs 30 minutesReflect – 5 minutesTotal time 1 hour 40 minutes
Review purpose, output benefitNote that participants should have received information on marketing campaigns in the coming 3 to 6 months. If they have not, ask the local marketing representative to BRIEFLY outline the key campaigns. No more than 15 minutes. Transition: So let’s begin by figuring out how we can get the phone ringing more often, through the best use of marketing. And the first step is to understandwhen marketing is most effective.
Key Message: Understand an individual’s thinking process when buying somethingIn order to sell any offering to a new individual or a new group of individuals there is a clear chain of logic that must be followed. Marketing’s role is to help you address the links on that chain. To illustrate the steps in the logic chain, think of something you have recently purchased, such as a computer. Relate your example to each step. For instance, how did you first become aware that you needed a computer? Or something non-technical like golf clubs or a new watch.Click 1, “Awareness.” You can’t sell your products and solutions to customers who aren’t aware that they exist. So, the first thing you need to do is generate awareness. This is where marketing enters the picture. Think about the sectors you selected. What if they are not aware of your products and solutions? By mounting a marketing campaign into those units, you create that awareness. At the same time, the customer assesses if they actually have a need for your products and solutions. Click 2, “Interest.” Once the customer is aware of the potential need for your products or services, then their interest grows. They want to find out more about your offerings.Click 3,“Preference.” The next step is to create preference. You want to be the preferred choice over all the other products and solutions available to the customer.Click 4, “Action.” Once you have established yourself as the preferred choice, the next step is action. By action we mean a decision, recommendation, an order, etc.Transition: Let’s review in more detail
Key Message: Put the prior chart into a business contextThis chart illustrates several existing customer situations and where they fall in the logic chain. Review the examples provided on the chart.Transition: Marketing is an effective resource in generating new customers or reactivating old ones, but at some point the opportunities must be turned over to the sales team. Let’s look at how integrated sales and marketing organizations function . . .
Key Message: Use marketing as the lead in one-to-many situations, when you need to be working with tens or hundred of people In order to utilize marketing effectively in your territory, you must integrate it with your sales efforts. Let’s talk about how you can do this. In order to describe sales and marketing integration we will look across the logic chain at the level of activity for each group As we said, marketing enters the picture when you need to generate customer awareness. Click to display the “Marketing” curve. Once the customer is aware of their potential need for your products or services, then their interest grows. Again, marketing can help you create interest. At this point your level of sales involvement increases, and the level of marketing decreases. Click to display the “Sales” curve.The next step is to create preference. Marketing has created awareness and interest, but it’s up to you and your partner to differentiate yourself from the competition.Once your company is established as being the preferred choice, the next step is action. Again, it’s up to you and your partner to close the business.If you look at this process, the truth is that the sales team is most effective at the back end, creating preference and driving people to action. It’s actually quite costly to use a sales team to create awareness and interest. Where possible, you must make the most of marketing resources to help identify and stimulate the thinking of the key buyers in the selected sectors.To quickly summarize the sales and marketing interaction, “Marketing is what makes the phone ring, and sales is knowing what to say when you answer!”Transition: There is a very practical reason for understanding this and leveraging marketing more effectively
Key Message: You need to build a VERY large pipeline to achieve your revenue targetsYou need an awful lot of opportunities to achieve your revenue target. How many leads do you need to find a qualified opportunity? (try to gather these statistics from the Tele Director in advance of the class) and once you have a qualified opportunity, what is the close rate?Think about a department store. Do you buy something every time you go in? Sometimes you just look.Unless you want to make a few hundred sales calls to find a qualified opportunity, you need marketing to help you generate interest and awareness.Transition: Let’s review how we can leverage marketing most effectively.
Key Message: How to determine target groups (companies) and audience (individuals)The first thing we need to do is to work with our marketing team members to determine the best prospects for a marketing campaign. That means that we understand the intention of the campaign and the messages to be delivered. Some of the considerations are (briefly review the bullets).So, for example, a campaign focused on SharePoint might be most appropriate for our banking accounts, as well as companies with large research or marketing departments. And it may have both technical and business related messages, and is therefore appropriate for both the business leaders and technical leaders of the companies to be targeted Transition: Now we need to consider how to get the best return from a campaign, but in order to do that, we need to understand a very important principle.
