Part 3 of this article series has been a long time coming!  My ‘entrepreneurs disease’ has gotten me into a bit of trouble (good trouble – I think!) by becoming a co-founder of a clean technologies start-up.  My daily writing allotment has been consumed by preparing for the WI Governor’s Business Plan Contest for which our independent renewable energy system qualifies us as one of 21 finalists! Now that I have much of that writing under wraps, it feels good to be blogging again.  Thank you for your patience and continued readership!

Part 3 of this article series concerns demonstrating Sales Effectiveness.

Demonstrating sales effectiveness requires serious groundwork.  Revenue and cash flow are but tangible measures of a successfully implemented sales strategy.  And a successful sales strategy is one that delivers on the unique value proposition (UVP) set forth by leadership, and effectively branded by marketing (see Marketing Effectiveness).

Below are steps for aligning your sales efforts and/or sales force with the vision and UVP of your company to consistently demonstrate sales effectiveness year over year.

Determine your 5-year and 1-year revenue goals

Projections aside, what are your sales goals 5 years from now?  What is your desired result?  Get together with your executive team and determine your aim.  Sure it may be somewhere around projections, but maybe you can do better than that.  Your daily selling activities need to be in alignment with your written and communicated goal.

Create and communicate your company’s Unique Value Proposition

Ideally, your UVP should already be in place by the time you’re creating your sales strategy.  It should be on your company’s website and perfectly clear to everyone in the organization, especially the sales team.  Most importantly it should be very specific in terms of what kind of company you are (i.e. your scope of business), what products/services you specialize in offering, who you help, how you help, and your key value differentiator.

Think of it this way…your company’s UVP is to your sales team as your corporate vision is to your organization.  The UVP provides identity, direction and focus (focus on the customer!).

Would a member of your sales team be able to say what your company specializes in?  Does your sales team concur with the top three ‘pains’ your customers face?  The UVP is an effective tool for sticking to your sales message so you can brand and position your company’s value.

Decide what sales effectiveness processes are critical for improvement

As with all of your organization’s internal processes, your sales processes enable you to successfully deliver your UVP (aka strategy) to the market and achieve your revenue goals.

Which sales processes in your company need to be improved?  Below are some questions for your consideration:

• What mechanisms and activities are in place to support making connections with people both online and offline?
• Are we actively and consistently involved with at least one Social Networking site?
• Who is Speaking and positioning themselves as a thought leader in our industry?
• What events should we be hosting?
• How do our sales people stack up in professionalism with regard to appearance and behavior?
• How and with what are we educating the market on-line, as well as off-line with our sales force?
• How would we benefit if our sales professionals had their own blog/website?
• What are we currently doing to sell our products on-line?
• How do we rate our creativity and persuasion when selling?
• What sales training is necessary to improve selling skill and ability?
• Are our sales incentives appropriate and effective?
• Does our sales force understand their markets?
• Can we say that our sales professionals are experts on our products/services?
• Should we implement an internal blog for our sales force to support education and interaction? (I highly recommend this awesome performance mechanism!)

Examine what sales development initiatives need to be implemented

In my opinion, to sell effectively, sales professionals need training and development to support three core competencies: Interpersonal skills, Customer knowledge, and Product knowledge.

People with strong interpersonal skills don’t have to work as hard at selling or memorizing the sales process.  Strong interpersonal skills entail listening, empathy, and problem solving.  Yes…problem solving.  Don’t we place the highest value on those individuals who help us solve our problems?

I purposely mentioned customer knowledge before product knowledge.  It’s critical to understand the customer prior to providing them your product.  Train your sales people in this order so they can truly appreciate how your company helps your customers solve their problems.

Last but definitely not least, sales professionals must be product experts.  Their product knowledge is their credibility.  What good are your sales people to your company if they are not product experts…I don’t care how friendly or fun they are to talk to.

Always be developing these core competencies to grow sales and support internal processes.

Devise SMART goals around your sales process and development

Once you know which internal process and development objectives will support your UVP, you need to write them as specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and trackable goals.  I drive the “SMART” concept because all too often I see phrases written as goals. Phrases are not SMART.  Phrases will not hold us accountable like a SMART goal will.

Create and implement your sales plan

Get your plan on paper and distributed!  Make sure you know who is doing what activities to achieve which SMART goal, and by what date.  Use your written plan as a follow-up tool on progress at least monthly. Be sure to assign a measurement to each goal for tracking and progress reporting.

Sales effectiveness is not running to the market “willy nilly” with your product.  It is aligning sales goals and resources with your UVP you thoughtfully crafted as result of your market research and understanding of your customers’ needs.

Do your sales people know what your 1 and 5-year revenue goals are?

Do your sales people know your company’s UVP?

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Yes…money is tight, investors are being highly selective with their funds, and they are interested in a return on their investment in the form of profits.   As mentioned in my first post of this series (I Continue Meet Scientists and Business Owners Who Need To Do MORE To Attract Capital Funding), this implies big opportunity for the fit-minded!

Times like these bring out the best in innovative science and discovery, because the fit-minded will adapt and change what they’ve been doing.  They will employ new strategies and a well-defined process to attract funding.

The Wrong Way To Attract Capital Funding:

In my opinion, there is only one wrong way to attract capital funding: Keep doing what you did last year!  Instead of growing a prosperous enterprise, you will grow a cynical attitude.

Investors and other financiers know passion when it presents itself.  You cannot have both cynicism and passion for the future of your company, research and products.  Great companies and innovations grow on passion!

If you have it in your head that investors “can’t see the possibilities”, OR “all they care about is profit”, you are going to be absolutely correct!  Your behaviors – being influenced by your mindset – will in turn influence your investors’/financiers’ perceptions of you, your company, and your future.

