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sales performance
The sales plan, a translation of the overall corporate strategy and a multi-channel management tool
The sales plan contains the operational translation of the company
strategy and should image the annual marketing plan. It is the mainstay
of sales effectiveness. The sales plan should go beyond the simple
strategy application to become a real management tool. It must
be widely communicated among company managers and teams to
reach the status of unique reference document for all operational
actions. Local actions in complete inconsistency with the corporate
plan should absolutely be prevented. For instance, if we prioritize
the residential market, two channels top the sales: indirect points of
sales and distance selling (customer service, internet, voice server,
etc.). Objectives per channel should be defined and aggregated to
avoid any cannibalization effect.
The indirect sales network, a necessity for a broad coverage, should follow strict steering and animation rules
An indirect sales network, such as partner resellers, either exclusive or
not, mass distribution, shop around the corner… is essential to create
a “seamless” sales coverage. More flexible and less costly than a proprietary point-of-sales (PoS) network, indirect sales are much more
difficult to control and pilot. What are the right tools and mechanisms
to operate in order to obtain a better control over this distribution
network? As for a proprietary sales network, the support of the operator
is absolutely necessary, point of sales communication, merchandising
choice, price oriented spot action etc. are some of the imperative
basic actions. Yet, sales force commission policy and network stimulation
are key elements within a sales monitoring policy.
Unlike regarding a proprietary sales network, “money” remains a
major factor for boosting indirect sales efficiency: line rate, threshold
achievement fee, possible air time commission, bonuses, all mechanisms
should be carefully assessed since they strongly impact the
involvement and efficiency level of sales network teams.
A strict animation policy is the only method for the operator to control
its brand name image and values towards final customers. Sales
force managers are not only in charge of selecting new PoS, but they
are also in charge of the daily existing network management and
monitoring. Thus, they should pay special attention in terms of site
visits, PoS turnover, offers selection and sales, financial rewarding
policy implementation…
Free and fluidify the “HQ - field” processes
Distribution assistance processes are often not perceived as a contributing factor to overall performance and sales dynamism, but are
fundamental regarding sales performance. Assistance to PoS should
be supplied from a single entry point, available for providing a relevant
service to distributors to prevent any sales force disheartenment.
The other processes related to customer experience like ordering provision, billing, after-sales service… must be perfectly in line with the customer promise.
Performance assessment is essential
Last but not least, performance assessment is crucial to service
analysis and improvement. Too many operators meet difficulties
producing sales follow-up reports in a simple and reliable way . The
performance monitoring and assessment should be a priority for
every reliable company.
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