Ftm Business Template - Health Check Sales

HealthCheck Sales Business Template

What is a HealthCheck?

When should you use it?

The Sales HealthCheck template provides a structured method for assessing the current status of the Sales area of your business based on industry best practices.

Make the use of HealthChecks part of your annual review of the critical areas of your business. However, ensure that your improvement actions are planned and monitored on a more regular (quarterly) basis. Note that for some teams, the HealthCheck will also form part of an external audit or compliance process driven by customers or industry regulators.

Why is it relevant? As industries become more competitive survival is about doing more with less whilst still delivering against customer expectations at a level that exceeds the competition. To achieve this you need to: 1) understand what ‘best practice’ looks like, and 2) understand your current performance – ideally against the competition.

Who needs to be involved? The HealthCheck is completed by all those that are responsible for performance in this particular area of the business, but ensure you seek the views of all those involved – even if you do not agree with them. Stakeholders may mainly be internal to the business, but ensure that you get an external perspective involving the views of key customers and suppliers.

How should you implement it? Plan the HealthCheck carefully and ensure that you get the right people involved early in the process. Gather information through face-to-face interviews where possible, although electronic checklists can enable you to involve a larger group. Gather evidence of performance as you go. Then consolidate the various views and look for areas of inconsistency across different stakeholders, and assess areas of concern. Finally, develop a clear action plan with ownership and timings for getting to green or for improving the score on an individual item.

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

HealthCheck Sales This is a case example based on a fictitious company called TVT – all the data is displayed for demonstration purposes only. For a detailed explanation of what each cell is used for please refer to the Virtual Consultant on the following pages.

ID

Category

Evaluation criteria

1

Sales Person - right people

A

Performance

B

Score

Status

You measure their activity, knowledge and skills not just the salespeople's output

2

Green

Induction

You have an induction process and a clear development plan for all your salespeople

3

Green

C

Selection

You have an objective and demanding process for choosing new salespeople, you do not just use 'gut feel'

2

Amber

2

Sales pipeline

Score

Status

A

Selection criteria

You have a clear, consistent and well communicated selection criteria for prospects and customers at different stages in the sales process

4

Green

B

Long term value

You judge customers on their lifetime potential value, not just the current business they give you

4

Green

C

Conversion ratios

There is a measure of conversion ratios at each stage in the sales process, and you are aware of what influences those ratios

5

Green

3

Market trends

Score

Status

A

Monitoring

You have a process to monitor and check the latest trends and best practice in sales

4

Amber

B

Competitors

You spend an appropriate amount of time monitoring and checking what your competitors are doing, and what Unique Selling Propositions they offer

3

Amber

C

SWOT

You and your team carry out regular SWOT analyses and take action based on them

4

Green

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

4

Sales planning

Score

Status

A

Forecasts

You know how many suspects, prospects, customers and key accounts you need to meet your targets

4

Green

B

Effort & time management

The resources you provide to sell and service individual customers is proportional to the long term value they bring your company

4

Green

C

Monthly cycle

There is a detailed activity plan one month ahead and a high level activity plan 3 months ahead

5

Green

5

Momentum

Score

Status

A

Maintaining customer interest

There is a way to maintain customer interest and move the sales process forward between sales visits

1

Red

A

Passing customers on

There is a clear plan for when responsibility of a customer is passed from one salesperson to another and the customer sees the transfer as positive

2

Amber

C

Stalled progress

You are able to identify when a sales process has stalled, and can identify what action is required, this should include a go/no go decision

2

Amber

6

Sales process

Score

Status

A

Defined

You have a clearly defined process to ensure you are interacting with suspects, prospects, customers and key accounts in the appropriate manner and are constantly moving the process towards an agreed goal

3

Amber

B

Tools

Your salespeople use common and consistent tools at different parts of the sales process and you use technology to assist

2

Amber

C

Skills

You know what knowledge and skills are required at each stage of the sales process and you have a system to apply the best resources at each stage, or improve competence levels if you do not have the ability to select different people at different stages

3

Amber

7

Key account management

Score

Status

A

Defined

You have a clearly defined method to agree which customers are Key accounts (this is beyond total spend or total volume)

1

Red

B

Approach

Key Accounts are treated in a significantly different way from your

1

Red

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

standard customers C

Communication

All customer facing staff are aware of who are your key accounts, why they have been chosen and how they should be treated

2

Red

8

Sales Person – right skills

Score

Status

A

Measure

You have a method for objectively measuring individual sales people's skills and knowledge on a regular basis.