You can work with marketing to turn that one event into a campaign. Work with them to put together a series of activities surrounding the event. Leverage your existing collateral for sending out information before the event, and following up after the event. And make sure you have a compelling message, brief and to the point, and based on customer need, that can be repeated in every contact.Review the example and show how it has 7 ‘touch points’.Transition: You also should have some metrics and milestones for the event, a way to judge if you are likely to gain the kind of results you are seeking.
Key Message: metrics to determine likely successWork with marketing to do this. They should be able to help you determine some appropriate metrics to use along the way.Start with the end in mind. What revenue do you hope to achieve as a result of this event? What is your average close time for a deal once you have a qualified prospect? So how many prospects or what kind of pipeline do you need by when? Click through the example until “need pipeline of…” is shown)Once you have that information, identify some benchmarks to establish to measure your progress along the way. Marketing should be able to provide you with statistics of measures at different stages. In our example from the last page we have set 3 different benchmarks or targets by stage. (Click) we want to have 2000 invitations distributed to get (click) 100 people at each seminar and that should result in (click) 40 hot leads. At a 40% close rate if all of those hot leads turn into qualified prospects, we would exceed our target by 60%!Transition: We are going to be completing another worksheet, so let’s review an example.
Walk through the example briefly.
Note that participants can do this as a team or individually. If doing in teams, have them use the separate worksheet. If it is for their own plan, have them put it into one of the campaign worksheets in the plan template.Review the steps.Debrief: have one or two people read their campaign planTransition: Now we need to record that information on the Opportunity Map.
And this is where it goes (click)
Key Message: summary of work to this pointYou have made a number of decisions and they are represented on your map.You have identified key accounts (click 1), and grouped other accounts (click 2)You have identified your significant product categoriesYou have estimated the revenue in a number of high-potential sectors on your mapYou have investigated resources (click 3), partners and marketing (click 4)Transition: Now it is time to make a final decision on the sectors you will focus on to develop your territory plan.
Key Message: each selected sector becomes a separate page in your plan.You will do that by selecting them as shown here (click).Be aware that for each sector you choose, you will be developing an objective and action plan. So if you select 8 sectors, you will write 8 objectives and action plans.Transition: Let's make our selection.
Read stepsSelected sectors are now Targeted Opportunity AreasTransition: reflect
Teach 25 minutesActivity and debrief 40 minutesReflect – 5 minutesNote that if you did not have presentations on data and marketing campaigns, you may have more time for the activity, enabling them to develop more than one objective and action plan.
Key Message: You will know best practices in developing a territory plan. The purpose of this module is to provide you with a best practice approach and a template you will use to develop your Territory Plan. The output of this process will be the foundation of a Territory Plan that includes objectives, actions plans and required resources. You’ll understand the components and techniques needed to develop a solid Territory Plan.You will have a game plan you can follow to manage your resources and increase revenue in your territory.You will have a document that you can use to communicate your expectations to management, your virtual team and your partners. Transition: But first I have a very important question to ask.
Key Message: an action oriented approach to planningClick and explain each one very briefly, giving them an overview. Let them know you will cover each one in more detail.Transition: For those of you who think best in pictures, here it is represented graphically.
As we mentioned, each Targeted Opportunity Area will have a specific objective, or what you want to achieve.That objective will drive some actions, and for each action we will identify the outcome, the owner, needed resources, and the do by date.Transition: Let’s look at each component and give you some more detail and examples.
Key Message: SMART objectives Objectives should describe what you want to achieve. And they should define what’s in it for Microsoft, and what’s in it for the customers.(Use a non-business example to illustrate the different components.) For example, in it’s simplest form, I have an objective to arrive home from this workshop by <11 pm this evening>.Transition: What does SMART stand for? (see if they can tell you)
Key Message: Define SMART ObjectivesIn order to ensure that your Territory Plan objectives are effective, there are several criteria you need to consider. Your plan objectives should be:Click to display each of the SMART criteria. Specific - This means that the objective should define exactly what is to be achieved. Measurable -Your objectives should contain quantitative information that can be measured or qualified. This allows you to test and see if you have actually achieved the objective.Achievable - However, you can be specific and measurable and still be way out of the bounds of reality. For a plan to be effective, every objective and activity has to be achievable. So you have to constantly ask yourself if this can be accomplished given the resource constraints – the likelihood, given your ability to orchestrate these resources and move them in a given amount of time.Relevant - Everything also needs to be relevant. Are the objectives relevant to Microsoft strategy, customer needs, the partner strategy?Time-bound - In addition you must also consider the time it will take you. If you don’t focus on time – time for transition, time for establishing activities, time for building relationships – then time will be your enemy. Everything must be time-bound.(Click) And here we have an example. Tell me how it meets the criteria of smart. (Ask questions to draw out the SMART elements.)Transition: Now let’s look at actions.
