Companies that use a sales process are 30% more profitable than companies that do not. Does that mean now is the time to (re)design a sales process. Not necessarily.

5 Reasons to Design a Sales Process

There is a direct connection between having a sales process, and higher profits. Here are some of the reasons why your profits can increase if you use a sales process.

1. Repeatability: Just like there are rules for playing poker that result in more wins, there are rules for sales that will result in more wins. But you need to be able to repeat that process across the entire team to maximize your returns.
2. Improvability: If a rep discovers a great new approach to selling, how would you make sure your entire team learned about it? Chances are, you wouldn’t – and if you did, it may be very time consuming. With a process you can strategically identify new improvements, and tweak the process to institutionalize the change quickly.
3. Measurability: I recently met with the CEO of a $500 million manufacturer and asked him what a successful CRM project would mean to him.  His answer? “A pipeline report that isn’t b***s***" !”  Sales forecasts are no longer enough – if you want to predict demand and adjust your strategy more quickly than your competitors, you need a sales process.
4. Manageability: Would you drive a car with a blindfold? That’s about the same as a Sales Manager trying to drive their team without great data. You’re flying blind.  The only reason it works for a while is because that’s the best that your competitors have.
5. Scalability: When you add a new rep, you want them to get up to speed quickly. You want them to be able to contribute more to the bottom line than the last rep. And you want to grow at a faster rate.  The old math is: if I grow the sales force by 15%, I will grow the top line by 10%.  The new math is: if I grow the sales force by 10%, I will grow the top line by 15%.  That’s scalability.

What to remember those 5 benefits?  They spell RIMMS!

Click here to learn more about RIMMS and sales process design using a CRM solution.

5 Reasons You May Not Be Ready for a Sales Process

Believe it or not, a sales process done the wrong way or at the wrong time can be a disaster. Consider these 5 reasons why you may not be ready for a sales process before you jump in.

1. Wrong Process: When many organizations purchase a CRM solution, they see the beautiful pipeline reports and assume that this is the right place to start. But oftentimes, this isn’t true. Depending on your team and industry, it may make more sense to start with replacing call reports, or a more efficient way to handle sending and following-up on samples. Creating a new process may actually distract and slow-down your team. It’s important to understand your specific situation and develop a plan based on that.
2. Complexity: There is a tendency to over-engineer sales processes. Both technology and business leaders can be guilty of this. And, when it happens, it can crush the morale and productivity of the sales team.
3. Repeatability: It’s great to repeat best practices. But many processes tend to institutionalize worst practices. More than once I’ve heard frustrated sales reps complain that, “the process has made us more efficient at losing sales than ever before!”
4. Rigidity: Sales processes are different from other business processes - they balance flexibility (the human touch) with rigidity (standard steps). When sales processes follow the standard business process paradigm, they can be overly rigid, not allowing sales reps to flex to the unique needs of individual prospects. The resulting friction can cause lost sales.
5. Disruption: Any new business process will cause disruption. Disrupting the process of generating new business can have a particularly devastating effect. This should be considered in the planning and change management portion of the sales process project to ensure it is anticipated and mitigated.

Click here to join us for an upcoming webinar on how to rapidly design a sales process.