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How to manage your sales process? Part 1

The business of selling, in much of the corporate world, is perceived as a function to which business targets (sales quotas in strict sales-speak!) are handed down, with the expectation that they will be achieved somehow. Sales was perceived as a profession that is invariably personality driven: it is very common for field sales representatives to be viewed as a flamboyant individual who uses the ‘power look’ to intimidate prospects, or uses ‘closing techniques’ to make the prospect sign on the dotted line. In short, sales was perceived as more of an art, rather than as a science.

Although service delivery capabilities and functional expertise is very critical to any business, without the right sales efforts, nothing gets achieved. It is a no-brainer that without sales there are no revenues and hence no growth. Sales, which is such is a critical function, is often not managed in the right perspective. Just pushing the target down the throat does not work anymore. As said before, it is more of an art and there are very few professionals in the industry today who not only understands the sales secrets, but who also able to manage their sales team far more effectively and build high impact enterprises.

Every organization cannot excel in their sales process. More often than not, start-ups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will observe that bringing in the right sales talent is one of the most common challenges they face. This challenge becomes more evident when the founders of such organizations come from a strong technology/operations/service delivery background.

With no in-house sales ‘expertise’, the question that comes to anyone’s mind will be – can the sales process be outsourced?

The answer to the question above is a ‘Yes’, as well as a ‘No’!

To understand more about when Sales Process Outsourcing (SPO) can work, and when it cannot, we need to break down the general sales process into various phases, and relate each phase to the organisation’s specific product, service or solution. The objective of this exercise will be to understand how amenable a particular phase will be to outsourcing. Depending on the nature of product or service, the complete sales process, or a few phases at the minimum, will lend itself to outsourcing.

Captured in the table below are the various phases of the sales process, and their amenability to outsourcing:

Sales Process Phase Suitability for Outsourcing Factors to consider before outsourcing
Lead generation through tele-calling A very common activity that is outsourced.
Can be streamlined significantly through the concept of ‘ideal customer profile’
Lead Qualification Can be completely outsourced for products and also solutions having a relatively straightforward functionality
Product Demonstration / Service pitch Where the solution being sold is complex, or lends itself to extensive customization to the prospect’s business needs, this is best done by the organization itself.
If it is a product or services pitch this process can be outsourced.
Proposal preparation As it applies to the Product Demonstration phase;
If it is a product / simpler service, can be managed through ready-made template that can customized for different prospects.
Negotiation/sales closure As it applies to the Proposal phase

From the table above, it is evident that by and large, the first two phases of the sales process (Lead Generation and Lead Qualification) are amenable to Sales Process Outsourcing. The next three phases, namely, Product Demonstration, Proposal preparation, Negotiation/sales closure lend themselves to outsourcing only when the type of solution offers a relatively well defined functionality, with almost no scope for customization. Typically, such solutions can also be sold online as it can be targeted towards self use type.

While contemplating the outsourcing of the lead generation and/or lead qualification process, it is worthwhile to use the concept of the ‘ideal customer profile’. The ideal customer, as the name implies, is a customer that an organisation would like to have in its client list. Even where the product or solution is complex, when the ideal customer profile is well defined, organizations can derive significant improvements in the productivity of their field sales force, since the outsourcing partner is broadly able to qualify leads that are fed into the sales pipeline. Field sales resources ultimately get to work on good quality leads when the ideal customer profile is well defined.

Sales process outsourcing will be a win-win scenario for both the outsourcing organisation and its outsourced partner, provided the ideal customer profile is well defined. Regardless of the product/solution/service focus of an outsourcing organisation, outsourcing their lead generation efforts, and after careful consideration of the complexities involved, other phases of their sales lifecycle will help them significantly improve the rate at which they win deals.

In Part 2 of this post, we will dwell upon a few scenarios where outsourcing various phases of the sales cycle will benefit an organisation.

Startup Xperts is a business growth consulting firm with an objective to transform CEO’s vision into achievable, actionable goals that deliver results. Our mission is to help companies to steeply accelerate their revenue growth, profitably. Be it family run business, small or medium enterprise or a boutique firm, Startup Xperts have all the right answers to step up their growth. Startup Xperts help clients in a range of service areas including business consulting, strategic consulting, sales and marketing consulting, digital marketing, Sales Process Outsourcing (SPO), HR, Operations and leadership training and coaching.

To know more about Startup Xperts, visit us at www.startupxperts.com or write to us at info@startupxperts.com

The views expressed in this article are that of the author’s and Startup Xperts is not responsible for this content. In case of any objection in content, IP violations, incorrect or inappropriate information, please inform us at ceo@startupxperts.com. We will do our best to act on it at the earliest.

