The Inovis Blog

Ran across a very informative analysis written by Bob Kantin President of SalesProposals.com, Michael J. Nick, President of ROI4Sales, and Tim Sullivan, Development Director at SPISales.com.

It focused on how to train a sales force into being top sellers, what they call eagles, and how what used to be a commodity-transaction sales process has evolved into a complex selling process that requires building relationships.

Sales professionals must become business consultants that provide a clear return on investment (ROI) proposition to retain a competitive advantage in the current market.

The author’s ask three important questions to assess the skills and tools a sales force brings to play in the sales process. We found the information relevant from an IT buyer’s perspective as helpful guidelines in evaluating an IT purchasing decision based on the selling skills and knowledge level of the seller.

1. Do your sales pros follow a consultative sales process built around their unique products & services?
2. Can the sales pro deliver an accurate and fair ROI for their products/services that will make or save you money?
3. Are the sales pros creating informative proposals focused on your needs?

Additional information and resources are provided on how to use an ROI analysis system, and an automated proposal production system. There is also a simple, effective self-assessment that outlines the current effectiveness of a sales pro’s consultative approach. It’s a good read for both buyers and sellers and a free download with registration at itbusinessedge.com.

The Global Supply Chain Management Forum at Stanford GSB provides relevant information for understanding the trends and best practices for managing efficient supply chains.    The analysis an examples of the type reports available is “Innovators in Supply Chain Security: Better Security Drives Business Value” which provides some interesting metrics on the types improvements which increased security in the supply chain can provide:

• Improved product safety (e.g., 38 percent reduction in theft/loss/pilferage, 37 percent reduction in tampering)
• Improved inventory management (e.g., 14 percent reduction in excess inventory, 12 percentincrease in reported on-time delivery);
• Improved supply chain visibility (e.g., 50 percent increase in access to supply chain data, 30 percent increase in timeliness of shipping information);
• Improved product handling (e.g., 43 percent increase in automated handling of goods);
• Process improvements (e.g., 30 percent reduction in process deviations);
• More efficient customs clearance process (e.g., 49 percent reduction in cargo delays, 48 percent reduction in cargo inspections/examinations);
• Speed improvements (e.g., 29 percent reduction in transit time, 28 percent reduction in delivery time window);
• Resilience (e.g., close to 30 percent reduction in problem identification time, response time to problems, and in problem resolution time); and
• Higher customer satisfaction (e.g., 26 percent reduction in customer attrition and 20 percent increase in number of new customers).

The growing focus on security is yet another way to better manage risk in the supply network as well.  Risk varies from supplier failures to brand risk associated with compliance requirements, be them green or government.  Recent news from the Stanford forum confirms these trends with HP and Wal-Mart’s social responsibility requirements/initiatives, which ultimately represents a competitive advantange for many enterprises.