Transcript Agenda

High-Impact Implementation Questions
1: What needs to be covered when kicking off a client relationship?
2: How to help the client make (the right kind of) demands?
3: How to blend the High-Impact approach with subject matter focus?
Strictly confidential to Sales Performance Consultants, Inc.
I believe RHS&A might set up their situations differently. But how?
Given the situation below, what do you think might happen?
1: What needs to be covered when kicking off a client
Set-up
relationship?
•
CEO liked process approach (of course!)
Background
•
$36 million, privately held software firm, ~ 300 employees
•
Founded 1987, failed IPO attempt in the mid 90s
•
Profitable through the dot com bubble, current revenue flat
•
CEO
–
Analytic, technical, soft spoken
–
Founded firm shortly after college
–
Reputation for micromanaging
Business Problem
•
CEO needs to improve sales results
•
Traditional market matured, revenue & margin declining
•
Margin dwindling, new market penetration frustrating
•
CEO understands simple product selling,
distrustful of complex selling and sales execs (they always
seem to have excuses)
•
Frustrated with internal arguments (market dpt vs sales dpt)
Initial meeting with CEO confirmed the fit.
Process improvement in marketing and sales,
High-Impact approach
My firm could help him:
•
Achieve sales objectives
CEO wanted to add
–
Enterprise Market
focus on traditional
market (80% of the
–
Professional Services
volume)
•
Help over come challenges
–
Support marketing strategy
–
Effective sales process
–
Metrics and feedback system
–
Leverage investment in Siebel
•
Achieve Results
•
•
•
Sales department resisted the idea (of course!)
CEO wanted to do work
Both of us wary of what might go wrong
I proposed a “trust” project
•
Interviews with marketing, sales, customer service VPs.
•
Get behind the scenes, build relationships, look for wins
•
Every department mentioned resource challenges,
•
Lots of talented, insightful people with lots of urgencies
•
Succeeded in generating a project idea everyone liked
Project Description
Business Result: Increase quality of leads from a website
•
Design the site around the customer instead of the product
•
One specific market/product
(traditional one was too big/complex, we chose a smaller one)
•
Goal: 100% improvement in lead quality
•
Within 90 days
•
We would measure website traffic and lead quality before and
after we changed the design of the website
•
VP Marketing was excited by the strategy and the project
•
VP Sales had nothing to resist
VP Marketing picked up the baton (process improvement project)
•
CEO agreed that if resources were an issue at any point he
would solve it.
Statement of Work to CEO
•
$20k to work with his managers to implement the project
•
$10k on achievement of goal
CEO wanted to negotiate, offering me about 12k
•
I refused.
•
We compromised on 20. “Regardless of the outcome”
•
It didn’t feel quite right, but he was wary, and I wanted to do
Strictly confidential to Sales Performance
Inc.
the Consultants,
work, so I figured
this was a way to earn more trust.
I have a meeting with CEO next Tuesday. Puzzle is what to do.
People say this happens often with him (as if he fails to realize
contradictions in his actions)
He must be frustrated by how his people behave.
My email to CEO
2: How to help the client make
(the right kind of) demands?
VP Marketing picked up the baton
•
Defined project steps, surveyed customers
•
Devised new approach to website
•
Devised way of measuring quality of leads
•
Requested of website traffic data from eBusiness department
•
Found another initiative we could attach to
–
new website development project
–
Sales department was supposedly on board already
J H (eBusiness) remains enthusiastic but he acknowledged the
resource constraint in getting the Siebel form and the traffic
statistics accomplished. (Wow - four to five weeks for these
simple things seems like a heck of a bottleneck!)
He said he would ask you regarding priorities. …
I sense we are at turning point. If this project is to be taken
seriously you are the one who must make that clear.
Let's not lose sight of how valuable the goal is: We are working
toward a predictable, reliable sales process that will be
capable of meeting your objectives regardless of economic
conditions.
CEO email to me:
I hope this helps.
Project review with CEO
•
Reviewed progress, customer input, new site design
•
A resource issue surfaced:
–
New website development project
under resourced
–
Decided it was a stretch but could be done
•
Green light to proceed
eBusines
•
Went back to eBusiness: no measurement data
•I sensed a problem (too late?) & sent email to CEO (see on right)
•
eBusiness asked CEO for direction. CEO tried to get him to answer
his own question. Result: muddy water.
I made a surprise discovery and helped averting a train wreck
•
Sales department was unaware of controversial parts of website
project! Mad about marketing’s decisions!
•
I helped bring the two depts together to fix it
Marketing process improvement now upstaged by new CEO initiative
•
Franklin Covey project to align objectives and metrics, create
dashboards for each department
•
no resources for our website redesign, gathering website traffic data,
etc.
[Copies me on his response to J H (eBusiness)]:
[J H] > What is the priority of this project?
[CEO] There is no easy answer to such a question about any
project. So don't ask it in such a way - no manager can give
you an effective answer. …
[J H] > How does this fit in with our larger strategies?
[CEO] Somethings gotta change to help us be more effective in
Enterprise Tool = AdminStudio sales. The sooner we get
started on understanding AdminStudio customer the better it
is. Also Gerold is the sponsor of this project - feel free to
discuss with him how this fits into the scheme of things. …
Observation: the real question was never asked or answered!
Observation:
The CEO makes tons of demands on his people
– and keeps on making them! How can I help him do it better?
Status
•Marketing process improvement project stalled due to
resources
•Marketing VP failed to return my call Thursday.
•CEO granted my request for meeting
Strictly confidential to Sales Performance Consultants, Inc.
3: How to blend the High-Impact approach with subject
matter focus?
My expertise is marketing and sales
•
Not general management consulting
My value is in unique implications of process approach
•
Questions that have not asked
•
Systematic thinking removes roadblocks, make sales easier
Is it possible to take a High-Impact approach blended with specific expertise?
•
I think so, but sense the pitfalls.
•
Comments? Suggestions?
Strictly confidential to Sales Performance Consultants, Inc.