The document discusses sales force effectiveness and its challenges, highlighting six key concerns of sales executives, such as the shift from transactional to solution selling and increasing sales cycle complexity. It outlines five strategies for driving sales growth, including leveraging big data and enhancing customer engagement through multi-channel sales. Additionally, it suggests implementing a balanced scorecard for prioritizing sales opportunities and involves a collaborative approach with marketing to optimize sales efforts.

1. Reflection
PROFESSIONAL SELLING AND SALES MANAGEMENT
PROF DR DEVA RANGARAJAN

2. WHAT IS SALES FORCE EFFECTIVENESS?
2|

3. $800 BN VS $200 BN
120 VS GREATER THAN 500
3

4. OBJECTIVE
 Identify some general trends in sales force
management
 How are companies trying to deal with
generating growth using the sales force.
4| © Vlerick Business School

5. THE SELLING WORLD
Company Sales system
Results
External Company Marketing and
Sales force • Customer
forces strategy sales strategy
• Company
• Company • Market • Market
Environment
goals and segmentation segmentation
objectives • Value • Value
• Mergers and proposition proposition
Customers
acquisitions • Sales process • Sales process
• Product • Go-to-market • Go-to-market
portfolio strategy strategy
Competition
strategy
Effectiveness hunt
Source: Zoltners et al., Building a winning sales team, 2009
5 © Vlerick Business School Prof Dr Deva Rangarajan

6. INSIGHTS: EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
 Six things keeping sales executives up at night:
1. The end of the “better mouse-trap” model
Source: Neil Rackham session at the Global Sales Science Institute meet- Milan 2011
© Vlerick Business School

7. 1. MOVE TOWARDS SOLUTIONS
 The move towards solution selling
 Easier said than done:
1.Resistance to change
2.Silo Mentality
3.New capabilities and skills needed
© Vlerick Business School

8. INSIGHTS: EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
 Six things keeping sales executives up at night:
2. The death of F2F transactional selling
Source: Neil Rackham session at the Global Sales Science Institute meet- Milan 2011
© Vlerick Business School

9. 2. FACE TO FACE SELLING?
PAST PRESENT
Consultative
Transactional selling
selling
Consultative Enterprise
Transactional selling selling
selling
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10. INSIGHTS: EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
 Six things keeping sales executives up at night:
3. Unsustainable hybrid sales force
Source: Neil Rackham session at the Global Sales Science Institute meet- Milan 2011
© Vlerick Business School

11. 3. HYBRID SALES FORCE
 “Why should my salespeople be taking
business away from small stores while
they should be robbing banks” adapted
from a quote by Larry Ellison- CEO,
ORACLE
© Vlerick Business School

12. INSIGHTS: EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
 Six things keeping sales executives up at night:
4. The ever extending sales cycle
Source: Neil Rackham session at the Global Sales Science Institute meet- Milan 2011
© Vlerick Business School

13. 4. EVER EXTENDING SALES LIFE CYCLE
 More complex products/service offerings
 More members in the customer organization
involved in the decision making
 Rise of the global customer/shared alliances
 Need to invest early in the sales cycle
 Creates more stress on salespeople and other
functions internally: production, operations,
finance
© Vlerick Business School

14. INSIGHTS: EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
 Six things keeping sales executives up at night:
5. The decline of RFP selling
Source: Neil Rackham session at the Global Sales Science Institute meet- Milan 2011
© Vlerick Business School

15. 5. THE PROBLEM WITH RFP/RFQ SELLING
 The problem with RFP/RFQ selling today
is that at this stage, value creation
opportunity is limited
 80% of the decision has been made
© Vlerick Business School

16. INSIGHTS: EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
 Six things keeping sales executives up at night:
6. Skyrocketing costs of chasing an opportunity
Source: Neil Rackham session at the Global Sales Science Institute meet- Milan 2011
© Vlerick Business School

17. 6. SKYROCKETING COST OF CHASING AN
OPPORTUNITY
 Do you know what it costs you to chase
an opportunity?
 How can you be sure that your customer
will end up buying from you after all the
effort you put into chasing an
opportunity?
© Vlerick Business School

18. THE SELLING WORLD
Company Sales system
Results
External Company Marketing and
Sales force • Customer
forces strategy sales strategy
• Company
• Company • Market • Market
Environment
goals and segmentation segmentation
objectives • Value • Value
• Mergers and proposition proposition
Customers
acquisitions • Sales process • Sales process
• Product • Go-to-market • Go-to-market
portfolio strategy strategy
Competition
strategy
Effectiveness hunt
Source: Zoltners et al., Building a winning sales team, 2009
18 © Vlerick Business School Prof Dr Deva Rangarajan

