The Focused Approach

What does it mean to have a "Focused Approach to Driving Sales?"

Simply… it's having the right people, working with the right types of prospects/customers, at the right time, with the right solution, all within a uniform, organized and measurable sales structure.

A full pipeline Marketing consistently needs to be looking at ways to fill the pipeline with leads. Having mutiple pillars is essential e.g. trade shows, advertising, business development, research, etc…. Don't rely on your sales people to do this - they should be selling. Turn leads to projects Since 90% of leads generated do not have immediate needs, there should be a separate team following up and driving them until a project is identified. This way, no leads fall through the cracks and longer term sales opportunities are found. Productive sales people Whether direct or agents, sales people are most valuable to you when they are selling - not prospecting or managing a tickler file. Keep them busy (see above). Sales Methodology With such a long sales/buying cycle, it's imperative that you have one corporate sales methodology that governs, tracks, and defines all stages of the sale from a lead to a sale. Sales Technology Have one corporate technology - tied into your sales methodology - for your entire sales & marketing organization. Get your organization to share information efficiently. SMART Objectives Set Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely objectives for your sales people. Have tools in place to measure their performance on a monthly or quarterly basis. Quality Solutions Have a process that features a set of guidelines for performing a thorough needs analysis, determining a winning strategy, and developing and following up proposals.