Back to School...and Sales

Posted by Jack Derby, Head Coach on Fri, Aug 10, 2012

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I made the mistake of walking into Staples yesterday and was instantly slapped upside the head with Back to School sales, banners, specials and every possible promotion on pencils, paper, and...yes, even staples.  I'm still warming up for more reading time on the beach while my fellow sandmates are counting the days until their kids head back to school at the end of this month. 

Whatever happened to post Labor Day "Back to School"? 

College kids are headed to campus next week, and the rest of the pack are back in their classrooms the last week of August.  Although I must admit that, as usual, I'm also part of the school-earlier-than-normal problem in that my Tufts marketing syllabus was sent to my incoming juniors and seniors on July 5th, and my MIT coursework was sent to the department chair at the end of July.  All of which leads to the harsh truth of less summer, more school and shorter vacations-the reality of the calendar rhythm of the school year, the seasons, the normal cycle of business...and the unknowns of this shaky economy.

Sales and back to schoolFor me, August and September are all about "back to school" planning.  Tufts, where I'm a marketing professor, begins September 6th, and MIT, where I teach business planning, it's first class on the 10th which means that my content gets read, researched, rebuilt and recreated during most of August.  It's actually a process which I look forward to every summer as I read mountains of data and reports regarding what I love and is the cornerstone of what we do at the firm...Sales & Marketing Effectiveness.   

 

BTW, you must read...

the most recent issue of the Harvard Business Review on "The End of Solution Sales",   If you care about sales as a profession, you need to pick up a copy this week, devour it, bookmark it, shout out loud, "That's what I've been looking for", and then read it again. 

Every September also marks our putting the final touches on our Sales Management Boot Camp always held during the first couple of days of October.  No better way, we think for you to refresh yourself with your own "Back To School" immersion-even if it is just for two days-to  prepare yourself for strategizing and tactical planning for your Sales organization for what's going to be a tough year ahead. 

No Decision Now...

Today, as a result of the total unknowns of this economic morass, we know that decision makers are more and more choosing to check off the "No Decision Now" box.  We know from our recent field research that...Sales decisions

  • Win rates have sunk from over 50% five years ago to the mid 40% in the first half of 2012 meaning your reps are working a lot harder.
  • “No Decision” rates have grown for under 20% 18 months ago to over 25%, which says that a quarter of your sales rep’s time doesn’t pay off.
  • In 2012, 90% of companies raised their revenue targets, many over 20%, which will require even more sales rep effort in the 2nd half.
  • Over 60% of companies need a minimum of six months to ramp up new reps-the majority of the balance of the 40% need even more time.

 

 Sales Boot CampIn our Sales Management Boot Camp...

...we provide specific, hands-on answers to the question: “What can I do to dramatically impact our revenue in Q4 and 2013?”

For the details on this September 30th-October 2nd two and a half day Boot Camp and how we believe that you can attend for almost nothing, just click HERE, ...but as with many things, there's always a deal, and with this, our discount programs end August 17th.

Good Selling!


Jack
Head Coach
Linked In and Sales

 

 

 

Tags: sales management effectiveness, sales effectiveness, sales enablement, sales optomization