Big Data is defined as the vast amounts of data related to a subject matter gathered from multiple sources, where the sheer volume of information sometimes requires large warehouses for storage. The elements of big data include:

• “The degree of complexity within the data set” – aka, Variety
• “The amount of value that can be derived from innovative vs. non-innovative analysis techniques” – aka, Volume
• “The use of longitudinal information supplements the analysis” – aka, Velocity

Ultimately, the goal is to gather as much information as possible, analyze the data, and then extract value (or make the information actionable).

Big data is mainly utilized for analytical purposes and for the creation of new products. The systematic use of big data is the status quo and is how companies, like Walmart, create insights on sales and purchase trends amongst customers in certain geographical areas – with intense, socio-economics granularity. It’s how they know who is shopping for what even before the customer walks in the door. This information allows companies to put the right items on sale or anticipate what new products to put on the shelves for the upcoming season.

Employing big data to create new products is an emerging use, mainly to build targeted advertising. Companies, like Facebook, create thousands of data “touch-points” to monitor the way users interact with the site and their friends. After tracking and understanding users’ social interaction patterns, Facebook integrates user-specific advertisements in a non-invasive manner. Basically, they are trying to present highly targeted advertisements in a camouflaged manner. Sort of brilliant.

According to a survey conducted by Lattice, a big data-driven sales and marketing firm, 71% of businesses believe that big data will significantly impact their sales. Interestingly, however, only 16% of firms have established big data strategies in order to boost sales revenues. The next piece in this series will take a close look at how to evaluate big data and sales strategy.

What meaning have you extracted for your customers lately? Many of our clients aim to be trusted partners with their customers. Yet all too often, they unintentionally inundate customers with laundry lists of information, facts, data – not what they mean to the customer. Do your customers – and yourselves – a favor by cutting this noisy information download out of your sales strategy, and instead providing them with your perspective on that information.

It’s not always intuitive, but it doesn’t have to be hard. Remember that you often know as much (maybe even more) about your customers’ industries than they do. They’re often too busy to read up on market trends or the latest competitor acquisitions. It’s the perfect opportunity for you to demonstrate how well you know their business by having a distinct perspective on relevant information.

Your product has won 3 JD Power awards in the same number of years, along with a number of accolades from the industry association? That means that your customer won’t need to worry about end-user concerns of consistency and quality. While the average price increase of your competitors has been $1.20 over the past year, yours has been just $1? That means faster turns at the register for the customer. Look at each of your sales decks to check where you’re just shoving information at the customer, and ask yourself, “So what? Why should my customer care about all this?” Your answer to those questions is where you showcase your value. Extract meaning from all those bullet points, and have your own point-of-view; your customers will appreciate that you’ve done the thinking for them.

Per the title of this post, why should you care that your prospects or customers are internally aligned. A few reasons:

• Misaligned customers create more work, continually require re-discovery, and often have trouble effectively implementing improvements
• Aligned customers often make decisions quicker and realize benefits faster – leadership sees the challenges in the same way
• Misalignment is frustrating in that you often take one-step forward and then two-steps back – the ‘problem’ is that no one agrees on what the ‘problem’ is

For sellers, customer misalignment results in longer sales cycles, more ‘no decisions’, and less time spent on solving the customer’s problem vs. navigating their politics.

If we agree (yes – we are in alignment) that being misaligned has costs to a sales professional, what can you do about it? A few thoughts.

• Helping to solve the customer’s alignment issue is a great opportunity – it might not have a dollar value, per se, but it can build credibility and trusted advisor status for the sales professional. Showing the customer that their misalignment is hurting their business can go a long way to creating the buy-in and relationships needed to ultimately selling your solution.
• Alignment is all about finding common ground. At the highest level, most companies have similar objectives – revenue growth, margin expansion, higher productivity, and an improved customer experience. If you start from their strategies and key metrics and use that as your foundation, it can be easier to find areas of alignment across stakeholders.
• Many companies value an outside perspective, especially if you’ve seen how similar companies operate, which is highly likely if you’re in sales or consulting – you often work or call-on firms in related industries. Being an honest ‘witness’ to what you are seeing and hearing has significant benefit to leaders who value an outside perspective.
• Alignment is not a one-time thing. The entropy concept, which originated from thermodynamics, says that energy is constantly moving from an ordered to a disordered state. Alignment is the same way – alignment is always moving toward misalignment unless kept in check via ongoing communication and shared goals. Having regular ‘check-ins’ with customer stakeholders can help to keep misalignment at bay and build stronger relationships.

