DRAFT “XYZ Company” – Sales & Marketing Action Plan I. Scope of Work & Stated Goals 12 month goals to build “independent” direct sales staff of 7 to 10 people with the ability to make the “right level of connections”. This force would be “geographically spread” to service clients around the country. The sales target for each sales person will be “1.5 sales per month”. y Independent – The sales people must be experienced enough to not need daily management. They must be disciplined about their time and they must have at least a moderate level of technological proficiency. y Right Level of Connections – This is a “C” level sale or a sale to high profile, wealthy individuals. The person must be able to make a high level contact or have the right connections to be introduced to the trusted advisors of these target customers. y Geographically Spread – With 2 people in NY and 1 in DC, we need to add people in other cities where clients are likely to reside. Prospect cities include Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, and Miami. Overall our target would be a sales force that can deliver 10 sales per month. This sales target is separate from opportunities delivered through our WPP partners. II. Overview The following document is an overall Sales Action Plan for “XYZ Company” (““XYZ COMPANY””) in an effort to penetrate and gain market share for its existing ISEO Product Name® and the soon- to-be-released Product Name®. The purpose of this document is to make recommendations on the initial setup of the sales team and provide a roadmap to implement the plan over the next 12+ months to achieve critical sales and profitability goals of the company. The focus of these recommendations will concentrate on the sales and marketing components for developing clients, opportunities, materials, performance metrics of success and a robust sales pipeline. These components include generation of leads, recruiting the appropriate sales resources, allocating territories and utilization/enhancement of sales tools (Sugar). 1. Marketing – Defines the types of strategies necessary to penetrate the XXX and YYY markets short- and long-term, and materials, approach and skills necessary to maximize both efforts. 2. Sales Development – Defines the various actions and investments needed to develop a “world class” sales organization by defining the roles and skills needed to identify and hire the appropriate resources to implement the aforementioned marketing strategy. The activities include: y Territories/Account Allocation – There are two approaches to assigning a territory to a sales resource; geographical or vertical (based upon expertise within specific industries that can be translated to other accounts within the same industry. Based on the specific clients “XYZ COMPANY” targets throughout the US/North America, a specific hiring plan would then be put into place based on putting the appropriate resources within those targeted verticals and/or geographic regions.
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“XYZ Company” – Sales & Marketing Action Plan
I. Scope of Work & Stated Goals 12 month goals to build “independent” direct sales staff of 7 to 10 people with the ability to make the “right level of connections”. This force would be “geographically spread” to service clients around the country. The sales target for each sales person will be “1.5 sales per month”.
Independent – The sales people must be experienced enough to not need daily management. They must be disciplined about their time and they must have at least a moderate level of technological proficiency.
Right Level of Connections – This is a “C” level sale or a sale to high profile, wealthy individuals. The person must be able to make a high level contact or have the right connections to be introduced to the trusted advisors of these target customers.
Geographically Spread – With 2 people in NY and 1 in DC, we need to add people in other cities where clients are likely to reside. Prospect cities include Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, and Miami.
Overall our target would be a sales force that can deliver 10 sales per month. This sales target is separate from opportunities delivered through our WPP partners.
II. Overview The following document is an overall Sales Action Plan for “XYZ Company” (““XYZ COMPANY””) in an effort to penetrate and gain market share for its existing ISEO Product Name® and the soon-to-be-released Product Name®.
The purpose of this document is to make recommendations on the initial setup of the sales team and provide a roadmap to implement the plan over the next 12+ months to achieve critical sales and profitability goals of the company.
The focus of these recommendations will concentrate on the sales and marketing components for developing clients, opportunities, materials, performance metrics of success and a robust sales pipeline.
These components include generation of leads, recruiting the appropriate sales resources, allocating territories and utilization/enhancement of sales tools (Sugar).
1. Marketing – Defines the types of strategies necessary to penetrate the XXX and YYY markets short- and long-term, and materials, approach and skills necessary to maximize both efforts.
2. Sales Development – Defines the various actions and investments needed to develop a “world class” sales organization by defining the roles and skills needed to identify and hire the appropriate resources to implement the aforementioned marketing strategy. The activities include:
Territories/Account Allocation – There are two approaches to assigning a territory to a sales resource; geographical or vertical (based upon expertise within specific industries that can be translated to other accounts within the same industry. Based on the specific clients “XYZ COMPANY” targets throughout the US/North America, a specific hiring plan would then be put into place based on putting the appropriate resources within those targeted verticals and/or geographic regions.
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Sales Resources/Hiring/Recruiting – There are three separate areas to consider when building a “world class” sales organization; A) sale resource roles, titles & job descriptions, B) required/desired skills and experience, and C) areas to recruit from to find these skills. Once the markets and territories have been identified and prioritized, “XYZ COMPANY” must then hire appropriate resources within those areas immediately to maximize ROI in Sales, General and Administrative costs
o Roles, Titles & Job Descriptions – There are two approaches to building the sales organization based upon the ultimate goals of “XYZ Company” from a profitability, brand recognition and client relationship standpoint.
1) The first approach would be to create a staff of Managers based upon skills and experience with a base salary (typically 50-75% of total financial package) and compensation. Entry level positions are usually Sales Managers, are traditionally “hunters” only and earn $40,000 - $50,000 base salary. As they progress to Account Managers and Senior Account Managers they have established client relationships and begin to move closer to a 50-50 mix of hunting and “farming” and base salaries usually range from $50-60k for Account Managers and $60-80k for Senior Account Managers.
In this scenario, Managers are either assigned a base quota and are paid a set amount to meet that quota with additional incentives (typically escalators) if they surpass 100% of quota. The advantage to the enterprise is that Revenue is more predictable, however without the right skills margins are harder to forecast if quotas are not met (e.g. SG&A paid out versus revenue obtained). A variation of this is to pay a higher salary but a percentage (25%-50%) is withheld (at risk) until quotas are met and are paid based on rate made (e.g. 85% of quota = 85% of at risk monies paid). Although more difficult to track and manage, it does allow the enterprise to offer higher salary ranges to entice more experienced managers.
Managers may also be paid a bonus for any sale they make on top of their base salary (as is being currently done by “XYZ COMPANY”). The advantage to the enterprise is that SG&A is more predictable however revenues are less. This process can also “unmotivated” a Sales Manager if they cannot make sales and be compensated within a few months. If they do not see some sort of financial reward for their hard work they tend to fail and eventually leave which causes a gap in revenue attainment for the enterprise as well as the loss of investment in the resource for salary, time and training not to mention the damage of any potential client relationships established.
