Ten Bold Moves for 2013 Sales Growth

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Ten Bold Moves for 2013 Sales Growth A Summary of Key Findings From Alexander Group’s 2012 Chief Sales Executive Forums

© 2012 The Alexander Group, Inc.® 1

The 2012 Forum Series

Alexander Group has conducted the Chief Sales Executive Forum events each year since 2001. Our focus in 2012 was…

This briefing covers what tops the list for sales growth actions and imperatives


2012 Chief Sales Executive Forum Speakers

David Sullivan Vice President of Sales – Americas, Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies

Valerie Mason Cunningham Senior Vice President Xerox

Brad Cannon Vice President, Global Commercial Operations, Medtronic Spine

Gregory Johnson VP/GM, U.S. Client Development, American Express OPEN

Bob White President of Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions, Covidien

Dave Spencer National Vice President Sales, Cloud Direct Americas, SAP

Neil Isford Vice President, Smarter Analytics IBM

Andrew Sage Vice President Worldwide Partner Led, Cisco Systems

Glenn Mason President, Global Sales Strategy and Sales Operations, UPS

Mark Toland SVP, Cardiology Sales, Boston Scientific

Kerry Grimes Vice President, Global Solution Partner Sales Siemens PLM

John Kowalczyk VP of Sales, Neuromodulation, Pain Solutions & Targeted Drug Delivery Medtronic

Ron Myers SVP, Global Channels Polycom

Deborah Nelson VP of Sales Excellence & Leadership Development Enterprise Group, HP

The source of these insights:


Tough Times Require Bold Moves

• Persistent economic headwinds • Sophisticated customers demand more value • Companies making bold moves to grow

– New products – New services – Acquisitions

The sales function must anticipate and match these moves with its own form of boldness…. and in many cases must lead the charge


Ten Bold Moves To Drive 2013 Sales Growth

Re-tool your sales tactics

Go where the growth is

Get serious about

implementation

Influence up by expanding the sales process

Segment customers by what they value 1

Focus scarce resources 2

Consider new routes to market 3

Dig deeper for better insight 4

New targets require new sales motions

5

6

Talk ROI 7

Signal that you mean it 8

Practice tough love 9

Inspire a value centric culture 10


Segment Customers By What They Value 1

Large

Small

Insight Price

RFP Bullies

Comparison Shoppers

Looking for Partners

In Search of a Vision

Account segmentation must incorporate what customers value – and are willing to pay for. Let this drive sales investment decisions


Focus Scarce Resources

Drive For Efficiency:

• Inside Sales • Partners • Web sales • Combination of above

Find budget for expensive resources by looking for efficiencies where the customer is unwilling to pay for value.

Invest In Effectiveness:

• AMs with business acumen • Product Specialists • Industry Specialists • Process Specialists • Executive Programs

2

Insight Price


Consider New Routes To Market

Number of Companies

2015 Opportunity

CAGR 2010 - 2015

108M 493K 81K

$20 B $12 B $12 B

5 – 7 % 5 – 7 % 4 – 6 %

Small 1 – 249 Employees

Mid - Size 250 - 999 Employees

Large 1000+ Employees

Partner engagement may afford better coverage of

the underserved middle market

Source: IDC

3


• Selling time • Planning time • Practices that work • Optimum selling

cadence • Support

optimization • Sellers at risk

• Match opportunities with capabilities

• Prioritization based on liklihood to close

• Performance relative to market penetration index

• Sales potential • Sales cycle • Propensity to buy • Basis of buy • Personal interests

Dig Deeper For Better Insight

Customer Insight

Seller Productivity

Partner Performance

Enhanced use of business analytics can lead to better:

4

Leverage data analysis to maximize seller productivity


Influence Up by Expanding the Sales Process

Needs Products Proposals Selection

Relationship Based Entry Point

Show to Procurement

Business Processes

Improvement Opportunities

ROI Analysis

Solution Alternatives

Proposals Selection

Business Based Entry Point

Envision with Executives

NEW By this time 57% of the buying

decisions are already made. Glenn Mason, UPS

OLD

5

Sales Process


Rel

ativ

e C

ost

High

Low

Complexity and Risk Significant Marginal

New Targets Require New Sales Motions 6

“Me too” Products

Bundle Products

Relate

Show

Solutions

Partner

New Products & Extensions

Teach

Competitive Advantage

Envision Don’t Shortcut • Going up the x-axis

depends on discounting (price-centric)

• Going across the y-axis requires new products (product-centric)

Aim High • A customer-centric view of

the world is on the diagonal axis

• Sellers use products and services to improve their customer’s business

Position sales for competitive advantage with the right motion at the right time


Talk ROI

68% 32%

Yes! No

Source: IDC n= 245 companies Of the 32% of respondents that replied “No,” 23% have plans to institute a formal ROI requirement within a year, bringing the total requiring ROI to ~75%

Q: Do you require an ROI calculation to make a purchase decision?

7

ROI Is the CxO Message Of Choice


Sale

s Pr

oces

s

Years

Days

Sales Provisioning High Touch Low Touch

• Simple Dollar Volume

Signal That You Mean It… Your Sellers Are Watching

Show

• Dollar Volume • Margin • Mix • KPIs • Net Promoter • Multi Year

• Dollar Volume • Margin • Mix • Account Share • Multi Year

Relate

• Total Volume • New Product

Volume

Teach

Envision

8

Measure more than dollar volume as complexity increases

Metrics will vary according to sales motion High touch, longer sales processes require a wide array of options to measure success


Practice Tough Love

Repeat High Margin

Multi-Line

High Churn Low Margin

Single Product

Low High Raw Numbers

Substance Behind the Numbers

Coach

Fire Fast Watch

Heroes

A tough love model supports transformation to value selling …and hinges on front line sales managers

9

There will be a need for lots of coaching!


Inspire a Value Centric Culture

• “Sellers hear, see and sense what excites the customer” • “Involve your people in creating the value vision” • “The willingness to listen breeds trust”

• “You need a willingness to try new ways to add value and put up with well-meaning mistakes in the interest of serving the customer”

• “Foster a culture that values keeping commitments” • “Commit to value; accept no less”

• “What used to take 5 years must now be done in 18 months. Speed to value counts”

• “To get it right the first time, run a pilot”

• “Executives at winning companies feel a certain discomfort about ‘the encore’”

• “There can be no complacency when you manage in permanent white water”

Listen up, down and out

Force frequent change…allow

occasional failure

Be blatantly persistent where

it counts

Hurry but never rush

Encourage healthy paranoia

10


What Are Your 2013 Value Imperatives?

Re-tool your sales tactics

Go where the growth is

Get serious about

implementation

Gain more of these insights at Alexander Group’s 2013 Chief Sales Executive Forum Events


2013 Chief Sales Executive Forum Events

The Ritz-Carlton at Half Moon Bay San Francisco | May 2 – 3 The Princeton Club New York City | June 18-19

St. Regis Monarch Beach Dana Point, CA | November 11-13

Join us at our 2013 Chief Sales Executive Forum events to learn what sales leaders from top companies are doing to

grow sales by delivering customer value

http://www.alexandergroup.com/events/cse-annual-forum

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