June 2002 Track Selling Times World Class Sales Management
 World Class Sales Management:
Measuring and Managing Productivity
by Vic Sterne
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Victor Sterne is Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Lanier Healthcare, located in Woodland Hills, CA. Lanier Healthcare provides the health care industry with integrated medical document management solutions including dictation, electronic signature, speech recognition and transcription. For more information, please call Vic at (818) 340-5044, send email to vsterne@lanierhealthcare.com, or visit www.lanierheathcare.com.
In the healthcare field, we have long sales cycles typically lasting from six to twelve months. It is crucial to become aware of any selling problems early in the process. Waiting until the end result of the sales cycle is disastrous. Therefore, I have implemented a plan to measure productivity and provide assistance immediately when anyone on my team is struggling to meet a sales goal.
There are many tools available to measure productivity, including expense and sales reports, work plans, territory marketing plans and call reports. It is important to not come across as "Big Brother" when using these tools to determine if your salespeople need help.
Communication is the key. Ensure that your team understands the purpose of measuring productivity. Immediately dispel any concerns that you are checking up on your sales staff. Clearly delineate that the purpose of these tools is to provide regular, practical feedback and encouragement on your team's performance and to better assist anyone needing special attention.
Here are the tools I use to help my sales staff achieve their sales goals:
1. Watch trends.
I look at three areas: spending patterns (expense reports), sales patterns, and upcoming predicted sales forecasts. Inconsistencies between the spending and sales patterns alert me to possible problems. For example, an inconsistency may mean a sales person is spending too much time with "dead-end" clients and neglecting possible new clients. If a salesperson is not achieving the predicted sales goal, I can work with him/her to determine if the goal was realistic or if there are deficiencies in the selling skills that need additional development.
2. Regular Communication.
We have weekly conference calls with our lead managers to assess any problems. When necessary, these calls are more frequent. Additionally, I require all lead managers to submit a narrative monthly report, which is more than just numbers. Sales numbers do not always show the true picture. There may be regional issues impacting sales performance that are not apparent by simply looking at the monthly sales. This report is one to two pages and contains sales information, regional highlights, kudos to their salespeople, financial overviews and the upcoming calendar.
The calendar is crucial. It enables me to immediately see if there are gaps in sales interviews, etc. Additionally, my lead managers produce a territory business plan for each region to give us further understanding about what is happening in each region. It is the sales team's responsibility to keep in touch with their manager and update them on any problem sites that may impact selling goals. Finally, we regularly travel out into the field with our salespeople to immediately identify any selling problems and offer assistance.
3. Solid Foundation.
You cannot hold people accountable unless you give them a foundation to learn how to do their job correctly. I have taken the Track Selling SystemTM workshop four or five times and believe in the system Roy teaches. We incorporate all seven steps of the system into our selling process. We analyze accounts and discuss what step of the process is involved and how to continue the relationship with the client. These are tools we give our sales team to do their job successfully.
With the right tools, you can effectively measure and manage productivity. Base your strategy around specific sales goals. Use tools to help you identify and rectify problems early, and encourage professional growth and sales success.
Points to Remember:
- Include measuring productivity and providing assistance to your sales team as a regular, ongoing component of your management plan.
- Participate in frequent communication strategies with your sales team.
- Provide your sales team with training on how to do their job effectively. Reinforce this with refresher or updated trainings.
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