Justin Roff-Marsh is an author and prolific blogger at http://www.salesprocessengineering.com. Roff-Marsh is an expert in the Theory of Constraints, the process-engineering methodology that underpins Ballistix's contrarian approach to the sales process.
Roff-Marsh asserts that if an organization meets the two following criteria...
1) The organization has unutilized production capacity
2) Market share less than 20%
...then, the following two conclusions fall out:
1) The organization has growth potential; and,
2) The constraint to growth is sales (not production)
"There is a potential for productivity improvement in sales. The modern salesperson is currently an artisan, operating in a craft-shop environment."
"Standardization, centralized scheduling and a format management regime are prerequisites of division of labor."
"In a knowledge-based environment, we have invisible work-in-process."
Roff-Marsh posits that specialization results in 10x the 'effective capacity" of sales:
Center: Business development meetings go from 2/week to 4/day
Periphery
- Promotions
- Administration and clerical
- Customer service and fulfillment (engineering)
This was an excellent presentation. Having a manufacturing backgroud, I could completely appreciate the application of Theory of Constraints. As a person with newly aquired sales responsibility (the first one being to design our sales process), I had several huge aha moments, and I have completly changed my mind about what we will do. DIVISION OF LABOR!
ReplyDeleteTony Kortleve-Snider
Thanks Tony! Justin Roff-Marsh, of Ballistix, will be sending you a sales process re-eingineering starter packet of information (book, white paper etc) for your reference if/when you incorporate his ideas into your sales process. It was great meeting you at the EcSELL Institute Sales Management Summit.
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