Top Ten Questions for CEOs to Ask Their Sales Manager

 

1. What is the revenue target by buyer type and product/service category?
   
   
2. What Intelligence (Market & Competitive) tools are being used? What is the competition doing differently in 2011?
   
   
3. What technology and tools are you leveraging to drive increasing returns? How are we using social networks and social media to advance the business?
   
   
4. What marketing assets are being leveraged by sales to improve conversation rates?
   
   
5. How is Alternative Distribution (Channels, Partners, Indirect) being used to expand into new markets, test pricing, and extend your reach?
   
   
6. What is the ROI results from 2010 by sales campaign/initiative? What is the budget and frecast for 2011?
   
   
7. During the sales process, how do CEOs, VPs of sales, PR firms and VPs of marketing impact how an analyst sees your company?   Precisely what homework must you do before you close a deal?   What intelligence is needed to close the majority of opportunities?
   
   
8. What is the singular definition of success in both qualitative and quantitative terms?
   
   
9. How are you going to make each employee and each customer a net promoter and a sales advocate?
   
   
10. How are you ensuring your are getting the best efforts from your people? What are you doing to get more from your people?  What are you doing to ensure your people have more time to sell qualified opportunities?

 

Top performing sales managers are able to:

• Provide you with a clear picture of how each buyer segment works and how to best make them an advocate.  
• Build channel and partnership relationships that create consistent, predictable referral and revenue streams.
• Educate and present to employees on trends, changes, and industry drivers.    
• Provide you with an actual plan, forecastable pipeline
• Understand each influencer, decision maker and corresponding messages and offers to convert prospects to buyers in a timely manner.    
• Create Intelligence routines and provide insights into what your competitors are doing.    
• Provide authoritative, expert recommendations and detailed courses of action for any buyer situation.  

 

The 10 Driving Forces of Growth

1. Sell to markets that are growing and expanding. Think innovative companies, franchisers , healthcare, safety, security, technology, or anything federal or government related, etc..
   
   
2. Brand yourself and be #1 or #2 in all markets, products.
   
   
3. Engage prospects and clients regularly with relevant and compelling content.
   
   
4. Leverage Marketing Assets to improve sales conversion rates and the number of “At-Bat” attempts.  If your team is having to pick up the phone and cold call there can never be any scalability or predictability.
   
   
5. Leverage alternative distribution: channel partners, alliances, eCommerce, etc..
   
   
6. Be Intelligent; know your prospects buying drivers and habits before meeting with them.
   
   
7. Nurture your prospects from browsers to buyers.B2B studies show that it now takes eight (8) nurturing interactions with a qualified sales prospect for them to have brand recognition and champion interest in a product or solution. 
   
   
8. Maturate your prospects to the benefits and outcomes of your “solution” to their top business priorities (not your product or service).
   
   
9. Implement lead scoring and real-time lead routing.
   
   
10. Be found online when buyers are researching, evaluating, and searching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Executives have three options for growth. What's the best investment of your resources?

• Sell more products, services, and solutions
• Sell to more customers
  • Expand to new customer segments
  • Expand to new markets
• Acquire capabilities or market share

Read more about the 3 options for growth.

 

What's the best investment of your sales GoToMarket resources?

• Push marketing (Direct Marketing & Telemarketing / Telesales)
• Pull marketing (Brand, PR, eMarketing, Social Marketing, Internet Marketing)
• Direct sales (Probability Selling best practices)
• Alternative distribution (3rd party agents, channel sales, VARs, strategic alliances, etc.)
• Customer loyalty

 

Today’s difficult economic climate and operating environment creates complex challenges to creating exponential growth. The current economic realities place more stress and new constraints on leadership to make the right decisions and adjust their financial models and business dynamics.  In this new economic reality, it’s critical that leadership maximize the entire spectrum of growth opportunities, including those initiatives around M&A and Corporate Development. 

 

By employing specific tactics, processes and best practices that mitigate both investment and execution risks, the stated business objectives can be achieved, even in this most difficult economic environment.

 

Ensuring your success is all about increasing your probabilities of success. Increase your probabilities of success by utilizing a

1. Portfolio approach to attracting, retaining, and growing.
   1. Use multiple routes to market
   2. Sell multiple solutions to multiple segments/markets
2. Implement real-time market and competitive INTELLIGENCE routines to constantly re-evaluate and adjust strategies and tactics.

 

“The goal is wealth creation by driving shareholder value through the use of efficient GoToMarket methodologies and experienced execution,” said Garry E. Meier, Chairman of Ephor Group.   “Creating wealth is all about creating the qualities of right: the right strategy, with the right people, with the right model, and the right business process. Our GrowthWEDGE approach provides the required operational execution support and risk mitigation strategies that every strategy warrants.”

Contact us at ephor[at]ephorgroup.com for a complimentary list of sales support tools and examples customized for your industry. Contact Ephor Group
713.977.3600
ephor[at]ephorgroup.com
Chairman: Garry E. Meier