Note: We’d like to welcome Tom Martin, sales leader at Rackspace, to Voice of Value. In the following article, he shares insight about value selling and Salesforce.com integration from over 16 years of sales experience.
Note: We’d like to welcome Tom Martin, sales leader at Rackspace, to Voice of Value. In the following article, he shares insight about value selling and Salesforce.com integration from over 16 years of sales experience.
Sales forecasting and business predictability are two critical competencies for sales leaders. They are also two of the hardest to get right.
Forecast processes are often rigorous and only solve for the delivery and roll up of the number. “Get it in by Thursday at noon — roll up reports are generated Friday morning for the leadership,” are words we’re all too familiar with. Any process is only as good as its inputs. The output may be a number on Thursday at noon, but if the inputs to that process were bad, you are in for some fun with management.
In order to have an accurate forecast, it’s critical to address two underlying components: the sales method and value approach.
Your sales method can be customized in Salesforce.com for your business needs.
In any sales stage process, there are usually some criteria for getting access to the customer (specifically the decision maker).
Make sure that first meeting engages the customer to the extent that he or she wants to have future conversations.
Create a shared vision with the customer. Match their needs with your offer in a way that creates added value for them and for you.
Done properly, you close the deal or contract and deliver the value that was sold.
When building a shared vision with your customer, the value conversation is key to the whole deal. It’s also key to a consistently reliable forecast. This is where the sales team learns if a deal is real for them or not. It’s where they learn what competition they are up against and what features, benefits and services are critically important to the customer. It’s also where deals are easily lost and where sales people who are not skilled in value selling get blind-sided.
Sales reps who are A Players have two things I have consistently seen in common: One, they build relationships far and wide within organizations. Their networks are vast and available when they need them. Two, they know the value they are selling and how to communicate it to their customers in the way that the customer wants to hear. This is best practice and integrating it into Salesforce.com for repeatable performance across the entire sales force will grow your business and deliver more predictable forecasts.
Here is the recipe:
A better forecast and a more predictable business require a more consistent sales method and a sales team that knows the value they are selling.