2) The second approach is to build around a consultative selling approach making the Manager more responsible for Business Development rather than selling “units.” In this scenario, the consultant is receives a higher salary but is given stronger performance measurements to drive opportunity development. In essence they are given “ownership” responsibilities in that they are directly responsible and rewarded for the success of the business. If they are successful they would receive a bonus (quarterly or annually) based upon the success of the business versus the individual. This can either be a flat rate based on meeting specific goals or an overall percentage based on the level of attainment of goals by the business.
This approach has more advantages to the enterprise in terms of forecasting, predictability and managing margins because the only SG&A expense is salary.
o Required/Desired Skills & Experience – Based on the two approaches listed above, “XYZ COMPANY” should consider the following general guidelines should be used for filling sales/BusDev positions:
A) Manager Approach:
* Sales Manager – Entry-level sales role based primarily on a traditional “Hunter” role of developing new business customers and business opportunities. Functions include:
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− 100% New Opportunity Development – Year 1 − 90% New Opportunity Development/10% Customer Relationship Management – Year 2+ − Identify/Research/Develop new client relationships − Maintain existing client relationships − Fact finding/Meetings with clients and prospects − Proposal writing − Integration/Set up programs − Training client/Provide customer support − Follow up/Account management/Primary point of contact − Monthly Reporting - CRM − Billing/Collection issues − Lead generation − Consultancy sales − Building client relationship − College Degree
* Account Manager – Mid-level sales role based primarily on a traditional “Hunter” role of developing new business customers and business opportunities but also has client relationship skills (Farmer) to maintain ongoing business opportunities.
− 70% New Opportunity Development/30% Client Relationship Management − 1-3 Years Sales Experience − Identify/Research/Develop new client relationships − Maintain existing client relationships − Fact finding/Meetings with clients and prospects − Proposal writing − Integration/Set up programs − Training client/Provide customer support − Follow up/Account management/Primary point of contact − Monthly Reporting - CRM − Billing/Collection issues − Lead generation − Consultancy sales − Building client relationship − College Degree
* Senior Account Manager – Senior-level sales role based split evenly between new opportunity & lead generation (Hunter) and customer relationship management (Farmer).
− 50% New Opportunity Development/50% Customer Relationship Management − Identify/Research/Develop new client relationships − Maintain existing client relationships − Coaching & Mentoring Sales Associates and Account Managers within assigned office − 3 - 5 Years Sales Experience − Identify/Research/Develop new client relationships − Maintain existing client relationships − Fact finding/Meetings with clients and prospects − Proposal writing − Integration/Set up programs − Training client/Provide customer support − Follow up/Account management/Primary point of contact − Monthly Reporting - CRM − Billing/Collection issues − Lead generation − Consultancy sales
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− Building client relationship − College Degree
B) Business Development Consultancy:
* Business Development Manager – Experienced Business Development and Opportunity Manager with previous experience in assessing client needs and translating “XYZ COMPANY” product line and core competencies towards creating a solution. Functions include:
− 3+ Years of Experience − College Degree (MBA Preferred) − Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis − Understanding Client Business Models − Identify/Research/Develop new client relationships − Opportunity Assessment (client business needs) − Opportunity Development (Proposals) − Lead generation − Fact finding/Meetings with clients and prospects − Understanding of Financials − Communication Skills − Writing Skills − Presentation Skills − Build/Maintain existing client relationships − Monthly Reporting - CRM − Consultancy Sales − Multiple-Industry Expertise
o Recruiting Areas – In the former approach, Sales Managers can be hired with little or no experience “off-the-street” or out of college, while Account/Senior Account Managers should be recruited out of other businesses that hire similar skills and sell similar types of products. Preference would be employees that come from the Search Engine Optimization or Communications Industries but expertise from highly desired client verticals would also be a huge asset to “XYZ COMPANY”.
In the case of the latter, employees from the SEO/Communications Industry who have worked previously in a Business Development, Consultancy or Strategic Planning capacity would be desirable as well as an employee who has worked in a similar capacity for a highly desired client/vertical. In this case working for a desired client/vertical can add insider knowledge and expertise to help quicker credibility that can be translated to other clients/verticals.
o Recruiters – Typically there are two types of recruiters that can be used to hire the positions across the US. Both will scan resumes, do preliminary interviewing and present candidates to the employer for final interviews.
A) Contingency-Fee – These recruiters will use Job websites as a support tool but typically use their contacts to find candidates that are currently employed in similar positions at other companies. They will charge a fee that is between 25% - 30% of 1st year earnings but there is no charge until (if) a candidate is found. The only variable on the rate is usually much time they will dedicate to the client (e.g. 30% means you’re the number one priority and that Recruiter works exclusively for you vs. other accounts as well). In addition, there are no additional expenses to the client unless the client wishes to have the Recruiter travel and perform the actual interviews.
B) Hourly Rate Contractors – Will float job adds on multiple job websites and scan resumes for at an hourly rate (average is $75 - $100/hour) plus expenses. Although the initial cost would appear to be lower, the process usually takes longer because they are scanning hundreds of resumes posted to a job ad.
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Compensation Plan – “XYZ COMPANY” must determine a financial package for sales resources that will incentivize sales success as well as maximize employee retention to increase “XYZ COMPANY” long-term profitability. This plan should include industry-competitive salaries (based upon experience & success), compensation and bonus. The latter would be discretionary funding for monthly and quarterly sales programs and other performance incentives (e.g. accurate and timely use of Sugar).
Opportunity Development – The activities required throughout the entire Sales Process to develop and maintain a healthy sales funnel. The Sales Process has three stages; Pre-Sales, Sales and Post-Sales, each of which contain several steps that must be taken to create sales opportunities. These steps include; 1) Lead Generation (identifying and finding target clients) and 2) a Client Contact Plan (process of contacting clients, setting up meetings and presentation of materials).
The second and most critical stage, Sales consists of 3) Opportunity and Proposal Development, 4) Client Meetings & Follow-up, and 5) Closing the Sale. This stage is where the skill sets of each BDM is most relevant (and measurable) in terms of how they develop opportunities, interact with C-Level clients and close sales.
