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1.The New Science Of Sales Force Productivity
By For years, sales managers at many companies have relied on top performers and sheer numbers of sales reps to stay competitive. But while they may have squeaked by on this wing-and-a-prayer technique, their sales teams haven't thrived the way they once did. Today's most successful sales leaders are taking a more scientific approach. Savvy managers are reshaping their tactics in response to changing markets. They are reaching out to new customers in innovative ways. And they are increasing productivity by helping the reps they already have make the most of their skills and resources. Successful leaders have in common a scientific approach to sales force effectiveness. It is a method that puts systems around the art of selling, relying not just on gut feel and native sales talent - the traditional qualities of the rainmaker - but also on data analysis, processes, and tools to redraw the boundaries of markets and increase a sales force's productivity. The crucial activity of setting annual sales objectives is also being increasingly undertaken in a scientific manner as is shown by author through the case of Cisco systems. Cisco systems uses technology to forecast sales. The company has created a site where mangers could log in and see up-to-the-minute sales performance - listed by region, product line, and so on - all the way down to the level of individual account executives. Mangers hold regular pipeline calls and produce new forecasts derived from the data every wee They then roll up the numbers into weekly, monthly, and quarterly forecasts. Traditionally, sales managers assumed that if you wanted to see significant growth, you had to look at last year's performance and then try to gauge how many new salespeople could be added. Companies that follow a scientific approach take a much different course. The goal, as per scientific approach, is not to replace rainmakers but to narrow the gap between the top 15% or 20% and the rest of the sales force. Such increase enhances the performance of the sales team as a whole and enables a company to reduce the expense of hiring new reps.

Leaders who take a scientific approach to sales force effectiveness have learned to use four levers to boost their reps' productivity in a predictable and manageable way.

I TARGET OFFERINGS:
The Leaders systematically target their firms' offerings, matching the right products with the right customers. No one package of products and service fits all. And because many sales today cannot be closed by just one individual, these companies know how to support a team approach with a careful architecture and smart management

II OPTIMIZED AUTOMATION, TOOLS, AND PROCEDURES: The Leaders optimize the automation, tools, and procedures at their disposal, providing reps with the support they need to boost sales. Many companies are putting IT based tools to work to improve salesforce productivity. Author cites an example of GE commercial Finance, where Monday morning sales meetings are facilitated by a digital "cockpit" that lets a mangers peer onto reps' pipelines

III PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT:
Leaders analyze and manage their reps' performance, measuring both internal processes and results to determine their teams' strengths and weaknesses. Most organizations have an expected level of sales attrition based on whether reps make their quotas over time. But some have added deeper levels of performance analysis that makes sales productivity more predictable and thus more manageable. The key to retention is to set people up to succeed. That shouldn't be a matter of good fortune; it should be a result of data driven planning. Every successful company that the author studied measures inputs - a rep's pipeline. Time spent prospecting, or specific sales calls completed - as well as outputs, thereby helping the reps stay on top of the process.

IV SALES FORCE DEPLOYMENT:
Leaders pay close attention to sales force deployment-- how well sales, support, marketing, and delivery resources are matched to customers. Any company that has watched its territory based sales reps migrate down market toward easy sales rather than profitable ones is facing a deployment problem. Author suggests a simple way to fix deployment issue. It suggests creating a demand map of market using segmentation Information and then compare it with your deployment map
This is especially important because finding and keeping star salespeople is more difficult than ever. What's more, managers who optimize the sales forces they already have can see returns they never thought possible.

These four levers can help sales leaders increase productivity across the board, the authors say, though they have the greatest impact on lower ranked performers. The overall effect of increasing the average sales per employee can be exponential; it means a company won't have to rely on just a few talented individuals to stay competitive

Original article: The New Science Of Sales Force Productivity by Dianne Ledingham, Mark Kovac, and Heidi Locke Simon (Harvard Business Review). Summarized by Ms.Preeti Vaishnavi- Faculty - Marketing