The thoughts above are not Silver Bullets. When it comes to alignment, which involves both personalities and politics, there is no single equation for always getting it right. Like most things, recognizing misalignment and ‘calling it out’ is half the solution, however difficult that may be at times. In hindsight, I wish I had “called-it-out” and “put-it-on-the-table” more often – it’s frequently the elephant in the room that no one is talking about.

Whether you are merging two disparate sales teams into one or merely restructuring your teams to compete more effectively, reorgs can be quite daunting. Truthfully, there are many “balls” to juggle when restructuring, but a solid strategy and meticulous plan make the tasks manageable and will facilitate a successful transition.

The “What” … Setting-up the organization for success
Before you start moving boxes around on the org chart, you need to first have clarity on what you are trying to achieve and the strategy you will employ to get there. For instance, are you looking for efficiencies by eliminating duplicative positions, striving to drive top-line revenue by implementing a new coverage model, or simplifying the customer experience by providing a single point of contact?

Once the decision-makers from all affected teams agree on the goals and strategies, the next step is to identify the right customer segmentation model and the appropriate mix of the salesperson’s bag (e.g., full bag vs. partial bag, mix of products and services) to bring your strategies to life.

The “How”… Implementing tactics for achieving success
Successfully putting your plans into action requires having the right tactics in place – and in use. Often companies have multiple sales processes and tools, all of which may not effectively align with the selling needs in the integrated model. This is a great time to assess what’s working, what’s not working, as well as evaluate the support, tools, and resources the sales team requires to be successful.

The “Who”… Having the right people on the job
Now that you have a plan and feel comfortable with the mechanisms in place to support the transition, the final piece of the puzzle hinges on the team. Do you have the right people on the job today to handle the responsibilities of the new organization? Can you implement a training program to bring the team up-to-speed? Once the integrated model and sales process have been defined, it’s a good idea to perform a capabilities analysis of the current sales force to determine who has the abilities and tenacity to be successful and then fill in the gaps with new-hires.

Beyond the sales organization, it is critical to have clear roles and responsibilities outlined across every affected team. Sales, Marketing, Finance, Customer Service, etc. should all understand what roles they play in the sales process and who is accountable for each outcome along the way.

Lessons Learned…
If your company is seeking to reorganize the sales team/selling capability, Symmetrics Group can help. We have experience working with companies on every aspect of the restructuring process – from determining the overall strategy during the early planning phase to rolling-out the change management plan at the end. Our knowledge of what it takes to be successful and our management of the moving pieces will allow you to focus on your real job of making money.

A couple of observations from this week in the desert:
Team Effort – Most complex sales truly are a team effort, and enterprise software (even in the cloud) is no exception. It was wonderful to see Amy Manchester, one of our profiled Top Performers (http://symmetricsgroup.com/amy-manchester-best-of-class/), bring up her entire team as she was recognized as the top performer in 2012. Congrats to Amy on her performance and for exemplifying her ethic as a team leader described in the article.
Building Culture – As the leader of a small company, I’m focused on building a strong culture that delivers exceptional value for our clients while being a great place to “work” for our team. It’s really gratifying to see this happen on a larger scale, and these type of offsite company gatherings are a great way to build relationships, not only between employees, but also between the spouses and significant others. It expands the definition of the “team.”
Growth is Great – Adapting the famous Gordon Gekko line, there’s no mistaking the energy and buzz that surrounds a growing company and the growth opportunities this offers for high performers who are looking to take on new challenges.
Networking Internally – Part of delivering a “team sale” is developing the team. These types of settings are a great opportunity for the team to network internally and build relationships at all levels. Even when shooting triple digits on the golf course, it’s all about how you handle yourself and develop your internal “brand.”
Buzzkill – This did not occur in Scottsdale, as everyone enjoyed themselves in moderation, but I was reminded of an adage from my experiences with Andersen Consulting in the 1990’s: why get drunk at a company function when only bad things can happen? At our annual holiday party, some junior consultant would invariably drink too much and then approach a Partner to tell them what they really thought. As you can imagine, this never ended well…

For those of you considering adopting some kind of incentive program within your organization, consider the benefits of an annual sales club trip.

