Sales Process Excellence

Book excerpt: Why are B2B sales and marketing problems so persistent? Why don't digital and social marketing, lead generation, sales training, CRM systems, and even so-called sales process improve sales productivity and profit?In Sales Process Excellence, Michael Webb traces sales and marketing problems to their root causes in traditional management methods, such as pushing product, setting quotas, and trying harder while doing the same things over again. He explains why these methods actually create barriers for leaders, and reveals an alternative that avoids them. What's the alternative? Sales process excellence. Drawing on years of experience with B2B sales managers, general managers, and process excellence leaders, Webb shows how you can engage your team to:* Learn what customers want from your salespeople, your channels, and on your website* Design your process to tell you who will buy, who won't, and why* Increase margins and accountability, while earning field salespeople's cooperation and respect * Synchronize marketing, sales, and service into a smooth production flow, and then accelerate it* Use data you didn't know you had to drive decisions that reliably grow your businessWebb illustrates data-driven ways to motivate and guide sales and marketing teams with a precision approaching that found in production operations. In this book, you will learn how:* A food packager doubled sales productivity, creating a new market where no one else could compete* A water filter distributor revived its growth by moving salespeople from servicing dealers to selling to new customers through those dealers* A paint supplier achieved its five year plan in four years by transforming itself from selling commodities to selling high-margin services* A dozen other companies opened sales bottlenecks, developed new products, reduced waste, and increased deal flow.Stop relying on wasteful promotions, undependable sales heroes, and management methods pitting people against one another. In this book you will learn proven principles for finding customer value and locking in profit in ways competitors can't imitate, while increasing predictability and reducing business risks.