Aside from minimal amounts of objective data, salespeople are expected to enter numerous best-guesses relating to everything from customer predispositions to competitor intentions into the organization's CRM. Even much of the data that appears to be objective at first glance reveals itself as otherwise under close scrutiny. For example, even though the opportunity-management process is divided into a series of milestones, the achievement of few of these milestones is actually signalled by unambiguous customer behaviour.
Slaying sacred cows
Sales forecasts: hocus-pocus with a dollar sign!
Why commissions make selling optional!
You should know the optimal volume of appointments a salesperson should perform each week. You should also know the optimal amount of margin that will result (on average) from this activity. You should insist on the optimal in both cases.
Why salespeople should never perform telephone follow-up!
There should be two types of customer contact: sales appointments (or teleconferences) and scheduling calls. Salespeople should perform the first, sales coordinators the second. In the absense of this simple rule, you have no sales 'process'.
Why 'qualification' is a value-destroying activity!
In practice, the qualification of prospects eliminates those who do not currently in the process of making a purchasing decision. Consequently, every selling situation becomes a bidding contest.
Client retention should not be salespeople's responsibility!
Think about it. Whether or not you retain your customers is determined more by your delivery performance (and by your product diffentiation) than it is by salespeople's regular visits. If you have a retention problem, fix delivery and NPD — and let salespeople sell!
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