Key Message: Key activities to carry out the objective In order to carry out the objective there are some key things I need to do, or steps I need to take. I recommend keeping a short term focus on your actions. You may have an objective that calls for achieving a certain amount of revenue over the next 9 months. But your actions should focus on the next month or two. Do not try to write actions out beyond that unless there is something very specific that needs to be planned. For the most part, your actions in 3 months will be determined by the results of your actions in the next several weeks.Here we have a couple of examples.And in my stated objective of getting home, one of my actions was to book a flight for 7:15 pm Transition: So what is the outcome?
Key Message: The outcome explains the results you anticipate. In the case of my objective, my flight home will land at the local airport at 9:45 PM, which is an excellent outcome since I have an hour drive from the airport to home, and should therefore get home by 11.One of the reasons we ask for outcomes is that it can eliminate time wasters. It forces us to ask ourselves, what do we want to accomplish at this meeting, by making this phone call, etc. It keeps us focused on a target.Transition: The next component is the owner.
Key Message: the owner is accountable for the action.The owner should be a single person who is accountable for the action. Do not make yourself the owner of every action. Why not? (try to get someone to say that if you spread accountability around others besides yourself feel vested in the plan, and take on more responsibility for its success.) At the end of the day, you own the plan, but try to spread the ownership of actions around. It may be a Microsoft resource, a partner, your manager, etc.In the case of my flight arrangements, the owner was my travel agent.Transition: Now let’s explore resources.
Key Message: people, programs, money Resources are what you need to carry out the action. Some actions just need an owner, but most actions need some form of resources. For example, in my objective to get home, for the plane action I needed Money!Don’t forget that you spent a good deal of time investigating resources, and those charts are still around the room, so be creative. But also be responsible and consider the cost of resources and whether the objective justifies their use. And do not forget to take advantage of external resources, such as resources at the partner.Transition: And the last step is the date.
Key Message: use specific calendar dates I recommend the use of calendar dates, not fiscal dates. Why do you think that is? (See if they can come up with: 1. because fiscal dates tend to be too broad, and 2. because fiscal dates get confusing for your partners, but no one is ever confused by the date November 20.)Be realistic in setting dates and remember that there is other work besides this plan that is going on during the day.Transition: So let’s put it all together.
This is what you will be developing.Briefly review the objective and a couple of actions, with their outcomes, etc.
Review the steps.While they are working, decide which map and plan will be selected for the “fishbowl review” It should be one that is very well done. (Ideally you should advise the person you have selected as soon as possible, once you know that they are ‘getting it’ and doing a good job. But if not done before this, make sure you do it now.)Select a couple of good examples for debrief (but remember that they will be reviewing their plan in the next module, so if time is short, you can just go to the plan review. If time is available, give them additional time to continue developing objectives and action plans.Transition: Reflect
Key Message: focus on improving the plan in a safe environmentNote: if possible schedule the review for after lunch, and allow people the lunch time to prepare, and also for the territory manager presenting in the fishbowl to make copies of their map and plan, if copy facilities are available.Review the purpose, output and benefit.Remember that we have discussed that this is a very safe environment, and therefore it is the perfect place to try out the plan. After all, it is better to test it here than in front of your customers, your partners, or even worse, your competitors.And we will do a review in two sections. First, I have already asked (one of the participants) to review their plan in front of the room. We will all participate as reviewers and give feedback, with one exception. (selected participant) will be supported throughout the process by (a person the selected participant has requested). We call this process the fishbowl, and we have very distinct steps we will take to do this.After the fishbowl is done you will all have the opportunity to review your plan and get feedback working in teams.Transition: There are 3 primary steps to a plan review.
It is really simple. First you prepare. We do not have a great deal of time for preparation, but I will give you a few minutes.Then you present and get feedback. We will do this in a structured way.And finally you need to take the feedback ‘on board’ and make some suggested improvements to your plan.Transition: You have been doing a great deal of work, so let’s review the specific items that make up your plan presentation in this workshop. And remember, everyone will be doing this in the team reviews.