Thank you to my wife for an excellent year and to her company for hosting a wonderful sales club. Let’s get there in 2013!

The most important element in “getting the Challenger approach right requires organizational capabilities as well as individual skills” (“The End of Solution Sales,” HBR). In our experience leading sales transformations, an organizational approach focused on aligning Sales and Marketing teams is required to equip companies to move from a product-selling focus to a solution, and even a consultative, selling focus. As opposed to simply holding a “training event,” a combination of capabilities (e.g., marketing and sales processes, new selling tools and collateral, conversational and selling skills, sales coaching) must be enabled to effectively identify, deploy, and sustain an insights selling-based approach.

Focusing on insights, below are some key lessons learned:
Think Beyond Basic Sales “Hooks” – Think Big, and to adapt the classic IBM slogan, “Think Different” (or at least differently). This requires sales and marketing teams to examine holistic customer business and industry challenges, not just to create new messaging on product or solution-level features and benefits.
Combine Inside-Out and Outside-In Thinking – An insights selling-based approach requires deep outside-in thinking, incorporating the voice of the customer to approach customer problems and challenges. To be successful, this should be combined with an inside-out perspective to determine how existing solutions, products, and services can be packaged together to address these problems in new and creative ways.
Packaging Matters – Having a conversation based on insights is different than just providing another sales “pitch” deck. “Conversation Prompters™” can be developed to provide sales teams with the questions, insights, and messaging to enable these conversations.
Reinforcement and Coaching Matter More – Deploying new insights requires expanded sales coaching capabilities. Sales managers must be able to recognize “what good looks like” and provide constructive feedback. No matter the sales approach or process, we typically find that the coaching capabilities of sales managers are underdeveloped but are a critical component to lasting improvements in sales effectiveness.

Grainger didn’t come up with “planning the unplanned” in a two-day workshop, but companies can certainly seed the ideas and concepts to be further developed by a cross-functional marketing/sales team. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are Insights.

Members of the Sales Management Association can check out our recent webinar on this topic: The Perfect Sales Call Webinar.

Good Selling!

When this newly hired salesperson fails to meet your expectations – and his numbers – you realize that maybe you’ve made a hiring mistake. But now you are in a quandary, because you’ve invested time – and money – into this person, and the customers are at least getting some attention. So, you stick it out until he quits or customers start to complain… and then you are back to square one.

Sound familiar?

Companies automatically go into panic mode when someone leaves and oftentimes will make knee-jerk hiring decisions just to stop the bleeding. But filling the position with someone who isn’t truly qualified is just a Band Aid… and the bleeding will start again in one form or another. In fact, according to McKinsey Quarterly, “A top quartile performing salesperson is 14 times more productive than an average performer.” So, it doesn’t pay to hire a warm body; you need to hire a top-performing, go-getter with a successful track record. As you can imagine, this is easier said than done.

So, what can you do? Here are some recruiting tips I like to share with our clients:

1. Always be looking! Recruiting good people shouldn’t be a stop-start exercise when a vacancy arises. Stack the deck with good salespeople before you need them, or at least continue to interview so that you have a few solid candidates in mind when the time comes.
2. Pay your salespeople well and provide competitive incentives. Your current (good) salespeople will be less likely to leave, and in the event someone does, your comp package will be attractive enough to entice those who are gainfully employed elsewhere. Those are the ones you want anyway, right?
3. Focus less on industry/product experience and more on a person’s actual ability to sell. The recruiting website, www.recruiter.com, states that past success, not past experience, dictates future success. It’s easier to teach someone about an industry than to teach someone how to sell.
4. Don’t get snowed by a sweet talker. Salespeople are naturally talkative, but this doesn’t always equate to success. Look for salespeople who have quantifiable numbers to back-up their stories.
5. Make sure you know what you want before you start recruiting. Being clear internally on what success looks like will help you shape your interview questions and ultimately hire someone who can be successful.

If you need assistance revamping your recruiting process or just need a few more tips, please give us a call. We are happy to help!

Case Summary

Global Hotel Company sought to improve the coverage and efficiency of its sales territory plan, to optimize the company’s account portfolio. Symmetrics Group developed an optimized sales structure and resource allocation plan, empowering lower level sales team members to “hunt” new opportunities within current corporate accounts, more effectively partner with national sales managers on Key Accounts and leverage the Business Development team at corporate headquarters to identify new prospects.

