Manufacturer in the Technology Sector - Sales Management Advisory Program

We partnered with this company using our Management Advisory Program (M.A.P.) to provide sales structure, process, measurement, and rewards to improve sales performance.

The Challenge

This company produced and sold technology through indirect sales channels on a worldwide basis to a specific target audience. They were number two in terms of market share for their industry behind a competitor that was very aggressive in marketing, advertising and online presence. The sales team was based in Minnesota, yet worked with resellers, distributors and manufacturer’s reps all over the globe. As sales flattened in a tough economy, the company considered adding on additional sales reps in an effort to increase the number of resellers it had selling its products, and therefore increase sales. Rather than add this headcount, they decided to partner with Pivotal Advisors to increase the effectiveness of the current team.

The Approach

Pivotal Advisors interviewed several key players within the organization including sales staff, sales management, and CEO to understand the business, the current sales processes and systems in place, and the challenges the company was currently facing. Once we had a better understanding of the business and what was working well and what was not, we developed a sales structure for the sales leadership to roll out to the team that focused on key activities that drove sales. This included defining, reporting and tracking key sales rep activity communicating wins, goals and progress against goals, developing structure for team and one-on-one communications, and providing general sales management support as issues arose. The team was slightly reorgnaized and new systems and processes were introduced to the group in small, consumable doses as to not overwhelm the team with too much data and change. As issues arose, Pivotal Advisors was there to assist with the change management and hold the sales management accountable for following through. All changes were developed and introduced through the sales management to increase reinforcement from the team and to develop the skills of the sales leader.

The Result

In a down economy, revenue from the team has increased 30% in year-over-year during the same period, without the addition of any headcount. The team continues to grow each month and a large percentage of the reps are now on plan to achieve their goals where they had been falling short in the past. In addition to sales, the following statements from the sales leader describe other improvements achieved through this project:

• "The team is flourishing with a better structure."
• "Activities are up significantly."
• "I have more time to coach rather than put out fires."
• "I feel more controlled and confident in how I manage the team."
  

We continue to work with this company and introduce additional components of an effective sales system.