Process | A Sales Guy

Getting Better

Businesses must improve. Markets demand it. The status quo won’t cut it. Consumers want more, better, faster, cheaper. It’s the core of capitalism. To increase sales your business needs to constantly get better, unfortunately revenue and doing business get in the way.

Businesses measure revenue, market share, profit, funnel, inventories, productivity, efficiency, and growth. We get wrapped around measuring these things. They become the holy grail of our business. We give them creative little names like KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) or KBM’s (Key Business Metrics). We become fanatical in our management and measurement of these goals. Making sure we achieve them becomes the sole focus of the organization.

But what improves the numbers?

Better products, better people, better processes, better manufacturing, better tools, etc. Business gets better when these things get better. We need GBM’s (Getting Better Metrics) not just KPI’s.

How often does your company work at getting better? What are you doing to get better processes? How do you get better people? How do you get better products? Who is getting bonused on getting better?

Getting better is how businesses survive. Yet, getting better always seems to take a back seat to . . . well, you know, not getting better.

What are your GBM’s (Getting Better Metrics)?

May 23, 2009 | Filed under: Business Performance | View Comments |

Don’t Hire Doers

There are lot of people who “do” and they talk a lot about what they do. Doing is American.

At dinner parties we meet someone new and they’ll ask; “What do you do?”

We like to know what people do. Doing gives us context. We head to work in the morning thinking about all the stuff we have to do. We then head home thinking about the stuff we did and didn’t do. Our resumes’ tell what we do and what we did. When interviewing we ask; “What did you do at your last job.” As Americans, doing is what we do, it just isn’t enough if your looking to be successful.

I like to talk about “how” you do what you do. How did you do it. How did you come to that answer. How do you do your job. How did you get things done today. How did you not get the rest done. How did you do your last job. How did you achieve the results on your resume. “How” is really what we should be focusing on. How tells me something.

I have one key question when I’m interviewing: “Can you share with me a few processes you personally created which helped you achieve the results on your resume.” This single question gives me most everything I need in an interview question.

How tells me if they have:

1) Initiative – do they take the initiative to excel in their position and create a process to be more efficient or improve the probability of success
2) Job Knowledge – I love this one. An effective process can’t be created with out a clear and solid understanding of the job. Based on the number of processes created, their complexity and their expected outcomes, I can quickly determine how well they know their business
3) Creativity – The more creative the process, the more creative the candidate
4) Critical thinking skills – Reviewing their process allows me to see what problems they were trying to solve? This gives me insight into their perspective and vision as well demonstrates how well they recognize problems, determine root cause and identify a solution
5) Organization, planning – A good process demonstrates organization
5) Execution – are they purposely successful, is it success by design or just luck.

Doing is great, but doing with purpose is what counts. I don’t want to know what you do, I want to know how you do it.

We all “do”. It’s what we do. So to differentiate don’t just tell people what you do, show them how you do it.

This post was inspired by Greg’s insightful question..

May 7, 2009 | Filed under: Business Performance,Hiring/Firing,Leadership,What I Think! | View Comments |

Great Players Don’t Make Great Teams

I created this spreadsheet earlier in my career to make sure I had the right team in place. Over the years it continually amazes me with its accuracy in predicting performance AND its ability to triage. Rarely have I been above a 7 average and not met our goals.

(click to enlarge)

Watching the N.Y. Yankees lose to the Boston Red Sox again last night. That is 5 in a row. Made me think about it. The Yankees have great players. But, I don’t think they have a very good team. Building teams out of people requires a focus on the job as much as the individual. Measuring people is easy. It’s an individual exercise. Measuring teams, that’s a little different. To build a good team, you have to focus on the job.

To build a good team requires focus on the entire effort, not just the individual players. It requires an inventory of all the elements required to be successful. What I’ve found is by taking an inventory of the roles and evaluating the team collectively gaps are identified. It’s these gaps that impede performance.

Each quarter I review my team against a similar chart. This is for me, if asked I will share, however I have separate performance review process. (My team assessment and individual performance reviews are intricately linked). I look to understand how each member of my team is performing against the critical elements of the job. I identify gaps and target that quarters efforts to improving those elements. I enjoy this exercise. Identifying the gaps is a rush for me. With out this process, I would miss too many revenue impacting and team performance issues.

With amazing accuracy, the lowest scores on the chart align with the problem areas in my organization. By reviewing this chart (an example chart, not real), I can tell you that this team most likely has no succession planning, they lack career development process, and some of its rising stars maybe in jeopardy of leaving. It also suggests this team is very flexible. By looking at their highest score in Coachability, this team is flexible, agile and responsive. Addressing issues and problems are not a challenge for this team.

This process is also great for finding the poor fits. Not only am I able to see the teams effectiveness, I can see how the individuals “FIT” into the team. Those in red are dragging the team down. The goal is a collective team score of 7.0 or higher. However, to see where the problem player(s) are is critical (this is where the performance review component comes in).

Every organizations chart should look different. Every leaders chart will contain different criteria. Take the time, understand what is critical to make your team successful and then measure it.

Having a view into your team takes the guess work out of it. Knowing the players is great but knowing the team is the awesome. Ask the Yankees!

May 6, 2009 | Filed under: Business Performance,Leadership,What I Think! | View Comments |

People, Product or Process

I’ve been talking to some of my peers about the economy and it’s getting more and more difficult out there. There has been a lot of conversation around lay-offs and downsizing. With revenues down, companies are doing what ever they can to remain profitable and survive. We’ve all had to do it and it’s no fun.