The final stage Post-Sales, consists of 5) After-sale Actions (Implementation, Billing, Follow-up for Customer Service and Client Relationship Management growth to ensure renewal and add-on sales).Each sales resource must establish a “road map” to build a sales funnel from client identification to contact to meeting to follow up to close and track each component in CRM with constant updates to ensure accuracy as well as build a complete profile of the client.
o Lead Generation - The identification of clients and markets to penetrate by industry sector. These accounts are usually identified through general research (based on selections made by the sales resource and senior leadership), high visibility clients that have brands, products or current affairs that put them in the forefront of the consumer and finally “Rolodex” clients where the sales resource or senior leadership has a direct relationship (first or second hand) with a client.
o Client Contact Plan – A formalized plan created in partnership with leadership on how to approach each client, the intent and messaging to be used and in what time frames.
o Opportunity and Proposal Development – Crucial to the success of the BDM is the ability to gain valuable information from the client and general research, and build a successful solution. This stage involves several different steps that help the BDM gain information, identify a need, tailor a solution and build a strong and persuasive approach so the client will recognize the value of the offer.
o Client Meetings & Follow-up – Of all the skills required by the BDM, the most important is the ability to meet the client, gain information and resolve problems while presenting a professional image for himself/herself as well as that of “XYZ Company”. During the meeting process, this is the stage where sales and relationships are won and lost.
o Closing the Sale – As a subset to the meeting process, the BDM must have the ability and skills to finish the deal by getting the client to agree to the sale and starting/building a relationship with “XYZ Company”. The key skill is to close the sale with professionalism that allows the client to walk away feeling he/she has gained a valuable tool and ally rather than having their “arms twisted” just for the sake of a sale.
o After-Sale Actions – Once the sale has been completed, it is important to plan activities with the client to complete all the processes around the immediate sale as well as continue the relationship to ensure satisfaction and build the relationship for the future.
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Business Tools – As the sales development effort increases, “XYZ COMPANY” must utilize, expand and enhance its access to existing and additional business tools to develop leads, create and track opportunities. Once these leads/opportunities have been identified and defined they must be tracked within the “pipeline” via Client Relationship Management (CRM) tool(s). Once entered into CRM management can then track progress, determine levels of success, identify obstacles in the sales cycle and selling processes and predict/forecast appropriate revenues and expenses as well as benchmark sales expectations.
Performance Development – “XYZ COMPANY” must establish formal goals, both quantitative and qualitative for each BDM and a means to track and evaluate their performance against those goals and those of their peers. The process must include a process to track analyze metrics, evaluate and review performance and provide the means to improve professional and personal performance.
o Performance Objectives & Metrics – Quantifiable goals set by “XYZ COMPANY” to measure individual and sales organizational success. Goals must be established and then benchmarked to determine levels of success, e.g. Exceeds Goals, Meets Goals or has Not Met Goals in order to evaluate individual and organizational performance on a quarterly and annual basis.
o Performance Evaluation – It does not appear at this time that “XYZ COMPANY” performs or has plans to perform these quarterly/annual feedback sessions to reward success, put corrective measures into place or develop employees for a long-term successful career at “XYZ COMPANY”.
o Individual Development – In order to maximize the investment in its resources, “XYZ COMPANY” must have stated plans/goals for each individual to measure enhance and reward success. These components include but are not limited to: Training, Career Development and Financial Incentives (bonus plans outside of standard salary and compensation).
Sales Channel – External sources for sales, opportunity development, lead generation and client contacts. There are typically two types of sales channel resources; Value-added Resellers (VARs) where the “Agent” (company or individual) makes a percentage of the revenues over the life of a contract), or “Lead Hunters” who are paid a fee for every contact brought into the company. Typically these individuals are paid a base fee for a lead and a higher bonus if/when the lead turns into a closed sale. The advantage to the latter is there is no salary (SG&A) paid or expense issues, merely a “pay for play,” strategy which comes out of the margin of each sale made. Base fees are typically budgeted and paid through non-discretionary funds that are set aside and can be returned to the budget if not used at the end of the year.
III. Marketing & Sales Development The following is analysis of “XYZ COMPANY” current sales & marketing processes and recommendations for changes to meet the goals outline above.
A. Current Organization
1. Marketing – Currently “XYZ COMPANY” has no formal marketing communications materials, templates or messaging as it pertains to Product Name. As each individual sets meeting with clients, the materials are recreated (Word and PowerPoint) for that individual customer and does not maintain a consistent marketing theme or value message that can translate across client segments/industry verticals.
This has caused a situation where sales people are also doing marketing which is not only non-cost efficient but does not drive a central and consistent theme/message that can build the Product Name brand or promote credibility towards the Visible Technology brand.
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2. Sales Development - “XYZ Company” currently employs 3 sales resources focusing on the sale of Product Name while preparing for the launch of Product Name in 4Q 2006. Analysis and issues:
Territories/Account Allocation – “XYZ COMPANY” currently has two “Virtual Office” (VO) sales resources in NYC and one in Washington DC. At this juncture, they are not focused or experienced in any specific industry vertical or geographic territory and cannot be considered “Subject Matter Experts” (SMEs). Instead they seek out new clients using random search processes or existing “XYZ COMPANY” and WPP relationships or trusted advisor clients.
Sales Resources/Hiring/Recruiting – The existing team appears to have various and unique skills for developing leads, opportunities and closing deals however their experiences seem to have been as hunters contacting lower level “influencers” rather than higher level “key decision makers.”
Although their efforts and energies have met with some success, it is more from the use of “XYZ COMPANY” and WPP networks/contacts and less from tactics and marketing that is resonating with new clients. The end result unfortunately will be a depleted pipeline and slower sales results once those in-network opportunities “dry up.”
Compensation Plan – The current sales financial plan includes a base salary and a set payment of $8,000 per Product Name unit sales. The advantage of the current plan is it only pays out when a sales resource actually closes a sale which incentivizes successful sales behaviors and skills and does not drain “XYZ COMPANY” of any margin or increase SG&A. The downside to this plan is the individual sales resource can become quickly “demoralized” if not successful and will feel the impact financially if they do not close the sale.
Since the Sales Cycle (time frame from opportunity identification to closure of sale) has not yet been established outside of the sale to a trusted client base, the time frame could be detrimental to the retention of existing sales resources and the hiring of new, skilled/quality sales resources.
Opportunity Development – Has to-date has been via contacts from senior leadership and/or trusted advisors. Current efforts have been made to blanket new clients with Email, letters, telephone calls and faxes in an effort to start dialog with “C” level clients to discuss sales opportunities.
