Michael Webb
Michael Webb
SPIF Tip #21: Why Improving Sales Can Be Counter-Intuitive
Imagine you are a British official in Delhi, India during the time of British rule. One of your problems is too many people being bitten and dying from venomous cobra snakes indigenous to the area. What can you do? Answer:
SPIF Tip #20: Sales is Not Just What Salespeople Do
The selling of products was once done mainly by traveling salesmen (yes, they were usually men in the early days), presenting their wares personally to customers. This was the case whether those customers were housewives needing carpet cleaners or company presidents needing machine tools. Selling directly worked, but it was expensive. Therefore, companies began experimenting […]
SPIF Tip #19: What it Really Takes to Improve Sales Results Permanently
It has often been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. Yet without understanding the system of causes and effects they are dealing with, managers cannot know what changes they should make to produce the results they desire. What marketing and selling needs […]
SPIF Tip #17: Marketing and Sales is a Production Process
Quality and process improvement methods have roots in manufacturing, where they add value in obvious and tangible ways. In contrast, sales adds value by providing information and resolving issues, both of which are intangible. Given process improvement’s roots in manufacturing, it’s worth considering a few analogies between sales and manufacturing: Leads are analogous to raw materials in manufacturing. Advertising and […]
How a strategic account sales team increased selling time 63% Case Study
Background A large company offering water filtration systems to the foodservice industry struggled to maintain its growth and accurately predict revenue trends. Over several years, the division general manager tried many approaches to maintain the growth rate. He was unsuccessful. The general manager had seen repeated successes with the firm’s production operations using Lean methods. […]
How to Revolutionize B2B Sales Results
(Part 2 of Is Your Sales Qualification Criteria Doing Its Job?) In “Is Your Sales Qualification Criteria Doing Its Job?” I ranted about how traditional approaches to sales qualification are myopic, remedial, and static. In reality, your market is like an ever changing magnetic field. What B2B companies need instead is the opposite of myopic, […]
SPIF Tip #16: Getting Into Your Customer’s Head
Sometimes getting customers to talk is a challenge. Salespeople need to learn what is important to customers. And they need a conversation to do it. Too often, companies don’t set things up with salespeople so they can have these conversations easily. Nor do they equip their salespeople with the necessary questions and other tools to […]
SPIF Tip #15: If Nothing is Improving, You’re Probably Not Doing THIS Right
When Edwards Deming would hear someone say they were going to accomplish a goal or objective, he would ask, “By what method?” Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)[1] was his answer to his own question. When company leaders focus on results and not the means of achieving them, they fall into the trap of Planning and Doing while ignoring the […]
SPIF Tip # 14 – Why You Need to Improve Customer Facing Functions
In his book “Fourth Generation Management,” Brian Joiner described a company that was told by its customers it was difficult to do business with. It is likely you have experienced dealing with similar companies. Since you’re reading this book, you may even have experienced working inside a company like this:
Field Sales Case Study in a Global Chemical Firm
Field Sales Case Study Background A division of global chemical company provided collision repair products to automobile dealers and collision repair shops. They employed 210 field salespeople in 18 district offices. The division was experiencing flat revenue growth and declining market share. A European competitor’s foothold in North America was making it difficult to capitalize […]