The stories are interesting and painful. Companies are laying off 5, 10, and even 20% of their organizations.

One of my peers was telling me that during his most recent layoff, people were let go who were integral to over 10 million dollars in new sales opportunities. In one case, his sales team is to present to a perspective client for a 6 million dollar deal this month and the key technical expert on the account was let go. At the time of this post he has yet to find a replacement. The most recent cuts at his company have put 10 million dollars in new sales at risk in an effort to save money. It doesn’t sound too prudent does it?

Organizations, like people, tend to lack creativity and objectivity when they are scared. No one is willing to take a risk and they have a tendency to see things for what they are. The spreadsheet takes over and if it can’t be measured, easily measured, no one pays attention to it.

While my friend and I were talking we got on the subject of how much work it is to close a deal at his company. The processes are cumbersome and time is wasted in non-selling activities. He was frustrated with the amount of work the processes entailed and how it negatively effected sales. With even less people, he is concerned its all just going to spiral out of control, more deals lost, more sales cuts, more revenue at risk, more deals lost, more people cuts etc. He was really concerned they were in a death spiral.

There are 3 main things that impact revenue and sales, product, people, and process. People get the most attention. When times are good, hire, hire, hire. When times are bad, fire, fire, fire. Unfortunately, you can’t not fire your way to survival. At times like these looking at the entire picture is critical. What products can you get rid of? What products are losing money. What are the costs associated with them? Find them and get rid of them. Streamline your product portfolio, make the tough choices and trim them down.

Process is the other area. Few organizations evaluate their existing processes to determine their cost. Processes have a cost, a real tangible cost. Figure out what the expensive processes in your organization are and fix them. My friend was telling me his sales people (these are high-end sales people making over 200k a yr.) spend hours a week hunting down 16k orders or filling out paper work for mailing $500 dollars worth of product. An organization that has high-end sales people spending hours a week on trivial efforts has processes costs that far exceed their people costs.

Getting lean, saving money and becoming efficient is critical during a down-time. Expense to Revenue management is critical. Cutting people is part of the process. However it is also the easiest. The good companies will look at more than just the people. They will get real with their organization and ferret out savings in product and process as well as people.

Eventually cutting people will cost you more than you save. My friend is very concerned. He thinks his company has cut too deep and will lose more than they save. If what he is telling me accurate, that he has over 10 million dollars in net new sales at risk due to the newest round of cuts . . . I think he’s right. His ship may be sinking.

March 23, 2009 | Filed under: Economy,The Chase | View Comments |

We Try Harder! Don’t Say It, Just Do It

“We Try Harder!” Does it ring a bell. Care to take a guess at who’s slogan it is? Slogans and brands are only as good as the actions behind them.

BigE went to Palm Springs for a week at the end of January. I was in the UK on business, so she flew by herself with our girls Kenna and Elle. That is two under 3. For those of you who have yet to travel the child path, I’ll translate. That is two children under 3 years old. Which means she is flying with two car seats, a pack and play, a stroller, 2 suitcases, and a diaper bag. This does not account for the “human” baggage which can either stroll itself or must be carried all depending upon mood, bottle, and length of time since last nap.

Big E booked a sweet rental car deal from Avis. When she reached the rental car counter, with kids in tow, and after a lengthy check in process she is told she was at the wrong Avis. Wrong Avis? Hmmm. Is that like ordering a Big Mac and being told your are at the wrong McDonald’s. Big E says, OK that is fine, I’ll just rent from you.

No Problem Mrs. Big E, that will be $350.00. She booked it online for $150.00. Big E is NOT paying 350 bones, when she has one reserved (with Avis) for $150. Their response, you booked your car from a different Avis, you will need to go to them to honor that deal. That Avis is 3 miles down the street. We can call them and see if they can come pick you up.

Frustrated, Big E carries the two car seats, the two pieces of luggage, the “human” baggage, because she is now getting cranky, to the curb sits and waits for the “other” Avis. After 20 minutes on the curb with two toddlers and all her luggage the seems start to crack. So what now, you guessed it. My phone rings in the UK.

Upon hearing the story, I call the Avis manager and get the same story line. “Your wife booked with a different Avis. We cant offer that rate. She is more than willing to rent from this Avis, however the rate will be higher. We did call the other Avis for her and they should be here shortly.” I questioned the manager, why she didn’t see anything wrong with putting a woman, her two kids, and their luggage for a week on the curb waiting for “another” Avis. It clicked and she offered to drive my wife and kids to the other Avis. Thank you!

Customers see one Avis. We don’t care about franchises, or independently owned and operated. Customers do business with the brand, not the owner.

Avis, “We Try Harder” could have offered to drive her to the other Avis right away. “We Try Harder” could have honored the $150.00 rate and then written off the difference their location quoted. “We Try Harder” could have done a number of things besides put a customer on the curb with her luggage and two kids.

When process, rules, and procedures get in the way your brand suffers. Spending 100′s of millions of dollars on an advertising and brand campaign without having the processes and procedures at the branches to support it is wasting money.

How about spending the 100′s of millions on process improvement, and customer oriented programs and let your customers tell their friends how “You Try Harder”. Avis, your actions speak so loud, I can’t hear what you’re saying!

March 6, 2009 | Filed under: Customer Service | View Comments |