Thus far, the latter has met very little success and in fact may be causing more damage than good as clients will see these efforts as “cold calling” and will ignore the product and more importantly treat any future contacts similarly. In other words, this mass mailing approach will most likely dilute the content of the Visible Technology brand, especially at a critical time where “XYZ COMPANY” is attempting re-brand its ISEO product.
Business Tools – There are two types of tools to consider; pre-sales and sales-cycle/post-sales. The former are tools and services (websites) that “XYZ COMPANY” should consider using and/or subscribing to, to create leads. The latter would be the system that uses to track opportunities once they’ve been identified.
o Lead/Opportunity Development – “XYZ COMPANY” does not currently have specific website access (subscriptions) that are used as a standard part of lead/opportunity development. Each sales resource currently uses their own methodology and sources (e.g. websites, personal network, library info etc).
o CRM – “XYZ COMPANY” recently began using a CRM-type of system called Sugar to document client leads and potential sales opportunities. At first glance the team appears to be using it only at the
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(required) base level and have not yet learned to use it as an opportunity development tool and sales funnel. There does not appear to be any reports created at this time for management to draw upon to measure sales cycles, success, revenue expectations, obstacles or individual performance.
Performance Development – “XYZ COMPANY” does not currently have any type of qualifiable or quantifiable performance objectives or associated metrics to track success and measure performance on an individual basis.
o Performance Objectives & Metrics – It does not appear at this time that “XYZ COMPANY” performs or has plans to objectives or associated metrics established or in-place to evaluate performance.
o Performance Evaluation – It does not appear at this time that “XYZ COMPANY” performs or has plans to perform these quarterly/annual feedback sessions to reward success, put corrective measures into place or develop employees for a long-term successful career at “XYZ COMPANY”.
o Individual Development – There is no current long-term plan to help develop sales resources to promote employee satisfaction and retention.
Sales Channel – Although there is no current Sales Channel utilized outside of “XYZ COMPANY”, there will be a channel developed to sell to WPP clients. “XYZ COMPANY” still needs to consider developing a Sales Channel outside of the current sale team or create a bonus plan for outside resources to assist in opportunity development (e.g. bonuses for contacts that result in a closed sale).
B. Recommendations
The following are recommendations for building and managing a successful sales organization over the next 3 months in order to meet stated sales goals:
1. Marketing - In order to gain traction around the Product Name, it is recommended that “XYZ COMPANY” leadership identify and prioritize 5-10 key industry verticals where the product can gain visibility and establish credibility. These markets can be a combination of 1) verticals that contain existing Visible Technology clients, 2) high visibility markets where the impact can be quickly seen, and 3) traditional markets that contain companies that tend to have negative brands.
These negative brands may be due to the industry they are in, e.g. Petroleum (high costs & environment) or recent news stories that “dog” a specific company due to product issues (Ford Explorer & Firestone), marketing tactics (Wal-Mart) or leadership issues (DHB or AOL). In the case of the latter, clients should be selected in industries that can be applied to others within the same industry as opposed to stand alone clients. These clients can and should be targeted for a mid- to long-term strategy.
Once these markets have been identified, a customized package of materials needs to be developed focused on the “value-add” of Product Name which includes some anecdotal financial detail to help support the need for the client to invest in the product as quickly as possible.
These materials need to be stored on a “XYZ COMPANY” “Shared Drive” that can be reused and kept consistent as individual changes can deviate from the central marketing theme and message.
2. Sales Development – There are several strategic and tactical decisions that need to be made immediately by senior leadership in order to move forward. Once those
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decisions have been made, there are in turn several more steps that need to be made, prioritized and implemented to reach the goals stated above in Section I. They are:
Territories/Account Allocation – With the existing sales team in the NYC and DC areas is recommended that they initially build a marketing package and messaging focused on the Financial, Travel, Hotels (Cendant & Starwood), Tobacco (Altria) and Pharmaceutical Industries in NYC and Political and Hotels (Marriott) in DC. The latter has a very limited window of opportunity with the upcoming elections in November. In the case of the latter the targets would be Political Consultants and the National Parties (RNC and DNC) as they are able to fund the use of these services.
In parallel with the initial pushes in NYC and DC, “XYZ COMPANY” should begin to build the necessary marketing materials/messaging for the following geographic and/or vertical centers:
Territory Industry Area Coverage South Central US Petroleum, Hotels & Airlines Houston, Dallas, Oklahoma & Denver
Southern California Entertainment & Hotels Los Angeles, Las Vegas & Phoenix Southeastern US Airlines, Cruise Lines, Hotels Atlanta, Miami & North Carolina
Central US Petroleum, Manufacturing, Automotive, Hotels & Airlines
Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Ohio & Indiana
The following are suggestions for geographic territories based upon “XYZ COMPANY” long-term plan to have 6 assigned territories which focus on the verticals within each. By geography, the territories should look like:
Using this geographic approach, the verticals would look like the following:
New England Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, NY State, Ontario & Quebec.
South WestHawaii, So. California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas & Louisiana
Mid-Atlantic & South East Maryland, DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, & Alabama
Mid-Atlantic & South East Maryland, DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, & Alabama
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Sales Resources/Hiring/Recruiting – The following are recommendations on how to build and maintain a sales organization that will meet “XYZ COMPANY” medium- and long-term financial goals. Decisions will however need to be made internally by leadership on whether or not the existing sales resources meet their requirements and can achieve the target revenue goals over the next 12 months. In addition leadership must determine if they wish to retain some or all of their existing resources, a plan must be determined to a) transition these resources into the new model, b) how to meet short-term sales goals while transitioning, c) how to replace those resources and still meet financial goals, and d) what adjusted goals are acceptable by “XYZ COMPANY” during transition. All of these must be taken into consideration as transition and growth occurs to be fair to those retained and compared to any new hires as they come on board.
o Roles, Titles & Job Descriptions – The recommendation is for “XYZ COMPANY” to create a 3-tiered Business Development Management job description as follows:
1. Business Development Associate – Has 1-5 years of experience in Business Development or a similar field such as Marketing or Sales as well as a college degree.
2. Business Development Manager – Has 5-8 years of experience in Business Development and/or appropriate Masters Degree.
3. Senior Business Development Manager – Has 8+ years of BD experience and/or a Masters Degree (or additional experience as a substitute).
The following steps should then be followed:
1. Write a job description for experienced Business Development Managers in NYC, Washington DC, Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles. The primary role of the BDM is to become “Subject Matter Experts” (SMEs) in specific verticals specific to their territory.