Do any of these behaviors sound like you?

• Settling with journals/studies to market your company and ideas
• Presenting a business plan that took you a day or less to create
• Communicating your innovative concepts in your preferred language and format
• Presuming you have all the skills you need to grow your business
• Lacking passion and vision for the impact your innovation will have on the world
• Focusing on a company acquisition verses the vigilance and sustainability of your company

The Right Way to Attract Capital Funding:

As with any market, Capital Markets need to be marketed to effectively.  You may have noticed that marketing today isn’t what it used to be – even when compared with one-two years ago!

Furthermore, and somewhat ironically, the slower economy has accelerated change in marketing methodologies.  End users and investors alike have new demands for products and communications, and many business owners fall far behind in knowing how to overcome these crucial market obstacles.

With the growth of your company at stake, this is not a time to turn a blind eye to the changes you must make to attract capital.  You are competing for funds like never before!

Below are my humble, yet highly effective suggestions for attracting funding.  No BS…I do believe they will help you!

Create a TRUE Strategic Business Plan

A true strategic business plan is for you and your executive team.  Consider that investors and others simply have the pleasure and opportunity to look at your plan when examining your credibility and viability.  A good plan will take at least 3 to 5 days to create with your team.  Don’t write a plan to check the box (kiss of death!)

Your plan is your vision for success.  It represents the values your company is built on, and how you see your company and innovations impacting the world in 5 years or more.

It shows the critical milestones you will achieve with funding in the next 5 months, and then the next five months after that, and so on.  IP Strategy, primary/secondary market research, “what if scenarios”, Financing Strategy, Critical Milestones…go deep here; spend some time!  This is YOUR guide!

To not create a true roadmap for success means you are open to allowing external and other market forces to guide you.  You will be a weathervane, and you’ll be seen as non-credible.

Communicate In a Way Investors Will Grow Interested and Understand

So you have a TRUE strategy plan to share.  Will this suffice?  No!  You need to provide your audience with a Strategic Plan Recap: One for your business plan, one for your marketing plan, and one for your sales plan.

Strategy recaps are succinct and to the point, helping to prevent you from going too heavy with speaking jargon. They will also stimulate interest in looking deeper into your strategy.  Remember, seek first to have your investors understand, then you can be understood!

Here is what a good Strategic Business Plan Recap should consist of:

• Your company’s 3-5 core values
• Your company’s core purpose for existence
• Your company’s 5-Year goal, simply stated
• Your Critical Milestones for achieving your 5-year goal
• Your objectives for achieving your critical milestones, with a special emphasis on your objectives for the next rolling 5 months

Including these concepts in your business plan recap will effectively show who you are and where you are going.  This makes for quick and interesting reading (without sacrificing pertinent details) and immediately helps investors identify if they care to learn more.  It’s all about stimulating real interest.

Here’s what a good Marketing Plan Recap should consist of:

• Your marketing philosophy (edu-marketing, traditional, new media, or mixture, etc.)
• Your market niches, capital markets included (as applicable by growth stage)
• Your Unique Value Proposition
• Your Competitive Advantage (s) (per your well-thought IP strategy)
• Your Objectives for “getting the word out” in the next rolling five months

A marketing recap like this one will effectively show investors whether or not you know how to attract your markets in order to achieve your critical milestones presented in your strategic business plan.  An excellent marketing plan will establish faith in your capabilities.

And finally, here is what a solid Sales Plan Recap Should Consist of:

• Key Differentiators (what about your company and innovations is both unique and valuable to the market, through the eyes of the market)
• Key selling tools (what you will implement to promote your key differentiators to the market)
• Product Strategy (Sales flow and points-of-contact)
• Sales Channels
• Objectives for bringing the sales plan to fruition, again with the next rolling 5 months in mind

A sales plan recap like this one reflects your dedication to action.  No matter what your stage of growth – seed, emerging or promising – you are selling, and you need tools and a plan.

Get out of the Past: Update your Marketing Approach

Studies are required, but whitepapers are desired!  By whitepapers, I mean any information that serves to empower investors and other markets with useful and educational information they can use to make decisions.  Recall the scientist I told you about from my first post in this series?  More of the same!

There is a real opportunity to differentiate yourself if you can be the first to establish thought leadership in your industry.  In addition to having your latest research study published in a peer-reviewed journal, you should provide additional educational pieces specifically geared to your audience in the form of guides, whitepapers, articles, videos or case studies.

How much more will equity financiers be attracted to your organization and ideas if you are educating them on the problems in the industry your innovations help to solve?  Who will they desire to watch, grow to trust, and potentially invest in?  The scientist/business owner with another study at the trade show, or the thought leader with a study at the trade show, who’s guides they’ve received education on pressing industry problems and solutions?

They will choose the latter because this group will have earned thought leadership above and beyond the competition.  There is nothing more powerful than thought leadership.  Earn it!

Attract Investors to Your On-line Hub

If you are confident and can demonstrate who you are and where you are going, you will attract the market.  Establishing a powerful online presence where you can serve as a resource and as an educator in your industry will attract capital funding.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have investors signing up to receive updates on your progress and achievements and contacting YOU for a meeting?

Demonstrate Organizational Effectiveness

Being able to demonstrate organizational effectiveness means that you can show you’re able to consistently achieve company goals/milestones.  How would you rate your company’s ability to consistently achieve organizational goals?  What would it mean to the growth of your company to exceed investor expectations with your ability in this area?

I notice this article is getting somewhat lengthy!  I have much to say about these last two points, and I want them be digestible and useful!    That said, I will break them into two additional articles for my next two subsequent posts in this series:

How to Attract Investors with an On-line Hub and Exceeding Investor Expectations: How to Demonstrate Organizational Effectiveness

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