Michael Webb
Michael Webb
Sustaining Gains…. How Do You Get Salespeople to Sustain Improvements?
A General Manager Asks: How do you get salespeople to sustain improvements? This is a great question, and salespeople are not a unique challenge in this regard: In fact I would say that getting any group of people to sustain their process improvement gains is a critical challenge. Are there some other parts of […]
A Dirty Little Secret: Why You Really Don’t Need a Sales Process
A Dirty Little Secret: Why You Really Don’t Need a Sales Process By Michael Webb Years ago, I learned a dirty secret of the sales training business: few salespeople actually implement most of the sales training they receive. Then, I learned a dirty secret of the Six Sigma business: few people actually implement most of […]
The “Usual Fixes” for Sales Problems (And Why They Fail)
The Usual Fixes for Sales Problems (And Why They Fail).
Unless you have identified the root causes for sales problems, your fixes probably won’t stick.
It’s Finally Here…
It’s finally here… Sometime back, you expressed interest in the book “Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way.” With 4.5 stars on Amazon, this unique book has done more than any other to help businesses begin to apply evidence and data to the art of selling. Problems with the publisher took the book out of […]
How Can Lean in Sales and Marketing Allocate Scarce Resources Wisely
A General Management reader asked: “How can Lean in sales and marketing allocate scarce resources wisely?” This great question because, at the heart of things, improving the organization’s performance isn’t just about reducing waste. You are looking for evidence of what the customer values as well, and this can be tricky.
How Does Lean Process Excellence Conserve Resources In Sales and Marketing?
How Does Lean Process Excellence Conserve Resources In Sales and Marketing? By Michael Webb The Lean philosophy enables companies to identify and eliminate waste in manufacturing environments, where the specification—what the customer will pay for—is known. But how does this translate to sales and marketing environments, where figuring out what the customer will pay for […]
Goodbye 2012 – Hello 2013
We at SPC hope you had a productive 2012 and a restful and memorable holiday season. In 2013, SPC will resume regular blog posting. The website has been redesigned to make it easier to find information relevant to making it easier to find, win, and keep customers. Please ask questions and leave comments. We look […]
What is the Purpose of the “Sales Process” in Your Company?
What is the Purpose of the “Sales Process” in Your Company? by Michael Webb Most executives and managers would acknowledge that their company should have a sales process. But what does this term actually mean? To the extent that your company has a sales process, it is probably thought of as “what salespeople do,” which […]
What Is the Top Driver of Lean Process Excellence Success in Sales?
A Global Sales Director asks: What is the top driver of Lean Process Excellence success in sales? I would say the main driver is the focus on data and evidence from the customer gemba (i.e., field sales activities). (Since you used “Lean Process Excellence” in the question, I’m going to assume you are familiar with […]
Applying Six Sigma DMAIC to Marketing
A sales and marketing manager asks: “Is there a difference between traditional DMAIC, and applying Six Sigma to marketing?” Six Sigma, via DMAIC, is a method for maximizing sales performance and solving business problems. The sales management process and marketing (and servicing) are business functions that many companies have difficulty with. Some businesses try to solve these […]
