Align Management with Sales to Reduce Sales Cost. A Distribution Case Study from Sales Xceleration.
A distribution company, in business for 28 years, selling industrial specialty electrical components, recognized that their sales structure and process did not support their goals. Both the management and sales team were not aligned on sales. Additionally, the sales structure in place promoted a very reactive sales strategy that was not efficient and did not properly incentivize their sales team to proactively sell.
Challenges
- Unrealistic commissions
- Reactive sales strategy
- No customer relationship management (CRM) system
- Lack of metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Missing sales leadership and team management
“Our Sales Xceleration Advisor had a keen sense of what was missing in our sales organization that, when added, would produce the results management wanted to see,” says Brian Corekin, owner. “Since management was not aware how to make necessary the shifts to achieve those results, the SX Advisor was key to our success. ”
Solutions
Our Fractional VP of Sales followed a proven, structured process to identify the largest challenges, uncover opportunities for quick wins, and establish the foundation for sustainable growth. They began with a thorough assessment of the management team, sales strategy process, and structure which identified areas of misalignment. Then they got to the next tasks at hand. During this engagement, the team implemented a variety of solutions:
- Assessed management team to see how the sales process and structure were set up
- Surveyed sales team to get their perspective on the sales strategy, process, and structure
- Presented the results to show misalignment
- Made staff changes in sales and marketing to get the right people in the right seats
- Established an inside sales team to respond to incoming calls and emails
- Created clear roles and responsibilities for management and sales
- Added a shopping cart feature to the website with real-time inventory
- Established agreed upon metrics and KPIs
- Assigned target accounts and market segments
- Created a proactive sales strategy for the outside sales team
Results
By the end of the process, all team members and management had a clear understanding and buy-in for the roles, responsibilities, and goals. They identified and documented all the issues that had been impeding the sales team’s performance and put remedies in place.
The big win: the company achieved a 60% reduction in the cost of sales while increasing year-over-year sales.
To learn more about how a Fractional VP of Sales can help you align your management and sales teams, reach out today.