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How to manage your sales process? Part 2

Most of you would have read the “Does Sales Process Outsourcing (SPO) work? – Part I”, that touched upon those phases of the sales cycle that lend themselves to outsourcing. This part of sales process outsourcing article touches upon factors to consider before an organization decides to outsource the whole or a part of their sales process.

One of the most fundamental aspects that an organization needs to consider while contemplating outsourcing is the complexity of the solution, or product, or service that is being sold. At one of the spectrum, the offering could be complex business applications that require customization as per customer’s requirements. Such solutions have a relatively long sales cycle, with potentially face-to-face engagement with the customer. Typical examples include Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications, turnkey solutions and business applications that automate specific business processes.

At the other end of the spectrum are products or solutions offering a specific functionality, with very limited or no customization requirement. Typically, such solutions are sold online, with the entire transaction being consummated without the need for a face-to-face discussion with the prospective customer. Such solutions invariably fall within the self-use category, or backed by a service provider who takes responsibility for delivering the output electronically. Examples include specific document conversion activities, retail products sold online, consumer products, consumer services, selling online courses, etc.

Sales Phase Attributes
Products/ Simple Solution Suitability for SPO Complex Solution Suitability for SPO
Lead Generation Typically well-defined audience Well suited Well defined audience Well suited
Lead Qualification Qualifying criteria for purchase typically well defined.  Hence easy to qualify Well suited Qualifying criteria may at times be elaborate.  A first level of qualification alone will be possible Partially suited
Solution Demonstration Product/Solution features well defined; so product/solution demonstration, service explanation is straightforward Well suited Solution/Product demonstration could involve customer specific aspects Limited suitability.  Only a high-level feature/solution walk through is possible.  Detailed, client focused demonstrations will not be possible
Solution Proposal Solution proposal would essentially be a price quote Well-suited Solution proposal would factor client specific requirements, and would be a comprehensive document;  It would also need specialist/ expertise to prepare Not suited
Negotiation/Closure Since scope of work and price involved is well defined, there is very little room for any strategic negotiation Well-suited.  The possible area where attention may be required is in working out volume discounts Values of proposals involved are high, and negotiations could potentially involve several stakeholders Not suited

Moving towards complex solutions, one realizes that sales success is dependent on selling skills and customer relationship management. While it is possible to identify the various phases of the sales cycle at a broad level, working within each phase calls for a balanced mix of ‘sales’ skills and vertical specific understanding / competencies in the chosen domain.

However, it also remains a fact that generating sales worthy leads remains one of the most challenging aspects of the sales process, regardless of the domain in question. Many a time, organizations are left with fewer options to generate leads: whether widen the scope of the lead generation process through strategic marketing initiatives, or reach out to more customers through telesales activity. When the process is controllable and has lesser risks, it becomes amenable to outsourcing.

To sum up, both marketing initiatives like digital marketing that includes online campaign management, SEO, SEM, etc. and back office sales processes are less risky and should be explored for strategic outsourcing or off-shoring. This ultimately helps them scale up their lead generation area faster, cheaper and better; it helps make use of their financial and people resources more effectively.

Sales process outsourcing is not easy, as it demands for a reliable partner who has the drive, passion and zeal to ensure success with your partnership. However, having identified the right partner, proper set up time is essential to have the right team in place. Effective coaching is critical, before they get on to the live work. Proper systems have to be in place at the outsourced partner’s end for performance monitoring and to take corrective steps, quickly, when required. Reporting mechanism should be simple but robust to ensure transparency between both parties (customer and vendor partner).

Startup Xperts is a business growth consulting firm with an objective to transform CEO’s vision into achievable, actionable goals that deliver results. Our mission is to help companies to steeply accelerate their revenue growth, profitably. Be it family run business, small or medium enterprise or a boutique firm, Startup Xperts have all the right answers to step up their growth. Startup Xperts help clients in a range of service areas including business consulting, strategic consulting, sales and marketing consulting, digital marketing, Sales Process Outsourcing (SPO), HR, Operations and leadership training, sales training and coaching.

To know more about Startup Xperts, visit us at www.startupxperts.com or write to us at info@startupxperts.com
The views expressed in this article are that of the author’s and Startup Xperts is not responsible for this content. In case of any objection in content, IP violations, incorrect or inappropriate information, please inform us at ceo@startupxperts.com. We will do our best to act on it at the earliest.

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Startups – how to get your digital marketing approach right?

Startups typically have two major challenges to overcome – Time and money. Though time is money by the old age saying, here we are considering the importance of both separately.