Business Challenge

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), with $1.6 billion in revenue, is the world’s largest hotel company by room count, with more than 4,400 properties in more than 100 countries. IHG wanted to improve its efficiency and customer coverage model throughout Europe. Initially, the UK and Ireland were allotted a disproportionate amount of resources, relative to the rest of Continental Europe. Resources across the territories needed to be better allocated. The various sales teams, siloed by different segment focuses, were not cohesive in their communication or collaboration. Finally, IHG needed to evaluate and optimize its account portfolios to align with an improved structure.

Symmetrics Group Approach

Symmetrics Group gathered information on current accounts. Select members of the leadership team and all Key Account Directors were interviewed to gain a better understanding of the current state and opportunities for improvement. An analysis was done for the lowest level sales position, to understand in what areas there was an over or under allocation of headcount for recommendations around future headcount movements or hiring. A pilot program was created for individuals in this role, which included changing the role to empower them to “hunt” opportunities within current corporate accounts and assist the Key Account Directors in identifying and closing opportunities that would have otherwise been overlooked. Finally, Symmetrics Group met with the Business Development team at IHG headquarters to help identify potential future accounts that could expand IHG’s new business opportunity pipeline.

Results

IHG was able to rebalance its account portfolio and develop some of the new prospective accounts recommended by Symmetrics Group. The pilot program for the lower level sales team members was launched and IHG is in the process of implementing the revised territory and sales team structures for more optimal coverage across all its European territories.

When sales people fail to meet their sales targets, it’s obvious. What is not so obvious are the reasons why. How do we peel back the quotas and sales reports to find the factors that lead to low performance? How do we know the difference between a sales person who can make a few adjustments to get back on track and those who are not a good fit?

One way to gauge performance is to look at the “operating system” of top performers, and contrast this with low performers. What do the top performers consider the most important factors critical to their success? How does this differ from low performers?  How do these differences affect the length of the sales cycle, conversion rates, average deal size, and the ability to grow existing accounts?

In a survey of 1,000 sales executives worldwide, Achieve Global, a leadership development firm,  found distinct operating pattern differences between  top performers and low performers:

Top performers focused on “going deep:” They learned about their customers’ industry to reveal needs and perspectives that prospects had not considered before. They saw themselves as industry guides and used this understanding to provide compelling context to selling products or services.

Low performers focused more on “going wide:” Top priorities were filling the pipeline, aggressively pursuing leads, generating referrals, and building relationships. They tended to be product-centric and sales–centric, but lacked the consultative skills to engage clients as deeply as top performers.

(click key findings chart below to enlarge)

3 operating system tune-ups for top sales performance:

1)    Make sure you have at least as much client-centric training as you do product training

2)    Create a mechanism for generating impactful customer insights. Find owners and build intelligence gathering into your normal discovery process

3)    Consider consulting skills training to sharpen inquiry and deepen the impact of conversations with customers

Here are 3 areas that will help you gauge how well sales and marketing are collaborating:

1) Planning: Do the two teams synchronize schedules for major milestones such as product launches, key events, and major sales initiatives? When sales and marketing are effectively integrated, they meet as early as possible at the beginning of any major event or initiative to form a joint plan to deliver successfully and they stay synched throughout the process. Effective teams have joint goals and see the value of delivering them together.

2) Communications: Does each group ask questions of the other with a spirit of truly understanding the other’s perspectives and needs? If you see communications that seem to push more than inquire you may have an issue. I often hear the two teams refer to this style of communicating as “throwing things over the wall at each other.” Good communications look more like loops that increase understanding as each group learns more about the other with each loop.

3) Company results: How well do sales and marketing jointly deliver on overall company goals? We have found sales and marketing teams that are truly integrated perform better against overall company goals. This may seem obvious, but we have found this is not always the case. It is more often the case we find each group dominated with its own internal goals, practices and agendas. When the two teams are integrated they are naturally more focused on overall results for the company.

As businesses become more efficient and lean to address market changes waste becomes harder to stomach. That means now more than ever sales and marketing teams must come together early and often to synchronize their efforts to deliver on company goals and to keep the wastebaskets empty.