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Complex Sales
The challenges of
managing complex sales
Ashutosh Bijoor, March 04, 2008
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Typical Complex Sales Process
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The Complex Sales Pipeline
M1 Lead Captured
M2 Requirements Understood
M3 Solution Proposed
M4 Negotiation
M5 Order Confirmed
Milestones
63 4 5 8721
Opportunities Funnel
M6Order Lost
63 4 5 8721
63 4 5 8721
63 4 5 72
4 5
63 8721
Responsible Time
0 days
15 days
35 days
55 days
70 days
Sales
Sales
Sales
Sales
Sales
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Stake Holders
Top Management / Principals
Sales Management
Sales Executives
Customer Support & Fulfillment
Channel Partners / Distributors
Customers
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Top Management / Principals
•
Long sales cycles• Low conversion ratio
• Scarcity of skills in sales
team
• Commoditized products• Un-predictable demand
leading to high inventory
cost and long lead times
•
Speed up sales process• Improve conversion ratio
• Better utilize available skills
• Enhance product portfolio and
cross-selling
• Forecast demand centrally,
based on direct / channel
sales pipeline
• Centralize inventory and just-
in-time distribution
Challenges Needs
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Direct Sales / Sales Management
Large number of prospects
High cost of sales
Low revenue per customer
Ineffective channel salesteam
Improve collaborationwith channel partners toincrease reach andreduce cost of sales
Track movement of opportunities throughpipeline to identifybottlenecks
Provide on-time salessupport to channels
Challenges Needs
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Channel Partners / Distributors
Not enough opportunities
Unpredictable demand
Long lead times for
procurement fromprincipal
Work with principals togenerate demand andqualify leads
Share sales pipeline data
with principals, allowingmore accurate demandforecasts
Just-in-time procurement
facilitated by accuratelyforecasted centralizedinventory
Challenges Needs
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Support and Fulfillment
Incomplete, inconsistentor un-viable order specifications
High discounting
Inappropriate fulfillmentand credit terms
Delayed collections
Monitor sales offers for technical and commercialviability
Take away responsibility
of creating andconfiguring offers
Provide online customer outstanding and credit
viability information tosales
Challenges Needs
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Customers / Business Partners
Sales process of suppliers not matchingbuying process
Unresponsive sales
process Unavailability of requisite
items in stock
Long delivery times
Engage with suppliersearly in buying cycle
Prioritize suppliers basedon responsiveness
Assign higher value tosuppliers capable of on-time deliveries
Provide online feedbackof required deliveryschedules
Challenges Needs
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Current Solution Options
Spreadsheets
− Simple, easy to use mechanism of collecting salesinformation
Ready-made Sales Automation System
− Comprehensive features starting from contact management,
opportunity management and CRM
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Implementation Challenges
Lack of user adoption
−
Sales executives and channel partners are not amenable toreporting sales data
− Most implementations fail due to lack of adoption
No direct gains in sales performance
− System use not directly translated into enhanced salesperformance
− Users tend to view these systems as an obstacle to work
Inappropriate metrics
− Sales metrics analyse past performance and statisticalforecasts
− Lack of operational metrics that assist day-to-day decisions
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Find out how On2Biz can help manage
your complex sales
http://on2.biz