4

Green

B

Building capabilities

You use a combination of coaching and training to get staff up to an agreed standard of knowledge and skills

5

Green

C

Motivation

You have a system to ensure your staff are motivated to develop their knowledge and skills

5

Green

9

Customer focused

Score

Status

A

Empowerment

All your staff are empowered to make the right decisions when faced with a customer question or issue

4

Green

B

Long term value

Your relationship with customers is based on the long term value you provide the customer, not the short term revenue that you can earn from them

4

Green

C

Customer relationship management

You have a system to ensure all staff have the appropriate knowledge of a customer, their relationship with your company, recent transactions and their value to you, and that automatically do not require duplication of effort by the customer

5

Green

10

Sales person – right results

Score

Status

A

Where sales are coming from

You know where you results over the upcoming period are coming from: key accounts, regular customers and prospects, this also requires knowledge of customer churn

4

Green

B

Contingencies

You have contingency plans in place for the loss of strategic customers and staff, and you have an effective risk and issue management process

5

Green

C

Mix & monitoring

You have the right mix of customers in each segment to optimise revenue and profit, and your monitoring process is not too tight or too loose

3

Amber

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

Audit Summary For each element of the checklist add up the scores of the 3 related questions and divide by 3 – this will give you an average score for that specific element. See example below. Element

Score

0

1

2

3

4

5

Improvement Actions

Sales Person A Right people

2.3

Need to adopt a more systematic approach to recruitment using critical decision skills

Sales Pipeline

4.3

Market Trends

3.7

Sales planning

4.3

Momentum

1.7

Need to research statistics for customer churn and implement a programme of retention

Sales process

2.7

Need to review the end-to-end sales process and explore options for a Fast Track approach

Key account management

1.3

Need to review the criteria for allocating Key Accounts and ensure consistent adoption across the team

Sales Person B Right skills

4.7

Customer focused

4.3

Sales person C Right results

3.9

Need to introduce a more structure process for reviewing and communicating market trends

Need to review the overall mix of customers and minimize costs associated with a long tail

In the TVT example above, the managers conducting the Audit have identified that the weakest link is that of the Key Account Management used (average score 1.3). The plan would therefore be to focus attention on and improve this area within the business first until it was no longer the weakest link. Once the senior management team has increased confidence that the Platform (in this example) has improved, the next stage would be to focus on the Momentum (1.7) and Right People (2.3) areas.

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

Virtual ConsultantTM The Virtual ConsultantTM provides a step-by-step guide to completing this business template. It is worded as a series of questions designed to make you stop and think about this topic in a challenging and creative way – as if a business coach or consultant was sitting next to you.

HealthCheck Use the following checklist to assess the current state of your team: Consider each criterion in turn and use the following scoring system to identify current performance: 0 – Not done or defined within the business: unaware of its importance to sales management 1 – Aware of area but little or no work done in the business 2 – Recognised as an area of importance. Some work done in this area 3 – Area clearly defined and work done in the area in terms of sales management 4 – Consistent use of best practice tools and techniques in this area across the business 5 – Area is recognised as being ‘best in class’ and could be a reference area for best practice Then reflect on the lowest scores and identify those areas that are critical to success and flag then as status ‘Red’ requiring immediate attention. Then identify those areas that you are concerned about, and flag those as status ‘Amber’ implying areas of risk that need to be monitored closely. In your sales framework the whole Sales Process is only as good as each individual element. If one ‘link in the chain’ is weak then the Sales Process within the company will not operate to optimum efficiency and there is an increased risk of failure. The action plan therefore should be to focus attention and resources on the elements of greatest weakness first, and then to move the whole framework to a level of excellence. This approach optimises the use of resources and sets up a process of continuous improvement.