19. FIVE STRATEGIES FOR SALES GROWTH
 Find growth before competitors do
 Sell the way your customers want
 Soup up your sales engine
 Focus on your people
 Lead sales growth
Source: Sales Growth: Five Proven Strategies from the World’s Sales Leaders by
Thomas Baumgartner, Homayoun Hatami, and Jon Vander Ark
19 © Vlerick Business School Prof Dr Deva Rangarajan

20. 1. FIND GROWTH BEFORE YOUR COMPETITORS
 Look 10 quarters ahead
 Mine growth beneath the surface
 Use big data
20 © Vlerick Business School Prof Dr Deva Rangarajan

21. 2. SELL THE WAY YOUR CUSTOMERS WANT
 Master multi-channel sales
 Power growth through digital channels
 Involve sales early with the customers
 Invest in partners for mutual benefit
21 © Vlerick Business School Prof Dr Deva Rangarajan

22. 3&4. SOUP UP YOUR SALES ENGINE
Forces outside the Sales
The Sales System System
Company
Environment
factors
- Market growth
- R&D
- Competition
- Operations
- Consolidation
- Finance
The Sales force effectiveness drivers - Marketing
- Government
- Technology
- Product
- Random
offering
Shocks
- Pricing
- Services
- Channel
Definers Shapers Exciters Enlighteners Controllers - Strategy
Sales force
Customer Company
structure and Salespeople Activities
results results
roles
Source: « Sales Force Effectiveness : A Framework for researchers and practitioners » by Andris Zoltners,
Prabhakant Sinha and Sally Lorimer, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Spring 2008
22 © Vlerick Business School Prof Dr Deva Rangarajan

23. SALES FORCE EFFECTIVENESS DRIVERS
The Sales job The Salesperson Impact
- Sales strategy
- Customer - Recruiting
segmentation - Training - Skills
- Customer offering - Coaching Shapers - Capabilities
- Sales process - Culture formation - Values
- Go-to-market strategy - Compensation
- Sales force design
- Structure and roles
- Size - Customer Research
- Territory alignment - Targeting
Enlighte - Customer
- Data and tools
Definers ners insight
- Customer relationship
management systems
Salesperso
Impact n / activity
- Leadership
- Roles - Compensation
- Inspiration
- Territories - Motivation programs Exciters
- Motivation
- Selling Process - Meaningful work
- Performance
Management
- Expectations
- Coordination systems Controlle
- Success
- Vertical and horizontal rs
measures
communication
- Compensation
Source: « The Sales Force as an engine of organic growth » by Bernard Quancard and Andris Zoltners, Velocity 2009
© Vlerick Business School

24. 5. LEAD SALES GROWTH
 Lead from the top
 Create a continuous learning environment
24 | © Vlerick Business School | XX-XX-20XX |

25. CONCLUSIONS

26. IMPLEMENTATION VS. DIAGNOSIS
The Sales System
The Sales force effectiveness drivers
Exciter Enlighten Controlle
Definers Shapers
s ers rs
Sales force Compa
Salespeo Custome
structure and Activities ny
ple r results
roles results
Implementation
Diagnosis
Source: « Sales Force Effectiveness : A Framework for researchers and practitioners » by Andris Zoltners,
Prabhakant Sinha and Sally Lorimer, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Spring 2008
© Vlerick Business School

27. SET UP A BALANCE SCORECARD TO PRIORITIZE
HIGH
Fix it. NOW. High five!
Impact of the
drivers on
performance
You can afford There are bigger
to procrastinate fish to fry
LOW
LOW HIGH
Current performance on the drivers
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27 | © Vlerick Business School 20XX |

28. SUGGESTIONS
 Over resource the best opportunities
 Take opportunity selection out of the hands of
the salespeople
 Involve marketing and marketing tools in
opportunity selection
 Push transactional opportunities to cheaper
channels
 Develop clear strategies to manage channels
 Upgrade the consultative selling effort
 Equip your sales managers to deal with
managing the sales force during this transition
© Vlerick Business School

29. CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
 Key Account Effectiveness: focus groups with
Deloitte
 Characteristics of Successful Salespeople: IBM
faculty research grant
 Drivers of sales force effectiveness: CPI
Consulting
29 © Vlerick Business School Prof Dr Deva Rangarajan

30. FEEL LIKE SOME MORE?
 Executive Master Class in B2B Marketing &
Sales (start 20 February 2013)
 Negotiating to Create Value (start 24 April
2013)
30 © Vlerick Business School Prof Dr Deva Rangarajan

32. THANK YOU!
DEVA.RANGARAJAN@VLERICK.COM