NY State, New England/ Canada• Universities• Finance• Publishing• Newswires• Manufacturing• Financial• Tobacco• Information Technology
New York, NJ, PA & Ohio• Pharmaceutical• Financial• Insurance• Travel/Tourism• Retail• Telecommunications• Advertising• Marketing Communications
Central US• Hotels• Manufacturing• Automotive • Agriculture • Travel/Tourism• Retail
South West• Oil & Gas • Technology• Entertainment• Hotels/Gaming• Travel
North West/Canada• Technology• Shipping • Aerospace• Mining• Banking• Retail
Mid-Atlantic & South East • Government & Political Consultants• Hotels• Defense• Tobacco• Travel/Tourism• Retail• Telecommunications• Cruise Industry• Consumer Products
NY State, New England/ Canada• Universities• Finance• Publishing• Newswires• Manufacturing• Financial• Tobacco• Information Technology
New York, NJ, PA & Ohio• Pharmaceutical• Financial• Insurance• Travel/Tourism• Retail• Telecommunications• Advertising• Marketing Communications
Central US• Hotels• Manufacturing• Automotive • Agriculture • Travel/Tourism• Retail
South West• Oil & Gas • Technology• Entertainment• Hotels/Gaming• Travel
North West/Canada• Technology• Shipping • Aerospace• Mining• Banking• Retail
Mid-Atlantic & South East • Government & Political Consultants• Hotels• Defense• Tobacco• Travel/Tourism• Retail• Telecommunications• Cruise Industry• Consumer Products
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The advantage to this strategy is the BDM has a title and commensurate skill sets to seek out the appropriate clients and “get the meeting.” The key to success here is a “tops down” approach of partnering with key clients versus a “bottoms up” approach of attempting to find lower level managers who will help push meetings upward. This process can take several months and in many cases are not successful as lower level managers tend to be both territorial and often exaggerate their level of influence within the enterprise and with senior management.
2. Evaluate current three sales people and ascertain whether or not they have the appropriate skill sets and experience to fill the positions in NYC and DC. If not, they can either be transitioned in as an entry-level BDM who would be partnered with a more senior level BDM or moved out accordingly.
3. Advertise, interview and hire candidates in Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta within the next 2 – 4 months.
4. Create performance metrics (unit sales and/or revenue targets) that will measure their successes. These metrics should include ramp-up time of 2-3 months to develop their territories, product knowledge, messaging and develop leads/client relationships.
5. Pay should be primarily salary based commensurate to experience with bonuses tied to success of the organization paid bi-annually (or quarterly).
o Required/Desired Skills & Experience – In addition to the experience and education levels listed above by title, the BDM should specific experience in Business Development, Strategic Planning or Solution Sales. Key skills and experiences should be in finding/generating leads, understanding the business models of their particular verticals, proposing customized solutions that can enhance those business models, the ability to present and communicate their solutions, seek out “C” level management (Key Decision Makers – KDMs) within those enterprises, client relationship building and the ability follow up and close. Other crucial skills include:
- Ability to understand the business models of their respective clients/verticals - Ability to translate that knowledge and research to client-focused SWOT Analysis - Computer literacy in order to develop their own presentation materials, proposals and results
tracking. - The ability to use the Internet for searching for information and opportunities is also a critical skill. - The ability to work autonomously and in a Virtual Office environment with little managerial,
marketing or IT support.
o Recruiting Areas – The BDM can come from any industry that has similar background and experience in developing opportunities. Searching should not be however limited to the SEO industry and skills and experiences in other verticals, jobs or high visibility clients can be extremely useful in making contacts (existing Rolodex), or understanding how to sell to specific verticals. Areas for consideration would be but not limited to:
- SEO Companies - Marketing Communications/Advertisers - Public Relations Firms - Consulting Agencies - Media (Newspapers, Magazines or television) - eCommerce or Online Service providers - Commercial Real Estate Sales - Former Interactive or Marketing Business Owners - Association Heads with high level contacts
In addition to the above industries, the following are typical titles/departments in any Fortune 500 company that would be beneficial to this role:
- Business Development Manager - Strategic Planning
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- Senior Sales Manager - Public Relations Manager - Solution Sales - Consultant - Marketing Manager (Brand) - Product or Offer Manager - Advertising Account Managers - Recent MBA Graduates
o Recruiters – The following three Recruiters can provide “XYZ COMPANY” the assistance they require in hiring BDMs in the US. There functions would be to run job descriptions on various websites nationally, screen resumes for each of the 3 types of positions (BDA, BDM & SBDM), perform initial interviews via telephone, assess skills, verify experience, contact references and present final candidates to “XYZ COMPANY” senior management for final interviews. Their rates vary based upon the level/quality of the candidate desired:
- Company 1: www.company1.com - Flat rate of 25-30% (of 1st year salary) on any candidates hired. They also offer “compensation analysis based on market rates, comprehensive coaching advice to assist with your hiring decisions and performs a competency-based behavioral analysis and in-depth reference screening, with an exclusive contract. The firm also has a network/ database of top-tier candidates to present at all skill levels.”
- Company 2: www.company 2.com - Flat rate of 25-30% (of 1st year salary) on any candidates hired. ES willing to work “on a Contingency basis because they are a start up and because you provided a lead (connection). I will put a flat rate of 25% (of 1st year salary) on any candidates of mine that are hired by this company.
“XYZ COMPANY” must make the final decision on which (type) Recruiter to use in their job search but the following estimated cost analysis can be used to make a decision. There are many more Recruiters available however they will most likely charge within the same range (fee or hourly rates) and lower-cost recruiters may not have the availability of resources.
Based upon the analysis below and the anticipated time it will take to hire quality candidates, the recommendation would be to use a fee based Recruiter at rate of less than or equal to 30% per BDM. Although a Contractor on Hourly Rates would appear to be lower in cost, they usually use the same tools (job boards), that are used by all other Contractors so they will normally get the same candidates. The second issue is, they are subject to the legitimacy of candidate resumes and will only scan for requirements. In essence this process usually takes a great deal more time to find the right candidates whereas Contingency-Fee based recruiters reach out to clients based on their current positions and references so they know the candidate has the required credentials before they contact them.
Overall, Contingency-Fee Recruiters will most likely fill the positions with better quality people in a shorter period of time and will offload the process from the CEO (value of time factor).
This could also include performance of all face-to-face interviews if desired, at expense would actually cost “XYZ COMPANY” less than have the CEO or Head of Sales travel to each city to perform these interviews because they would incur the same travel expense but there is no labor cost whereas the cost/value of time associated with the CEO or Head of Sales being away from the office and opportunity development is actually less cost efficient.
