Pinpoint Productive Sales Activities.

The tightening of business expenses often leads to squeezing every drop out of each and every sales activity. Surprisingly, many organizations cannot pinpoint the priority, type, and volume of sales activities they are conducting, even less so on which ones are producing the best results.

I have come across a number of sales and management styles which, in one form or another, fit into a prescribed activity type. Generally described as activity focused, close focused or buying-cycle focused, the question now is: Do you know what sales activity profile will gain the highest return?

For most organizations the answer is painfully obvious: today’s priority selling activities are buying-cycle focused. Unfortunately for some, nobody told marketing, sales support and a host of other departments that touch the customer. Are they confused? You bet and it is wasting a lot of time and money.

CRM’s highest and best use is the leading role in managing buying cycles.

The buying-cycle is comprised of those steps that the customer must go through to purchase and to become a continuing customer, as opposed to those activities that the company’s sales and marketing force must perform in order to achieve the same result (the selling-cycle).

In the past, sales activities have been selling-cycle oriented. These days the common wisdom is to focus on the buying-cycle. It is not a trivial distinction. The old selling-cycle approach is “me” oriented …products and features driven 1950’s salesmanship. Buying-cycle selling concerns the customer’s needs wants and timing.

It is essential that all selling and marketing activities be buying-cycle focused to gain the highest ROI on sales activities. Imagine the return if every call your sales team made was to a prospect closing in the next 90 days. That’s what we mean by buying cycle management.

MosaicCRM Experts Corner: Manage buying cycles over generalized activity management.

The emphasis in sales and marketing for the past thirty years or so has been ‘solution selling’, at least in the progressive corporations. The buying-cycle approach is a relatively new development and extension of the solution selling approach. The influence of customers buying habits and the influence of Internet reinforce the need for your CRM program to manage buying cycles over generalized activity management.

Many SMB’s fall victim to CRM systems that are too often designed around 1950’s selling styles e.g. designs that measure activity and not sales processes that manage buying cycles. I see it all the time where practically every field is ‘me’ oriented and very little is designed specifically around the ‘client needs, wants and directions. Beyond solution sales processes, a properly designed CRM plays a vital role in defining the buying cycle and it stands that its highest and best use is as a leading role in managing buying cycles.

Prioritize Buying Cycle Habits  in CRM.

The customer is of paramount importance to your business. Get into the habit of clearly defining the buying-cycle of your customers, individually, by type or even by whole. Even short buying cycles e.g. a simple online purchase includes at least a few of the following basics that should be a part of your CRM:

• Defined ‘steps’ in the buying cycle; paired with optimized activities for each step
• Contract Start and End dates paired with internal and external notices
  
• Budget Dates: When do your customers finalize annual budgets?
  
• Manage Product Life cycles adds value to specific customers
  
• Sales Stages paired to Buying Cycle Stages
• Activities tied to Buying Cycle priorities
• Identify Win Back Programs/Retention Programs focused on buying cycle
• Eliminate data fields, historical reports and activities that do not meet “buying-cycle” processes

Some day we can reflect back on the enormous volume (and cost) of non-buying cycle focused selling. I remember the ‘positioning’ ads; feel good brochures and reams of useless trinkets and brochures. What I wouldn’t give to have that money today and get it buying cycle focused!

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Written by Bill Noonan, CEO MosaicCRM

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