In most discussions of sales, the greater organization doesn’t rate a mention. This is more than an idle curiosity. The fact that we traditionally consider the sales function in isolation is likely to be an admission of a fundamental flaw in the design of sales – as well as the cause of many of the… “The Machine > Part 1 > Chapter 4: The machine within the machine”
We commence with the direction of the solution (division of labor) and four key principles. On an otherwise blank sheet of paper, we have a single salesperson. Yesterday, our sales function essentially consisted of a single salesperson. Tomorrow, sales will be the responsibility of a tightly synchronized team. Principle 1: centralize scheduling Our first principle… “The Machine > Part 1 > Chapter 3: Re-envisioning the sales function”
Our first order of business is to address two questions that have the potential to derail this discussion. The issue is not that these questions expose weaknesses in Sales Process Engineering (SPE). The issue is that these questions stand in the way of our discussion even getting started! Considering the radical nature of the change… “The Machine > Part 1 > Chapter 2: Four key principles (and how to win a boat race)”
Four appointments a day, five days a week Jennifer retrieves her Blackberry from her purse and flicks it free of its protective case in one easy gesture. Moments later, she’s talking to David – her assistant back at head office. “Good meeting,” she answers, “you can go ahead and schedule the RDM. Yep, you can… “The Machine > Part 1 > Chapter 1: After the revolution”
The Titanic is Sinking All is not well in sales. The sales environment, in a typical organization (most every organization, in fact), is seriously dysfunctional. But rather than focusing on the obvious dysfunction, management is busy with incremental improvement initiatives: Sales training Sales force automation (technology of various types) Bolt-on lead-generation activities (outsourced telemarketing, for… “The Machine > Introduction”
