I guess I don’t really mind that people generally regard me as being opposed to salesperson autonomy (and, of course, performance pay). Antagonism is certainly more newsworthy than conformity! However, my position is not quite this simple, and a deeper understanding of the basic principle at stake here is more useful than the sound bite.… “Sometimes industrial salespeople SHOULD be autonomous agents!”
I was impressed to see Gordon Ramsay explain TOC basics to a failing restaurateur in his new reality show “Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares” the other night. Ramsay is the gruff, Scottish, Michelin-star-winning, celebrity chef. His show tracks his attempts to knock poor-performing restaurants into shape with his unique mix of screamed expletives, gentle reasoning and some… “Gordon Ramsay and TOC”
Here’s a potentially lethal sales process engineering error that we’ve made a number of times; and one that many of our subscribers have made — and are making right now — too! The error is to attempt to increase opportunity flow to match your salesperson capacity. (It sounds innocuous enough but, like I said, it’s… “The number-one way to handicap your Industrial Sales Process Reengineering project”
About once a day, I feel compelled to scream at no one in particular: ‘it’s all about scheduling!’ Because it is. All about scheduling, that is. The Ballistix method — Sales Process Engineering — it’s really all about scheduling. But people just don’t get it. So, I’m going to take some time out to talk… “It’s all about scheduling!”
A while back, a few subscribers expressed interest in hearing stories and results from the field. Well, we just finished a project with manufacturer of food products (sold through supermarkets, convenience stores, pharmacies, etc) and the results have been both interesting and indicative of our methods. This manufacturer has a team of salespeople, distributed across Australia.… “Results: food manufacturer multiplies sales and rate of market penetration”
Often, when we work with organisations that sell technical products (especially in a make-to-order environment), we find that salespeople are technical experts. When you add the requirement for technical expertise into the normal (massively-multitasked) sales environment you inevitably find that salespeople are hard to find and difficult to train. Furthermore, the consequences of salespeople defecting… “Strategically Deploying Technical Salespeople in Industrial Markets”
It’s a mistake to assume (as some do) that our method is only appropriate to large business. I think the reason some assume this is that our method inevitably involves the employment of sales support personnel. The easy (but unhelpful) answer to this concern is to point out that if you can’t afford to have… “Our method and the small business”
Why mysticism and marketing are incompatible bedfellows Imagine the reaction of your local doctor if you presented yourself with a cough and a slight fever and proceeded to inform her that you were suffering from tuberculosis! Can you imagine her obediently writing a prescription for Isoniazid and reporting your bad news to the relevant health… “Doctor, I think I have tuberculosis!”
