Sales Forecasting Archives

The Shift to Key Account Management

By Sue Barrett / 22/03/2013 / Business Acumen, Key Account Management, Sales Forecasting, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Pipeline

Not every business needs a Key Accounts Management function or team but many more are finding they do. Why? In recent times we are witnessing a distinct shift to Key Accounts Management with five major events fostering the development of key account management as a crucial business function.

Market maturity

Increasing cost of sale

Customer / client negotiating power

Pressure on margins

Increased local, regional and global competition

In particular, Customer Power has changed the game. We are seeing big customers getting bigger and at the same time they are rationalising their supplier base. Buyers …

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Mastering the Sales Management Essentials

By Sue Barrett / 05/02/2013 / Attitudes & Behaviours, Business Acumen, Coaching, Education in Sales, Sales Coaching, Sales Forecasting, Sales Leadership, Sales Management

What are the Sales Management Essentials and how do we master them? Well firstly Sales management and leadership is not about selling!

In fact when one examines the role of the modern sales leader it quickly becomes evident that there just isn’t time to sell. Equipping sales leaders to perform the tasks for which they are responsible, and sustaining the momentum of the sales force in its drive for incremental value and volume, at the same time as continuously improving the customer experience, is a challenge that demands a high degree of maturity, dedication, …

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Why B2B Buying Decisions Are Taking Longer Than Ever

By Sue Barrett / 10/11/2011 / Attitudes & Behaviours, Communication, Mindful selling, Sales Coaching, Sales Forecasting, Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Pipeline, Sales Planning, Sales Relationships, Sales Training

Are companies taking longer to make buying decisions or does it come down to impatience on the part of the B2B sales person, in a hurry to reach their sales targets? It seems nowadays buying decisions are taking longer to make than in previous years. This slow purchasing process isn’t just happening at the enterprise level in large scale businesses, it’s extended right across the board.

Protracted buying is dramatically slowing the sales process. The flow-on effects of such time delays are causing blow-outs in the cost of sale for many

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Why we should coach, manage & measure Sales Inputs rather than Sales Results

By Sue Barrett / 09/06/2011 / Coaching, Communication, CRM, Performance Management, Prospecting, Sales Forecasting, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Pipeline, Sales Training, Success

Do you leave your sales results to chance? Well you might be if you are like most businesses that are too fixated on Sales Results – the Outcomes. Managing by numbers, sales managers can get blinded by measuring the number of sales made and revenue and profit margins achieved rather than focusing on the vital activities that produce these outcomes in the first place- The Sales Inputs.

Every outcome is the result of its inputs. Every effect has its corresponding cause(s).

Consider the following questions:

Do you know how your sales people actually achieved their …

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Planning for 2011

By Sue Barrett / 11/11/2010 / Marketing, Sales Forecasting, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Planning, Sales Research, Sales Training

Budgeting and developing strategy for 2011 should be near the top of your ‘to-do’ list right now or be bedded down already. People complain about being too busy and never having enough time, however if you do not make time for regular planning you will let everyone down.

Make time to work on:

Forecasting
Evaluating staff hiring and implementing staff development plans
Ensuring that your marketing calendar is planned through to June 2011 at a minimum

Right now we are working with several clients on their sales plans for 2011 as well as planning out their 2011 sales training schedule.

Here are …

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Why Sales Managers need to work on the business, not just in the business

By Sue Barrett / 26/05/2010 / Sales Forecasting, Sales Management, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Planning, Strategy

Playing “catch up” is a common challenge for organisations of all sizes. Whether you have enjoyed a period of rapid growth and prosperity, or encountered some unexpected obstacles or losses, with little warning, businesses can discover that their decision making and activity has become very reactive. Too much time is spent putting out spot fires and reacting to situations, while too little time is spent on pro-active and strategic activities.

The very real and legitimate day to day business pressures result in many (if not most) decisions being made on an ad-hoc basis, with each one disconnected from the next. The …

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What’s channel stuffing and why is it problematic?

By Sue Barrett / 21/04/2010 / Ethics & Values, Sales Forecasting, Sales Management, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Pipeline, Sales Planning, Strategy

How much do you actually sell? How profitable are your sales? How accurately can you forecast your sales results? How many ‘returns’ do you receive? How often do you need to discount? How often are you left with old stock? What are your sales cycles? Are your sales people rewarded on volume only or on margin, account growth, account retention, and customer satisfaction?

The answers to these and other key questions will tell you just how effective a sales force is functioning, how they measure their effectiveness, how they think about their business, their customers, their careers, and how likely they …

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What are the benefits of a CRM system in your business?

By Sue Barrett / 07/10/2009 / Collaboration, Communication, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, CRM, Sales Consulting, Sales Forecasting, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Pipeline, Sales Planning, Sales Relationships, Sales Strategy, Strategy, Value Proposition & Value Add

First of all what does CRM stand for? CRM = Customer Relationship Management.

The concept of CRM has been around for a long time. The original form of CRM was a manual card system kept by a sales person that usually sat on the sales person’s desk or alongside them in the car. These client cards sets were very valuable to the sales person as this is where they kept important customer information such customer contact details, key contacts in the company, a running commentary on their activities, personal and product preferences, buying patterns, business connections and so forth. Each card …

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Account Planning, Management & Development

By Sue Barrett / 10/09/2008 / Key Account Management, Sales Consulting, Sales Forecasting, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Pipeline, Sales Planning, Sales Relationships, Sales Strategy, Sales Tips

As markets tighten and market competition increases, it becomes increasingly difficult for companies to achieve product differentiation in their market place. As such, businesses will find it harder and harder to optimise their profits unless they develop effective strategies to achieve differentiation. One way to accomplish this is through the enhancement of customer intimacy.

Account Planning, Management & Development is the process that organisations adopt in order to prioritise their customers in terms of value to the business. In most businesses, the 80/20 rule applies where 80% of current and/or potential revenue comes from 20% of the customer base. However, …

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Preparing for your 2008-09 Sales Year

By Sue Barrett / 24/04/2008 / Business Acumen, Sales Forecasting, Sales Management, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Pipeline, Sales Planning, Sales Strategy, Value Proposition & Value Add, Vision, Mission & Purpose

If you haven’t already it may be worth your while to hold a formal review and business/sales strategy planning session with your team before the new financial year kicks in. Many markets have and are going through major changes and this requires us to be on our toes and ready for action.

The challenge for any business, especially those of us who run a small business with limited man power and resources, is to take the time out to work on our business and plan for the future rather than stay stuck in the day to day of our businesses. This …

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