  • In a short period of time, startups have to create the impact, grow their business as it is a question of survival. Either grow or perish seems to be the order of the day.
  • At the same time, most startups do have limited resources (money and people) to create that impact in that short period of time. So the question unfolds as to how this can be effectively achieved in today’s world?

Doing things right Vs doing right things

You cannot do everything right. We are not in a perfect world, so you need to take right steps; doing right things are more important.

  1. Do you really know who your customer is and their need?
    Focus on your customer and their need. Rather than creating a product or service, trying to spend your resources and energy into selling it (I am not referring to blue ocean strategy here) do understand your prospective customer’s pain and/or gain. If you are not solving a big problem (like Uber, booking a taxi with a click of a button rather than waiting on the streets), or not able to demonstrate a big gain (like Apple iPhone, that created a bigger impact through rich user experience) then you may have to seriously relook at your offerings. Else create a ‘differentiator’ that stands apart. Bear in mind, you don’t need to be miles ahead to win a race, but just nose ahead!
  2. Create and expand your brand identity digitally
    It is a no brainer that startups need to create their brand identity, and not think that the brand building initiative is only for established or large enterprises. It is all about creating differentiation, building trust; and digital will be an easy and cost-effective way to build your brand. The first step is to create a website that resounds well with your business. With good dot-com names virtually not available, this might need a lot of searches to arrive at the right name that can strike a chord with your customers as well.
  3. Cheap digital marketing Vs cost-effective digital marketing
    I do keep receiving mailers that say that they can get website page rank in top search results; and that too at very cheap rates. I do wonder how this may even cover the cost of such resources if it has to be done in the right way it is supposed to be. To top it all I get zapped when they list out strategies that were used a few years ago, that’s not going to work in today’s scenario. Of course, how many do really know Google’s new algorithm released this year? Many startups have come back to us after experiencing these cheaper options, as they realized it is just a drain of money and time. Here the important aspect to note is that, time loss is a precious loss; and you have already burnt sufficient amount of your limited resources (funds) hoping that digital is going to create that impact. If it didn’t work, don’t blame digital; just that you didn’t do it right! So go for cost-effective digital marketing that has a well thought out strategy and execution planned, with clear timelines.
  4. Pick the right strategy
    You all very well know that no one size fits all. Digital is beautiful in that way, because custom strategy can be carved for every one of you – be it a boutique, services firm, product startup, retail outlet, etc. I have stressed the need of SEO many a times in my earlier articles; a balanced approach to SEO, SEM, and SMM is important for you to succeed in this business. There are strategies (pre-launch, during launch, post-launch) that you need to pick depending upon the stage of your startup.
  5. Do not put all eggs on one basket (Rephrased: Do not spend all your money on just one strategy)
    It is always advisable to go for A/B testing. Create two or more sets of messages (needless to mention across social channels, Adwords, etc.) to see which one works best. Fine tune and try to see if improvement in performance is seen. Result is always a moving target and so constant fine tuning is essential to get the overall momentum and impact right. I do notice, many make the mistake of spending their precious funds on a particular message, and come to a conclusion that digital hasn’t worked. I was not surprised because the messages were not right, or the audience was not chosen right, or probably wrong timing. Be it LinkedIn, or Twitter, or PPC, you need to take a balanced call as to which combination can maximize your visibility and achieve your set objectives and goals.

It is easy to say ‘go digital’. But digital is not just a technique; it is a tactic (strategy). Digital certainly can be done in a cost effective way, and more importantly measurable. You will be able to see where your dollars go, with reference to your spends on various buckets. So, starting this New Year 2016, are you ready to go digital more effectively?

Startup Xperts is a business accelerator supporting startups, small medium enterprises, boutique firms, by driving their go-to-market strategies, digital marketing, smart sales initiatives, to accelerate their revenue growth.

To know more about Startup Xperts, visit us at www.startupxperts.com or write to us at info@startupxperts.com

The views expressed in this article are that of the author’s and Startup Xperts is not responsible for this content. In case of any objection in content, IP violation, incorrect or inappropriate information, please inform us at ceo@startupxperts.com. We will do our best to act on it at the earliest.

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Representing NASSCOM product forum as Speaker | Startup Xperts

Planning for right business strategy is better than failing to plan. 

A NASSCOM report states that the Indian Startup ecosystem is likely to grow 4-fold by 2020; total number of startups is likely to grow to 11,500+ by 2020, from about 3000+ as of last year.  Though as an entrepreneur, you have the flexibility in terms of work schedules, more important is to keep your commitment levels up to ensure higher probability of success. Every one of us likes to win, but does your initiative have an effective strategy?