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

HealthCheck Sales Use the following blank template to address an issue or opportunity within your business or team

Form 1: Detailed Audit ID

Category

Evaluation criteria

1

Sales Person - right people

A

Performance

You measure their activity, knowledge and skills not just the salespeople's output

B

Induction

You have an induction process and a clear development plan for all your salespeople

C

Selection

You have an objective and demanding process for choosing new salespeople, you do not just use 'gut feel'

2

Sales pipeline

A

Selection criteria

You have a clear, consistent and well communicated selection criteria for prospects and customers at different stages in the sales process

B

Long term value

You judge customers on their lifetime potential value, not just the current business they give you

C

Conversion ratios

There is a measure of conversion ratios at each stage in the sales process, and you are aware of what influences those ratios

3

Market trends

A

Monitoring

You have a process to monitor and check the latest trends and best practice in sales

B

Competitors

You spend an appropriate amount of time monitoring and checking what your competitors are doing, and what Unique Selling Propositions they offer

C

SWOT

You and your team carry out regular SWOT analyses and take action based on them

4

Sales planning

A

Forecasts

You know how many suspects, prospects, customers and key accounts you need to meet your targets

B

Effort & time management

The resources you provide to sell and service individual customers is proportional to the long term value they bring your company

C

Monthly cycle

There is a detailed activity plan one month ahead and a high level activity plan 3 months ahead

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

Score

Status

Score

Status

Score

Status

Score

Status

5

Momentum

A

Maintaining customer interest

There is a way to maintain customer interest and move the sales process forward between sales visits

A

Passing customers on

There is a clear plan for when responsibility of a customer is passed from one salesperson to another and the customer sees the transfer as positive

C

Stalled progress

You are able to identify when a sales process has stalled, and can identify what action is required, this should include a go/no go decision

6

Sales process

A

Defined

You have a clearly defined process to ensure you are interacting with suspects, prospects, customers and key accounts in the appropriate manner and are constantly moving the process towards an agreed goal

B

Tools

Your salespeople use common and consistent tools at different parts of the sales process and you use technology to assist

C

Skills

You know what knowledge and skills are required at each stage of the sales process and you have a system to apply the best resources at each stage, or improve competence levels if you do not have the ability to select different people at different stages

7

Key account management

A

Defined

You have a clearly defined method to agree which customers are Key accounts (this is beyond total spend or total volume)

B

Approach

Key Accounts are treated in a significantly different way from your standard customers

C

Communication

All customer facing staff are aware of who are your key accounts, why they have been chosen and how they should be treated

8

Sales Person – right skills

A

Measure

You have a method for objectively measuring individual sales people's skills and knowledge on a regular basis.

B

Building capabilities

You use a combination of coaching and training to get staff up to an agreed standard of knowledge and skills

C

Motivation

You have a system to ensure your staff are motivated to develop their knowledge and skills

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

Score

Status

Score

Status

Score

Status

Score

Status

9

Customer focused

A

Empowerment

All your staff are empowered to make the right decisions when faced with a customer question or issue

B

Long term value

Your relationship with customers is based on the long term value you provide the customer, not the short term revenue that you can earn from them

C

Customer relationship management

You have a system to ensure all staff have the appropriate knowledge of a customer, their relationship with your company, recent transactions and their value to you, and that automatically do not require duplication of effort by the customer

10

Sales person – right results

A

Where sales are coming from

You know where you results over the upcoming period are coming from: key accounts, regular customers and prospects, this also requires knowledge of customer churn

B

Contingencies

You have contingency plans in place for the loss of strategic customers and staff, and you have an effective risk and issue management process

C

Mix & monitoring

You have the right mix of customers in each segment to optimise revenue and profit, and your monitoring process is not too tight or too loose

Form 2: Audit Summary Element

Score

0

1

2

3

4

5

Notes

Right people Sales Pipeline Market Trends Sales planning Momentum Sales process Key account mgt Right skills Customer focused Right results

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

Score

Status

Score

Status