Total BDM Positions¹ = 6Hours per Week per Candidate = 4
Days/Week = 5Weeks = 6
Hourly Rate = $90Hours/BDM = 120Total Hours = 720
Total Expenses² = $25,000Labor Cost = $64,800
Total Cost = $89,800
¹ Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, NYC & Washing DC
² Expenses include advertising on websites, travel & office costs (e.g. telephone & Overnight Mailings)
Scenario 1 $124,500Scenario 2 $89,800
Compensation Plan – The financial package for a BDM should consist of two elements, an industry-competitive base salary and a bonus to be paid quarterly, bi-annually or annually based upon the success of the business or the territory.
o Salary – A Business Development Associate should be paid approximately $50k – $60 plus EOY bonus. A BDM should earn approximately $60k – $75k plus EOY bonus and a Senior BDM should earn approximately $75k – $95k.
o Bonus – Based on “XYZ COMPANY” profitability/ROI model, a potential bonus between 10 – 15% of base salary per annum based upon the goals set forth is recommended. These bonuses can be paid in increments each quarter or twice per year (at least in year 1 to help generate more revenue).
Opportunity Development – “XYZ COMPANY” should target 4-5 verticals immediately within the NYC and DC areas that are high visibility or have brand issues. Within the verticals, 3-4 clients for each should be selected based upon current affairs, existing relationships or existing clients within the same vertical. Each BDM must establish a “road map” to build a sales funnel from client identification to contact to meeting to follow up to close and track each component in Sugar with constant updates to ensure accuracy as well as build a complete profile of the client.
o Lead Generation – After the verticals and clients have been identified, KDMs need to be identified for contact. Based on that client’s business model, a SWOT analysis should be created and marketing materials customized for the vertical and client with a clear message depicting the value-add of “XYZ COMPANY” and Product Name.
A) General Client Lists – There are several subscription-based services (approximately $2500 - $10,000 per year) that provide up-to-date client profile and contact information. The most
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prominent is Hoovers (owned by Dun & Bradstreet) and provide hundreds of thousands of global companies, their leadership names and contact information, as well as address information.
In addition, there are several other databases available that are free, offer some free information or are subscription-based that can be utilized and should be explored more in detail. Some examples are:
Websites that cover political scandals including candidates, lobbyists and other companies that provides services or benefit from political connections. These companies can be both a source of opportunities as well as leads/partnerships.
B) High Visibility Clients - These clients can be identified because of the prominence in the news (negative stories), legal issues and/or global brand recognition. These types of clients are corporations and individuals of “High Net Worth” who have personal brand issues as they lead Philanthropic organizations. They can be found in many different Internet searches using phrases such as “Corporate Scandals” or “Product Scandals.”
Other types of clients in this category are individual “High Net Worth” clients that head philanthropic activities (e.g. Bill Gates and Ted Turner).
C) “Rolodex” Clients – These are clients that a “XYZ COMPANY”, WPP or Trusted Advisor (existing client) has the ability to make initial contact to open doors and help facilitate meetings.
D) Online Service Providers – These are companies that do business online (e.g. eCommerce), advertise or find clients via the Internet. Examples would be “pure” Internet service providers like Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia, CheapTickets, Lower-my-Bills, Amazon and eBay where positioning on the Internet would bring in more client inquiries, or businesses that use the Internet as an additional tool for advertising or sales. An excellent example of this would be hotels and rental car companies that allow clients to make reservations online. In this case, positioning the hotels ahead of the aforementioned online travel companies would save hotels a substantial amount of money in fees paid to these companies when reservations are made.
The primary messages for these types of clients are cost savings or competitive edge. The former would be companies that have 3rd party vendors placed higher than themselves on searches. If users use the vendor to make a reservation or purchase a service there is a fee or commission involved that must be paid by the service provider. If the service provider is placed higher on the search than the vendor, they would obtain the business directly without paying the fee/commission.
From a competitive edge standpoint, there are dozens of companies all competing for the same online business (e.g. mortgage providers). As online providers, no single company has a competitive edge because they only negotiate rates for prime mortgage lenders (who would also fall into the former category). Having Product Name can help put their company’s name come up higher in a search than there competitors.
Industries/companies that should be considered include:
- All Hotel Chains – Position their reservation websites above travel websites to save fees.
- All Rental Car Companies – Same as hotels.
- eCommerce Companies – Companies that sell products/services only via the Internet.
- Online Service Providers – Anyone who provides a service to the end-user that has no brand or legacy. These would be services related to travel, financial, insurance, credit assistance, product analysis (e.g. consumer prices), product purchasing (e.g. Wine or computers) and resale (e.g. event tickets).
- Online Education Providers – The existing market for Online College/Graduate Degrees is growing fast and highly competitive. Beyond the name of the institution, there is no competitive edge, especially for a University of Phoenix that has to compete with real Universities.
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Important Note - As clients are identified it is imperative that the sales resource determine whether or not that client might be an existing “XYZ COMPANY” or WPP client, or possibly have a relationship with any of the senior leadership before contacting them!
The goal should be for each sales person to identify 50+ clients within their territory for contact and then prioritized based upon known contacts or visibility of that client in the news.
- Client Calling Plan – Once the BDM has identified the verticals and KDMs and Calling Plan must be designed and reviewed with senior leadership to set goals and time frames to meet with clients and enlist the support of “XYZ COMPANY” resources where appropriate. A detailed look at this requirement is attached below in the “Sales Process” document.
Business Tools – From the Pre-sales aspect, “XYZ COMPANY” must determine at least one subscription-based website to provide consistent and standardized lead information. From the CRM perspective, “XYZ COMPANY” must standardize metrics for use (Performance Objectives) as well as reporting capabilities to manage the pipeline, performance and analyze/forecast realistic revenue and expense objectives.
o Lead/Opportunity Development – As mentioned above, it is recommended that “XYZ COMPANY” get a standard subscription to Hoovers with 3-5 User ID’s which will cost approximately $4k - $6k annually. The User ID’s can be shared within “XYZ COMPANY” for other areas of use outside Business Development/Sales to help justify the cost.
o CRM – “XYZ COMPANY” recently began using a CRM-type of system called SUGAR to document client leads and All sales and performance objectives must be verified before the BDM can be measured and/or compensated for a sale. Important for the BDM to understand that if the sale is not in SUGAR at least 2 weeks prior to sale they will not be paid compensation on the sale unless a specific case is raised in advance by the BDM to the VP or CEO.