Goal setting is something most often startups do not do.  Few of them do set goals, but those are just unrealistic.  Choose your markets, your customers, profiles, based on the limited resources that you have.  Pick what you want to achieve.  What you crave to do, have to get captured in your goals. 

Realistic goal setting is the first step, before looking at moving forward.  Anything that does not get measured does not get done.  Simple! If you and your team do not know what to do and by when complete, then how do you plan to achieve?

Create a differentiator.  How well you are able to differentiate against your competition, matters a lot to your customer.  You don’t need to be miles ahead to win a race, but just nose ahead!  You will have to analyze, brainstorm, to figure out unique strength that your initiative possesses, and whether that strength can bring tangible benefits to your customers.

Usually for product companies it could be speed, user friendliness, features, functionality, etc. 

For services/solution companies it could be your domain knowledge, expertise, customer relationship, post services delivery support, etc. 

If there are none to start with, the same need to be created through some expert consultants/mentors/advisors, as it forms the pillar to your business build-up.

Pitch through multiple offers. If you are running a product company, showcase to your prospects/customers about good, better and best products as they can see value that you have crafted in segmenting those offerings.  Likewise in services, you can provide multiple levels of services (where applicable).  These are best practices that you usually see in airline, hotel, banking industries, etc. 

Building a team is easier said than done.  As a startup you will have less time to deliver results; you have limited resources and so attracting talent through higher compensation may not be feasible.  Decide who you want to bring to the table, and as Jim Collins rightly puts it ‘have the right person in the right seat’!  Pick people who are passionate in building your venture and compensation strategy can include a mix of salary and stocks (you need to showcase your company value and what it could deliver in a few years time if folks are to be attracted to stocks in today’s world).  You can also plan to have a long term incentives (retention bonus) for early stage employees, as that will help in retaining good talent for a longer period; it also helps employees plan their career with you with a long term in perspective.

It is equally important to ensure that your team is in sync with your vision. Having the bigger picture in their mind, will help them relate to your organizational goals, vision and aspirations.  This is one of the core ingredients, but not practiced with most organizations. Have clear actionable items identified, tasks assigned and every individual accountable for their actions.

Have a well thought on Digital Marketing Strategy for startup.  In today’s world, the boundaries established by traditional/large corporate is getting thinner with the digital entrants.  Digital strategy can be powerful if you know how to use it right, and that will help your venture create value; else you may end up losing value as well. A good Social Media Strategy will help you position your entity better in the eyes of your customers.  It’s all about customer/prospect’s mind share. 

SEO and SEM can provide strong ammunition in your battle against competition, but the Digital Marketing Strategy has to fit well to your budgets and aspirations. You might not have to be an expert in building your business digitally.  In which case you will need to decide if it is right to delegate your ‘digital agenda’ to digital marketing evangelists, or to a digital marketing specialist company? Digital marketing is very cost effective and impactful as well.

Under digital marketing strategy, you can look at doing Email marketing for your products/services.  Email marketing is very powerful and advantages, numerous.  Refer: http://www.startupxperts.com/email-marketing-powerful-way-to-expand-your-business.html for more interesting insights.

Define your partnership strategy.  Seek and build alliances who can sell your products or services.  Having committed alliances is multiplying your sales force that many times.  It’s a very powerful strategy and as a product company you can derive significant mileage that can build up big time, over time.

De-risking Strategy should be in place.  Strategy is not about taking big risks, but rather how well you are de-risking yourself from large opportunities, does matter.  This is very critical in valuation, especially when the investors look at how well you have de-risked your business against financial, legal and business risk factors.

Yet other key factor is your ability to change.  As a startup with limited resources, the margin of error is thin.  More importantly mistakes do happen when you are building an enterprise.  Boardroom planning is good but you will find things different especially when the rubber hits the road.  It is the ability to quickly react, being agile, have systems that will take care of those issues in future, decides whether your startup is built to last.

One common mistake most startups do is their inability to wait to see results.  You do not keep checking root of a plant by plucking it on a daily basis to check their growth.  It will not only kill the plant, but all your efforts in vain in growing that.   You need to have check points and monitor progress, but not impatient enough in not seeing through to completion.  I know of some companies who just shuts their effective business development team especially when the close is very near, just because it did not meet their anticipated timelines (many a times, unrealistic).  Awful, as a month or two could have made hell of a difference to their business outlook and opportunities!

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How to find the right mentor for your startup? 9 things to be considered

With numerous startups coming up every other day all over the world, there is a definite need for startup consultant. The requirement and demand has never been so much, and one of the primary reasons that entrepreneurs looks for a good mentor is to ensure that nothing goes wrong during their startup journey.

