You know, there are two types of people in the world. Those who tolerate complexity, in pursuit of simplicity. And those who revel in complexity, having long forgotten what it is that they’re actually pursuing. I write this a little exhausted, after spending countless hours debating technology, terminology, definitions and process with a parade of… “A simple growth formula (for folks who’re tired of needless complexity)”
So, The Machine (my new book) has an easter egg in it. At the end of Chapter 1, there’s a link you can use to subscribe (free) to a short course called, Beyond The Machine. Since the release of the book, the BTM short course has been getting rave reviews. And, better than rave reviews,… “Watch Class 4 from the “Beyond The Machine” short course now!”
Orbitform is one of the silent revolutionaries profiled in The Machine. If you turn to page 101, you’ll find the story of Madison—an organization that found it necessary to create their own hybrid SPE model. Officially, Madison’s story is an amalgam of three organizations’ experiences but, unofficially—between just you and me, dear reader—Madison is 95% Orbitform!… “Revolutionizing Industrial Sales: Orbitform’s Hybrid SPE Model Spurs 30-40% Revenue Growth”
One of our clients just alerted us to an end-of-year campaign opportunity. It seems that, until the end of this year (2014), small business owners can deduct the entire cost of capital purchases, up to $500,000 in value. This is an increase on the standard $25k limit. And it’s only available until year’s end. If… “Last-minute campaign idea for those who target US buyers”
I’m currently in the process of performing final edits to my book to ready it for publication. A big part of this process is modifying the manuscript to incorporate inside sales – which plays a much bigger role in SPE than it did when I started work on this book a few years ago. This… “The Machine > Bonus chapter > The death of field sales”
I’ll let you in on a secret. Here at Ballistix, we all love fixing customer service teams. It’s easy to do. The transition to an optimal environment is low-cost and relatively risk-free. And the pay-off is huge. The pay-off typically arrives in two tranches. First, you get an incremental increase in business as a consequence… “No more notebooks: how Blast-One International boosted customer service quality”
When executives are first introduced to Sales Process Engineering, they naturally assume that this new approach to sales will be tough on salespeople. But, interestingly, it tends not to be. Salespeople adapt quickly. They enjoy working in an environment that’s custom-engineered to multiply their productivity. The individual who really suffers as a result of this… “The Machine > Part 2 > Chapter 11: Managing the sales function”
The Les Mills (East-coast, USA) story Erin Kelly and I get on pretty well. But when we first met, we argued about a bunch of stuff! We disagreed on commissions, of course. Erin wasn’t so sure it made sense to convert salespeople from piece-rate pay to salaries. Then there was the whole idea of centralizing… “Leaner. More powerful. New sales function for group-fitness provider.”
If you listen only to Kirk Nelson’s first few words in the interview below, you’ll be missing out on one hell of a treat! Kirk starts the interview by assuring me that ARCA has an accurate sales funnel and a good understanding of what’s going on in the business. That’s good, right? But, where’s the… “The incredible ARCA journey: two-fifths the sales team; twice the sales”
Most managers are excited by technology. Technology enables us to get more done, faster. And technology is practical. Concrete. It’s not about ideas; it’s about execution. This is certainly true in sales environments. It’s almost impossible to propose any initiative without prompting the question: is there software for that? In sales environments, the answer to… “The Machine > Part 2 > Chapter 10: Technology (why CRM sucks!)”