It also recommended that management either tie a percentage of EOY/Quarterly bonus monies to adherence to this policy. Example: 85% adherence to CRM update policy would mean the BDM receives only 90% of their EOY/Quarterly bonus, etc.
Performance Development – “XYZ COMPANY” should create, document and incorporate specific metrics into evaluation process of each BDM to measure success and improvement or to identify issues and obstacles requiring corrective measures. Recommendations are detailed within the associated Performance Plan attached at the bottom of this document.
o Performance Objectives & Metrics – See attached Performance Plan.
o Performance Evaluation – See attached Performance Plan.
o Individual Development – See attached Performance Plan.
Sales Channel – “XYZ COMPANY” should also consider using external sources to generate sales leads, facilitate initial client meetings and assist in the development of new opportunities and clients. A suggestion would be to set aside some non-discretionary funds that had previously been budgeted for sales compensation to incentivize external contacts to open up doors to their contacts and networks. These would be resources outside of WPP but would be in positions, companies or verticals that would be able to bring credibility to “XYZ COMPANY” and grow the brand that would be translatable to other titles, companies and verticals.
Ideal candidates for this strategy typically come from Marketing Communications companies, especially Advertising Agencies. Since the downturn in the economy in early 2000, there are a great deal of former Advertising Agency employees that were never rehired, have gone into other careers or remain independent consultants that could be enlisted to help open doors
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for a small fee (typically $500 - $1000 based on the quality of the lead) with the ability to make up to $5000 if the lead turns into a sale. In this case, a sale would result in a $3,000 savings in bonus monies that would have been paid out to the Sales Executives currently on staff, but with no other SG&A expenses associated with their efforts.
IV. Implementation Plan The following are recommendations on what actions should be taken within certain time frames to meet/exceed the goals and objectives as defined above to maximize profitability and gain/hold market share for each of its respective ISEO and Blog products.
A) 0 – 45 Days 1. Marketing – Tailor information, value-added messaging and presentation materials for the
groups listed above targeting the areas that are impacting them most (most likely negative press about a product, an executive or the business they are in currently – Pharmaceuticals in NYC and Political Groups/Election Committees in DC).
2. Sales Development – “XYZ COMPANY” needs to move forward quickly on driving sales opportunities using their current sales resources, however they should, in tandem begin the hiring process of BDMs in the key areas across the US based on proximity to major clients and verticals.
Territories/Account Allocation – “XYZ COMPANY” should consider the following territories based on verticals and other corporate opportunities in the following (suggested) order and prioritization:
o Dallas/Ft. Worth (or Houston) – Top five city in the US for corporate Headquarters as well as proximity to highly visible Petroleum Industry, Airlines and Hotels. Texas has also had several political scandals in recent years e.g. Tom DeLay. Also close proximity to Louisiana with several post-Katrina issues at every state, federal and corporate level as well as Wal-Mart.
o Los Angeles – Entertainment industry (Product Name for improving images of companies and their stars as well as Product Name for helping promote upcoming movies and albums). Large concentration of High Net-worth Individuals. Also has proximity to Las Vegas (Casinos, Hotels and Gaming) and Phoenix (American Express, America West, Copper Mining and Best Western Hotels.
o Atlanta (or Miami) – Delta Airlines (bankruptcy), Coca Cola (global expansion and PR issues), Bell South (merger with AT&T), CNN, Ted Turner (CNN and Philanthropic), Worldspan, UPS, Home Depot (fierce competition with Lowes), Georgia-Pacific (environmental issues) and proximity to Miami (hotels and cruise industry).
o Chicago – Proximity to the “Rust Belt” throughout Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois (steel and automotive and parts manufacturers) e.g. GM, Ford, Bridgestone/Firestone, Daimler/Chrysler, Whirlpool and US Steel. Others include United Airlines (bankruptcy), Dow Chemicals (environmental issues), Kmart, . Minneapolis contains several financial institutions including AMEX, MasterCard, Northwest Airlines, General Mills, Target, Radisson & Carlson Hotels and 3M.
Sales Resources/Hiring/Recruiting – “XYZ COMPANY” needs to finalize its BDM job descriptions (based on years of experience and education) and seek out a national recruiting firm that will advertise the position across several websites, scan resumes, filter candidates, provide preliminary interviews and present final candidates to “XYZ COMPANY” for 1) phone interviews and 2) face-to-face meetings as the final hiring process.
In tandem with this process, “XYZ COMPANY” must assess their current resources and determine if they meet the skills, experience and educational requirements of a BDA, BDM or
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SBDM for transition. If not, “XYZ COMPANY” must make a decision on those individuals and their future in “XYZ COMPANY”.
Compensation Plan – “XYZ COMPANY” needs to document a salary and bonus structure for BDMs and then determine a transitional plan for existing employees who will remain in one of the new roles.
Opportunity Development – Identify the key verticals “within reach” of the existing sales team, specifically the Pharmaceutical and Financial industries in NYC and Political Consultants in DC. In addition, companies outside these vertical that should be considered include:
o NYC/Tri-state Area - Altria, Cendant, Verizon, Global Crossings, Time Warner/Disney, PepsiCo and Starwood Hotels. High Net-worth Clients (e.g. James Dolan CEO of Cablevision and owner of the NY Knicks and Donald Trump).
o Washington DC Area - Marriott, Sprint-Nextel and Lobbying Firms. The latter is a key opportunity with a limited window of opportunity for several reasons including upcoming elections in November and the recent Jack Abramoff scandal, which impact the firms, the industry as well as their political connections. A list of top lobby groups is attached above as document 3.
Business Tools – “XYZ COMPANY” to subscribe to Hoovers ASAP to help generate leads and identify key clients. “XYZ COMPANY” needs to begin intensifying its compliance policies for regular use of Hoovers (Pre-sales) and updates to SUGAR (Sales-Cycle) through the use of metrics and other means (bonus programs etc). SUGAR should be incorporated into overall opportunity development process as the complete sales cycle tracking tool.
Performance Metrics – “XYZ COMPANY” should begin “socializing” the metrics (or a variation) as listed above to begin the process of compliance. Once the metrics have been finalized and socialized with each resource they should be phased in over the next quarter with expectations of being fully managed by these metrics by October 1, 2006.
Quarterly Review, Feedback, Coaching and Evaluations – “XYZ COMPANY” should again socialize the creation of these sessions with the understanding of beginning them effective October 1, 2006.