Unlike other services, are startup mentors easily available? Can they add value? Can they increase the success ratio of the aspiring entrepreneurs or startup founders? The answer actually has two sides;

One who has ‘been there, done that’ kind of professionals are too busy in their own stream of things. Being an entrepreneur themselves it is hard for them to find time to dedicate to many startups who seek their advice. So those, while still being busy, who are able to spend a fraction of their time with your idea, your product, your vision, are a smaller fraction of these ‘available’ mentors. So it is best to figure out if they are available and can they really spend that quality time with you to build your dreams.

Now, the next question will be how to find the right startup mentor?

It is not a simple way to just look for and asking someone. You will need to be clear as to what you wish to accomplish; what your strengths are; where do you exactly need the support of a mentor; what aspects do you feel that the mentor should look at while are you busy building your vision, your entity; and many more.

Well, the reason you are looking for a good mentor is to help you avoid those pitfalls which you may fail to notice. The following are some pointers that I have usually shared with so many young entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs for how to choose a right startup mentor.

Need business or technical mentor?

Founders come with their own unique skills; while some have deep technical/technological expertise, while some may be finance experts. So you will need to be clear as to how you wish your mentor to bring those complimentary skills. A business mentor need not necessarily be from your area of expertise/domain, unless you need someone who you would like to contribute technically or technologically.

Powering your thought process:

A good mentor should also act as a ‘devil’s advocate’; should shoot the right questions at you to power your thinking process. They can help transform your team’s thought process. A good mentor should also be ready to push out of your comfort zones, whenever required.

Mentor in your city or anywhere?

There are some requirements that work best with a local mentor, based in your own city. But when either you are unable to find the right one, and if you are fine with a mentor outside of your city/town, it is fine to look for a mentor who is based in a distant location as long as that mentor can add value to your business. Even in the same city, meetings may not happen often. Second, with the technology transformation, you are connected to anyone, anytime, everywhere. So connections and communication has become so seamless it may be a good idea to rope in a right mentor outside of your base location too.

But then how to track and bring them on board?

There are a number of avenues today to spot a right mentor. You can either Google; or keep looking for the right person in various networking events, conferences, and other communities. Quickly prepare a list and do the following;

Follow their social profiles:

You can get to know about them if you can spend some time in LinkedIn or Twitter for example. Get to know their interests and their areas of expertise. Are they personalities who wish to contribute something back, to our society? Understand what motivates them to be in this business.

Be convincing: 

After squaring in on the right mentor, send them a professional note or mail seeking their mentorship. Your mail should look professional without mistakes; grammar errors are fine as we are not an English speaking country (yet) but it should not be carelessly composed. It is like making a ‘statement of purpose’ which you might have done in your college days.

Give them a good reason, as to why they should act as your mentor. Pick the phone and start a conversation. You will emerge with more clarity as to whether to sign up with that mentor or not.

Building relationship is the key to successful mentoring. Mentoring is built on trust and respect for mutual strengths. Mentoring should not be treated as just another casual or commercial transaction. Respect their time and consider that you are getting benefited because of their involvement in your entity.

How to strike an engagement deal?

There can be numerous ways to engage a mentor. It can be a non-commercial understanding and with a good relationship you can get things going. Or it can be a small commercial, incentive driven, with commitment to time spends clearly agreed upon.

There have been numerous instances that startups come with the proposal in terms of providing equity to get me on-board as their mentor/advisor. Though I have refused so many earlier, this also does have some merit if you look at it as a win-win value proposition. Just make sure that there is a cultural fit with that mentor, as he is like your co-founder sailing with your company for long. Once taken on-board, it will be difficult to push him/her out.

Move ahead with clear commitment to time slots, goals, milestones, to ensure that there are no misunderstandings or realizing the gap later between what was expected and what was achieved?

Not having the right mentor can make or break your idea or your startup. Mentors bring in a lot of wisdom, experience, insight, and their aspiration is also to see you through emerging successfully. So even if you are running your startup, enterprise (small or big) successfully it is always advisable to rope in good mentors, as advisors, for your business growth.

Startup Xperts is a business accelerator supporting startups, small medium enterprises, boutique firms, by driving their go-to-market strategies, digital marketing, smart sales initiatives, to accelerate their revenue growth.

To know more about Startup Xperts, visit us at www.startupxperts.com or write to us at info@startupxperts.com

The views expressed in this article are that of the author’s and Startup Xperts is not responsible for this content. In case of any objection in content, IP violation, incorrect or inappropriate information, please inform us at ceo@startupxperts.com. We will do our best to act on it at the earliest.

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