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Complex Sales The challenges of managing complex sales Ashutosh Bijoor, March 04, 2008

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Typical Complex Sales Process

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The Complex Sales Pipeline Milestones Opportunities Funnel 6 3 8 7 2 1 Responsible Time 0 days 15 days 35 days 55 days 70 days M1 Lead Captured M2 Requirements Understood M3 Solution Proposed M4 Negotiation M5 Order Confirmed 6 3 4 5 8 7 2 1 M6 Order Lost 6 3 4 5 8 7 2 1 6 3 4 5 8 7 2 1 6 3 4 5 7 2 4 5 Sales Sales Sales Sales Sales

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Stake Holders <ul><li>Top Management / Principals </li></ul><ul><li>Sales Management </li></ul><ul><li>Sales Executives </li></ul><ul><li>Customer Support & Fulfillment </li></ul><ul><li>Channel Partners / Distributors </li></ul><ul><li>Customers </li></ul>

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Top Management / Principals <ul><li>Long sales cycles </li></ul><ul><li>Low conversion ratio </li></ul><ul><li>Scarcity of skills in sales team </li></ul><ul><li>Commoditized products </li></ul><ul><li>Un-predictable demand leading to high inventory cost and long lead times </li></ul><ul><li>Speed up sales process </li></ul><ul><li>Improve conversion ratio </li></ul><ul><li>Better utilize available skills </li></ul><ul><li>Enhance product portfolio and cross-selling </li></ul><ul><li>Forecast demand centrally, based on direct / channel sales pipeline </li></ul><ul><li>Centralize inventory and just-in-time distribution </li></ul>Challenges Needs

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Direct Sales / Sales Management <ul><li>Large number of prospects </li></ul><ul><li>High cost of sales </li></ul><ul><li>Low revenue per customer </li></ul><ul><li>Ineffective channel sales team </li></ul><ul><li>Improve collaboration with channel partners to increase reach and reduce cost of sales </li></ul><ul><li>Track movement of opportunities through pipeline to identify bottlenecks </li></ul><ul><li>Provide on-time sales support to channels </li></ul>Challenges Needs

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Channel Partners / Distributors <ul><li>Not enough opportunities </li></ul><ul><li>Unpredictable demand </li></ul><ul><li>Long lead times for procurement from principal </li></ul><ul><li>Work with principals to generate demand and qualify leads </li></ul><ul><li>Share sales pipeline data with principals, allowing more accurate demand forecasts </li></ul><ul><li>Just-in-time procurement facilitated by accurately forecasted centralized inventory </li></ul>Challenges Needs

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Support and Fulfillment <ul><li>Incomplete, inconsistent or un-viable order specifications </li></ul><ul><li>High discounting </li></ul><ul><li>Inappropriate fulfillment and credit terms </li></ul><ul><li>Delayed collections </li></ul><ul><li>Monitor sales offers for technical and commercial viability </li></ul><ul><li>Take away responsibility of creating and configuring offers </li></ul><ul><li>Provide online customer outstanding and credit viability information to sales </li></ul>Challenges Needs

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Customers / Business Partners <ul><li>Sales process of suppliers not matching buying process </li></ul><ul><li>Unresponsive sales process </li></ul><ul><li>Unavailability of requisite items in stock </li></ul><ul><li>Long delivery times </li></ul><ul><li>Engage with suppliers early in buying cycle </li></ul><ul><li>Prioritize suppliers based on responsiveness </li></ul><ul><li>Assign higher value to suppliers capable of on-time deliveries </li></ul><ul><li>Provide online feedback of required delivery schedules </li></ul>Challenges Needs

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Current Solution Options <ul><li>Spreadsheets </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Simple, easy to use mechanism of collecting sales information </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Ready-made Sales Automation System </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Comprehensive features starting from contact management, opportunity management and CRM </li></ul></ul>

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Implementation Challenges <ul><li>Lack of user adoption </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Sales executives and channel partners are not amenable to reporting sales data </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Most implementations fail due to lack of adoption </li></ul></ul><ul><li>No direct gains in sales performance </li></ul><ul><ul><li>System use not directly translated into enhanced sales performance </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Users tend to view these systems as an obstacle to work </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Inappropriate metrics </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Sales metrics analyse past performance and statistical forecasts </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Lack of operational metrics that assist day-to-day decisions </li></ul></ul>

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