In order for a team to get to the NCAA Basketball Tournament they have to have a positive win/loss record. Teams need to know what it takes to win, and execute their game plan when it counts
- during the season, in the division championship, and all the way through the brackets to the Final Four and the Championship.
If you want to have a championship caliber rep agency you’ll also need to have a positive win/loss ratio, know the reasons why you’re winning (or losing) business, and execute your business plan when it counts. Finding a way to track and measure your wins or losses is as easy as implementing a sales pipeline found in a CRM application, like MRSware.
In order for a team to get to the NCAA Basketball Tournament they have to have a positive win/loss record. Teams need to know what it takes to win, and execute their game plan when it counts
- during the season, in the division championship, and all the way through the brackets to the Final Four and the Championship.
If you want to have a championship caliber rep agency you’ll also need to have a positive win/loss ratio, know the reasons why you’re winning (or losing) business, and execute your business plan when it counts. Finding a way to track and measure your wins or losses is as easy as implementing a sales pipeline found in a CRM application, like MRSware.
Filling the pipeline with leads, bids, quotes, and deals is great, but if you don’t do anything more with them, the information is worth very little. It’s like a team that gets their schedule, but doesn’t put together a game plan for each rival they’re playing. The odds of this team being successful are pretty low. Oh, they may win a game here and there but they’re not going to make it to the NCAA tournament.
If you want to play in the big game, you'll create a game plan on how to deal with leads, bids, quotes, and large deals. Without burdening your reps with too much “paperwork” let them know that at a minimum you expect them to update the status of each opportunity and the reason it closed.
First, the status will indicate where in the process the opportunity stands. Is there a meeting scheduled – Are specs being created - Are samples being sent – Are you negotiating price – Has the bid opened? Whatever the steps are in your selling process, define them and make sure your sales reps are keeping the phases current on their deals.
Secondly, when the deal closes, you’ll know your win/loss ratio, but more importantly you need to go one step further and have your reps specify why the business was won or lost. The reasons why opportunities are won or lost are limitless and can range from “Won – price” to “Won – brand recognition” to “Lost – price” to “Lost – didn’t meet specs”.
With these two indicators – status and close reason - you’ll be able to quickly analyze your business and take action to correct any flaws in your plan. You’ll be able to better coach your sales team; make necessary changes in your sales process; and keep your manufacturers up-to-date on the trends in your marketplace and what you’re doing for them.
You don’t have to be undefeated to win a championship, but you do have to have a great plan, everyone needs to know their role, practice hard, be flexible when changes need to be made, be consistent, and execute your game plan.
Enjoy the madness – here’s hoping your team wins!
If you want to play in the big game, you'll create a game plan on how to deal with leads, bids, quotes, and large deals. Without burdening your reps with too much “paperwork” let them know that at a minimum you expect them to update the status of each opportunity and the reason it closed.
First, the status will indicate where in the process the opportunity stands. Is there a meeting scheduled – Are specs being created - Are samples being sent – Are you negotiating price – Has the bid opened? Whatever the steps are in your selling process, define them and make sure your sales reps are keeping the phases current on their deals.
Secondly, when the deal closes, you’ll know your win/loss ratio, but more importantly you need to go one step further and have your reps specify why the business was won or lost. The reasons why opportunities are won or lost are limitless and can range from “Won – price” to “Won – brand recognition” to “Lost – price” to “Lost – didn’t meet specs”.
With these two indicators – status and close reason - you’ll be able to quickly analyze your business and take action to correct any flaws in your plan. You’ll be able to better coach your sales team; make necessary changes in your sales process; and keep your manufacturers up-to-date on the trends in your marketplace and what you’re doing for them.
You don’t have to be undefeated to win a championship, but you do have to have a great plan, everyone needs to know their role, practice hard, be flexible when changes need to be made, be consistent, and execute your game plan.
Enjoy the madness – here’s hoping your team wins!
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