Picking up from the end of last month’s discussion on this topic of “The sales process and the order-to-delivery process” we move onto :

Take-out # 2 – manage, monitor and measure your sales process as a process, underpinned by the same business rigours and disciplines as the other business processes that we somehow think are more like processes than “sales” is.

Another manifestation of this kind of sales management mindset can be heard in language used; witness terms like hunters, farmers, trappers, minders, grinders, finders, keepers. This kind of vernacular is almost universally focussed on (sales) people and sales personality styles. Sometimes the terminology may extend to role types. But rarely all the way to sales process.

Our view of the B2B sales organisation is that there is not ONE sales process, but two. A farming (account management) process and a hunting (prospecting) process. And the relevance of the process distinction for any given organisation is MORE important than the thinking that wraps around categorisation of any given Sales Exec…….”he’s more of a farmer”…………”she is our hunter in Queensland”.

When we (at the Next Level) apply the principles espoused by Hammer et al in regards to defining a business process, we come to the conclusion that the farming or account management process is a stand alone, albeit parallel, process to the hunting or prospecting process and should be managed, monitored and measured according, irrespective of how the members of the sales team are marshalled and charged with position descriptions and accountabilities to resource both processes.

Take-out #3 – recognise the validity of managing, monitoring and measuring the farming and hunting processes as two interconnected, parallel, but nonetheless separate processes.

Visiting The Next Level’s website can help put this discussion in perspective. Or simply send us an email – info@nextlevelenterprises.biz and we will gladly answer any questions you may have or organise to come out and have a discussion as to what The Next Level Sales System can do for you and your business.

Visiting The Next Level’s website can help put this discussion in perspective. Or simply send us an email – info@nextlevelenterprises.biz and we will gladly answer any questions you may have or organise to come out and have a discussion as to what The Next Level Sales System can do for you and your business.

Visiting The Next Level’s website can help put this discussion in perspective. Or simply send us an email – info@nextlevelenterprises.biz and we will gladly answer any questions you may have or organise to come out and have a discussion as to what The Next Level Sales System can do for you and your business.