Applying science to the art of sales

by Todd Youngblood

Nothing will ever replace the intangible skills of the natural sales rep. The really great ones have their own unique style. They’re different and rare. They represent compelling evidence that selling really is an art.

True enough but . . . great artists have a few things in common. While they are universally proud of what they produce, they are at the same time profoundly convinced they can do better. They share an innate compulsion to pursue perfection. They invest enormous amounts of time and effort studying, measuring and comparing the technical details of their work against the elusive ideal. They experiment and assess, experiment and assess, slowly, methodically, relentlessly improving the results.

Sounds like a scientific approach; one that is oddly uncommon in the world of sales. Why is this so? No business has an over-supply of instinctively great reps. No one relies on the spontaneous emergence of enough sales “artists” to deliver the required revenue volume. The answer lies in the fact that the debate about sales as art vs. science is irrelevant.

The real issue is continuous improvement in sales performance. By definition, continuous improvement in anything – painting, sculpture, music, brain surgery, sports, sales - must have a scientific foundation. Without standards for comparison and a means to measure deviation from those standards, there is literally no way to know if any improvement has occurred.

Furthering the state of the art (or is it the “science?”) of sales requires a formal approach to quantifying effectiveness and measuring the pace and amount of improvement. 

More specifically, it requires application of three tools:
• a generally applicable sales process framework;
• extensive benchmarking data; and
• a process to analyze and apply findings.

The methodical sales process
One framework for sales that fits well for distribution businesses is The YPS Group’s Methodical Sales Process (MSP). Its architecture includes 14 sub-processes grouped into three main categories: Sales Operations, the starting point and “guts” of the whole selling process; Customer Satisfaction, concerned with maintaining the business of your current customer base; and Sales Support, the activities performed by field reps, staff and management to make the sales operation as productive as possible.

The following diagram and outline further clarify the structure:

Sales operations
• Identify opportunities - To whom might I sell my products/services? How do I determine which are my best prospects?
• Gain attention - How do I get the decision-maker to recognize that my firm might have useful products/services?
• Establish interest - How do I get the prospect engaged in a decision process regarding my products/services?
• Conduct discovery - How do I work with the prospect to customize and justify use of my products/services and begin to get his/her buy-in?
• Present/propose - How do I package my complete value proposition for delivery to the prospect?
• Close - How do I reach final commitment?

Customer satisfaction
•  Deliver/implement - How do I assure that my products/services are properly delivered and/or implemented by the customer?
• Support customer operations - How do I monitor and ensure continued customer satisfaction?
• Develop relationships - How do I establish and continuously enhance the trust and confidence my prospects and customers have in my company and me?

Sales support
• Account and territory management - What things must I do to assure that my company’s time and resources are productively and optimally used?
• Field operations support - What must the sales support staff do to help the sales reps, and what tools do they need?
• Human resources - How do I recruit, hire, train, motivate and retain sales personnel?
• Quality assurance - What are the standards for performance of each sales activity and how do I assure that these standards are met?
• Process management and metrics - How do I ensure continuous improvement?  How do I measure all the activities in the sales process so I know how well I’m doing?

Benchmarking data
The single biggest inhibitor to improving the sales process is a lack of detailed benchmarking data about how well sales teams execute their sales activities. It simply does not exist. To address this gap, The YPS Group developed an online benchmarking self-assessment tool based on the Methodical Sales Process framework.

Several organizations have successfully applied results of this assessment to improve their sales performance. In addition, by participating in a project to collect industry-wide data, you can compare your own sales force to others in the same and related industries. To participate in this project, click here to complete the 20 to 30-minute self-assessment.

The process of sales process engineering
Analyzing and applying benchmark results is the last step in a sales process improvement effort. Using a seven-component Sales Process Engineering approach, a number of YPS clients generated an incremental, annual 8 percent to 12 percent increase in sales per rep. This approach is described below.

• Identify best practices - Conduct a series of interviews, surveys and discussions to “mine” for the knowledge of top sales producers and managers.
• Engineer best process - Integrate sales best practices into a comprehensive whole, customized to your unique environment and requirements.
• Document - Write it down! Build a “Sales Knowledge Mine” to contain everything you learn about your sales process and best practices.
• Communicate/educate/train - Make sure your entire sales force understands what is in the Sales Knowledge Mine and how it can be used.
• Develop metrics and analyze - Always remember, “If it’s not measured, it’s not managed.” You should regularly use at least 25 to 30 distinct measurements to effectively monitor your sales process.
• Implement best-of-best - Unless the processes, tools and techniques that result from your sales process engineering are actually used by all members of your sales team – the effort is wasted. Do it!
• Tracing/support tools - Information Technology tools are essential for effective management control of a sales process

In addition to the process itself, there are two more essential elements underlying successful Sales Process Engineering implementation. The first is to establish a Sales Excellence Council to do the actual SPE work, and the second is proficient facilitation.

A Sales Excellence Council should be composed of your “best and brightest” sales and sales management personnel. Their role is two-fold. First, it ensures the high-quality and direct tactical relevance of the SPE effort. Second, it ensures buy-in and widespread implementation of the Council’s output.

The facilitator must have executive level sales management experience, a thorough understanding of process engineering and knowledge management principles and detailed working knowledge of the required documentation, diagramming and statistical tools. The role of this individual is to make it happen and to provide a critical, realistic outsider’s perspective.

Now what?
On the surface, it appears to be fairly straightforward:
• Map your own sales process into a standard framework.
• Compare your performance to industry standards.
• Take action to respond to weaknesses identified by benchmarking analysis.

While the process truly is straightforward, implementing it effectively takes time and focused concentration. You must conscientiously execute all three steps. The dividends, however, are quite real and also substantial. It’s not unrealistic to achieve an annual 8 percent to 12 percent improvement in sales performance.

Since distribution companies are sales organizations, few would argue that any other function is more important to success and long-term growth. Given that, methodical execution of a sales process engineering effort is mandatory. The alternative is to cross your fingers and hope.

Time to get busy.

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