Review the components they will present in their plan review.Transition: And for the reviewers, we have some guidelines for you.
Key Message: How to give balanced feedback – what to keep, what to changeWhile you are listening to the plan presentation, here is a checklist of some of the things you might look for. (select one or two for examples) . Also make note of things that you think the presenter has done very well, and put them in the ‘Things to Keep’ column at the bottom. Be very specific if at all possible. For example: Excellent and SMART objectiveItems missing, but noted on the info needed worksheetAnd also note some suggestions for things to change. Try if possible to have a suggested recommendation associated with what needs to be changed. For example, you might notice that there are limited resources being leveraged, and suggest that perhaps the presenter should make more use of LOMs or partner resources, etc.Transition: I mentioned that there was a structured way we would conduct the fishbowl review…
Key Message: best practice for plan reviews…and here it is. Step 1: the territory manager, ably supported by his/her selected colleague, will have 10 minutes to prepare for the review. While they are doing that, you should prepare your own plans for the team reviews that will follow. And in this step, you might want to take a look at the review guide, to make sure you have covered all the items mentioned.Step 2: the territory manager presents their plan. The reviewers LISTEN. You do not interrupt unless there was something you did not hear. You do not ask questions at this time, but you DO WRITE THEM DOWN. You have 10 minutes for this step.Step 3: the reviewers ask CLARIFYING questions. This is not the time to challenge the plan. I will monitor to insure that no challenging questions are asked and no feedback is given at this time. The territory manager answers the questions that are asked, and the scribe writes down every question. That is important because you will be able to identify a lot of vulnerabilities based on the questions that are asked. This step is also 10 minutes.At this point (step 4) you will go into separate rooms for another ten minutes. The territory manager and the scribe will go (somewhere) and identify the top 3 vulnerabilities in your plan. Where do you think there may be some weakness? Where do you think a competitor may be encroaching on your territory? Where are you at risk of losing customer or partner satisfaction? Is there somewhere you could be more efficient or more effective?At the same time, the rest of you will stay here and appoint a scribe at each table. Then working with your table teams, you will identify vulnerabilities and recommendations. Remember that every vulnerability should have a recommendation to accompany it. And scribe, it is very important that you write legibly because each scribe will give their sheet when finished to the territory manager for his or her use to improve the plan.Step 5: we all come back together. The territory manager will go first, and identify the top priorities for improvement they uncovered during their review. Then we will go around the room, taking turns, with each review table suggesting one vulnerability and recommendation that has not already been mentioned. We will do this until all the suggestions have been made.At the end, ask people how they felt during the process.Transition: Now you all an opportunity to review and improve your plans.
Review purpose output and benefitWhat is most important now is what do you do when you leave this roomTransition: We will look back at one of the first slides I showed you at the beginning of the day yesterday.
Click to reveal each step and expand briefly.Transition: Conducting your review with your manager will be almost identical to the review process you just completed.
The main difference is your plan will be completed. You will cover the Opportunity Map much as you just did, but for the territory plan you will have completed your territory focus and have a summary of key resources, and you will have written all your objectives and action plans. Make sure you cover the summary of objectives page of your plan, and have the action plans as back up if you should be asked for them.Transition: We also have a suggested review schedule .
Once a week, take a look at your action items, and make sure they are scheduled on your outlook task list. That shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes. You might also want to send out reminders to others on your virtual team who have actions.Once a month, check for progress being made. Take a little longer, maybe an hour or so, to be sure you are on track to achieve the objectives, and remember to add additional actions as needed.Once a quarter, conduct a QBR. Gather your resources together and see if adjustments are needed. Plan out the next couple of months of actions. Adjust objectives if needed. Maybe investigate some new targeted opportunity areas from your opportunity mapOnce a year, conduct the analysis again. Things can change quite dramatically in a year. You may have new focused offerings, new accounts, new partners.Transition: There is one critical final step.
At this point it is common for facilitators to stand here and tell you what you should take away from this workshop. Instead, I want you to tell me what you WILL take away. I want each of you to spend a couple of minutes identifying at least one key insight and one commitment of something you will do going forward.Ask them to use the phrase “I commit to…” Write it on a flip chart.
Most importantly, thank them! They have worked hard.And remind them about the importance of completing their evaluations.I also put my contact information on this slide so they can reach me if they have any questions.