Individual Development – Not a critical element during this period of time but should be discussed at a high-level with each sales resource.
Sales Channel – Not a critical element during this period however a policy should be created quickly if there are trusted contacts that “XYZ COMPANY” employees could reach out to quickly for contacts and meetings.
B) 45 – 90 Days 1. Marketing – Continue the strategy outlined in section A, above.
2. Sales Development - Continue the strategy outlined in section A, above with emphasis on getting BDMs in place outside of NYC and DC areas and refocusing on personnel in the NYC and DC areas.
Territories/Account Allocation – Once BDMs are in place, each should initially target easily reached “low hanging fruit” clients to get established. These would typically accounts that they have contacts into (one of the assumed assets they would bring into the position), followed by highly visible accounts in the news or verticals where “XYZ COMPANY” has had previous successes that can be reused.
Sales Resources/Hiring/Recruiting – Once the appropriate personnel have been placed (or a pool of viable candidates identified), the emphasis must be placed on whether or not
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the existing personnel in NYC and DC meet the requirements and desired skills for the position. It is assumed that retainable candidates can be moved over into the BDA position with no changes in existing salary and candidates deemed non-retainable must be given a “Performance Plan” to take corrective measures. If these candidates do not demonstrate the necessary improvements, a transitioned plan must be designed to take affect within 90 days. Before this occurs however, “XYZ COMPANY” must follow three steps to ensure continuity and prevent any subsequent legal/HR issues.
1. Review all Performance Objectives with each candidate and outline a plan to demonstrate performance improvements over a 90 day period. Each candidate must be given a period to make changes in performance and be advised (in writing) of the outcome should their performance not change satisfactorily. In this case the simplest measurements should be in opportunities within the funnel and sales revenue.
2. Make sure that “XYZ COMPANY” has a Senior BDM in-place in both DC and NYC to help mentor junior/entry level BDAs and BDMs.
3. Make sure there is a BDM in-place to transition any accounts over to in the event personnel are moved out to ensure the opportunity and relationship with the client are not lost.
Compensation Plan – Develop a transition plan that would evolve away from commissions per sale to annualized bonuses for organizational and company success.
Opportunity Development – Continue with strategy above in Section A, while beginning to “drill down” to next levels of verticals and clients. In other words, whatever messages and verticals have shown success, seek out similar clients within those verticals to reuse and repeat the same process.
Business Tools – All tools should be in place and used daily/weekly.
Performance Metrics – Predetermined metrics must be presented to each BDM and given a quarterly schedule to meet and exceed these metrics as well as a Performance Plan to inform the BDM what steps will be taken if they fail to meet them.
Quarterly Review, Feedback, Coaching and Evaluations – See above.
Individual Development – Initial considerations and conversations should start taking place in the above Review Sessions to build a career path, plans and steps to get there.
Sales Channel – “XYZ COMPANY” at this point should being looking at outside sources to help generate leads, facilitate meetings and develop new opportunities that would be then handed over the appropriate BDM. If “XYZ COMPANY” decides to take this route, plans should be made and implemented ASAP to take advantage during initial sales period to help open doors and stimulate interest/build pipeline.
C) 90 – 120 Days 1. Marketing – Continue the strategy outlined in section A, above. As key sales are closed, if
appropriate, 1-2 success should be detailed in “White Papers” for marketing purposes to demonstrate value of the products and how they met client expectations.
2. Sales Development - Continue the strategy outlined in section A, above with emphasis on getting BDMs trained on products, lead generation resources, SUGAR and sales skills.
Territories/Account Allocation – Once BDMs have been trained, each must create a sales funnel through research in various websites. These would typically accounts that they have contacts into (one of the assumed assets they would bring into the position), followed by
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highly visible accounts in the news or verticals where “XYZ COMPANY” has had previous successes that can be reused.
Sales Resources/Hiring/Recruiting – Hiring process should be completed or near completion. Existing resources must be in the process of transition into new position or out of existing position.
Compensation Plan – Transition from commission-based plan to salary & bonus plan should be in place and transition process started.
Opportunity Development – Continue with strategy above in Section A, while beginning to “drill down” to next levels of verticals and clients. In other words, whatever messages and verticals have shown success, seek out similar clients within those verticals to reuse and repeat the same process. By this time frame, key sales should be nearing closure and clients approached for referrals and testimonials. If appropriate, 1-2 success should b e
Business Tools – All tools should be in place and used daily/weekly.
Performance Metrics – All metrics should have been reviewed with each individual and unofficial tracking begun (must give each 3 months to transition to the new metrics and processes).
Quarterly Review, Feedback, Coaching and Evaluations – All process should have begun for 1st (unofficial) quarter. Performance plans created and reviewed with any resource under performing.
Individual Development – Each individual should submit a draft of their career plan to management at the end of 1st quarter/1st coaching & feedback session.
Sales Channel – Plan for Channel use and development should already be implemented to assist in initial sales opportunities until pipeline more established.
D) 4 – 6 Months 1. Marketing – TBD
2. Sales Development - TBD
Territories/Account Allocation – Plan and implementation should be completed.
Sales Resources/Hiring/Recruiting – Plan and implementation should be completed.
Compensation Plan – Plan and implementation should be completed.
Opportunity Development – TBD
Business Tools – All tools should be in place and used daily/weekly.
Performance Metrics – Metrics used weekly/monthly/quarterly to evaluate progress and success.
Quarterly Review, Feedback, Coaching and Evaluations – Second quarterly sessions and evaluations completed. Performance Plans reviewed and actions taken if appropriate.
Individual Development – TBD
Sales Channel – Plan and implementation should be completed.
E) 6 – 12 Months 1. Marketing – TBD
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2. Sales Development - TBD
Territories/Account Allocation – Plan and implementation should be completed.
Sales Resources/Hiring/Recruiting – Plan and implementation should be completed. Additional BDMs recruited as deemed necessary (additional territories created or existing resources moved out due to poor performance).
Compensation Plan – Plan and implementation should be completed.
Opportunity Development – TBD
Business Tools – All tools should be in place and used daily/weekly.
Performance Metrics – Metrics used weekly/monthly/quarterly to evaluate progress and success.
Quarterly Review, Feedback, Coaching and Evaluations – Third and fourth quarter sessions and evaluations completed. Annual evaluations done and salary/bonus plans adjusted accordingly. Performance Plans reviewed and actions taken if appropriate.
Individual Development – TBD
Sales Channel – Plan and implementation should be completed.
