Knowledge Base

Managing a Complex Sales Process

By admin | Published: May 3, 2011

Presentation Transcript:

managing a complex sales process
basic sales funnel
leads -> sales funnel -> orders
complex customer needs => complex sales process
a typical process
1. requirements
2. map solutions
3. budget costs
4. configure solution
5. proposal
6. order
complex sales process => workflow model
workflow model
1. milestones – progress indicators – work hand-over points – business rules
2. roles – organization structure – responsibilities – capabilities
3. templates – fill-in forms – document formats – validation rules
example of workflow model mapping milestones, roles and templates
workflow model =>shared workspace
shared workspace
1. people - business entities - contact details – responsibilities
2. information - requirements – solutions – budgets – time lines
3. activity log – appointments – tasks – notes
4. documents - proposals - diagrams - data files
5. progress reports – milestones completed - key hand-over info - who & when
sharedworkspace => prioritized reports
prioritized reports
1. alerts – when we are stuck – alerts for appointments and tasks – alerts for stuck leads – alerts for unattended customers
2. funnel – where are we stuck? – idle leads – no sales activity – inactive leads – no progress – inactive customers – no open projects
3. metrics – why we are stuck? – velocity – how long are we taking ? – volume – how many leads are we handling? – conversion – success and failure
On2Biz
1. workflow models - milestones - roles - templates
1. shared workspace - information - people – activity – progress – documents
2. prioritized reports - alerts - funnel - metrics
Sample screen shots
screenshot: shared workspace
lead = project (screen shots for a single lead or project)
screenshot: people - business entities – contact details
screenshot: information - requirements – solutions - budgets – time lines
screenshot: activity log - appointments – tasks – notes
screenshot: progress - milestones completed – key hand-over info – who & when
screenshot: documents - proposals – diagrams – data files
screenshots of prioritized reports
screenshot: alerts – alerts for appointments and tasks – alerts for stuck leads – alerts for unattended customers – email alert – sms alert
screenshot: funnel - idle leads – no sales activity – inactive leads – no progress – inactive customers – no open projects
screenshot: metrics – velocity – how long are we taking ? – volume – how many leads are we handling? – conversion – success and failure
what next?
1. quick start ! – sign-up for a free account – fill in workflow model sheet – start tracking your workflow
2. consulting – interviews with all stake-holders – advanced customization guide – custom workflow model
3. implementation – custom workflow implementation – training sessions – on-going support
contact us !

Posted in Business Tracking, CRM, On2Biz Tutorials and Howto, Relationship Manager, Sales Activity Manager, Sales Performance Management, Sales Pipeline Manager, Software As A Service | Comments closed

The Ideal Sales Pipeline Value – solution selling expert’s view

By admin | Published: July 28, 2009

What is the ideal number of opportunities that we should have in our sales pipeline? If there are too many, we run the risk of not having enough time to devote to them all, and if we have too few, we may not achieve achieve our sales targets.

CJ Warstler, Director – Sr. Consultant, Sales Performance International Inc. helps answer this question very effectively in his post titled: “What does an ideal sales pipeline look like?” on their Solution Selling™ Blog.

He identifies the following three factors that determine the ideal pipeline:

Sales Cycle Complexity (Quality)
Complex sales cycles have more number of milestones in the sales cycle. When calculating the ideal pipeline, one needs to know the ideal number of opportunities at each stage or milestone in the sales cycle.
Days in Stage (Speed)
The longer it takes to close opportunities, the more the number of opportunities you need in your pipeline to achieve the target sales in a given period. The estimated average time taken at each milestone in the sales cycle is used to calculate the ideal pipeline.
Yield Probability (Volume)
As an opportunity moves from one milestone to another, the probability of closure keeps improving. The probability at each stage is used to calculate the ideal pipeline.

The following table illustrates the sample buyer’s process and the corresponding sales process, along with the two process parameters – the time required, and the probability of closure at each milestone:

Buyer’s Milestone	Seller’s Milestone	Average time required (days)	Probability of closure
Develop Business Strategy	Create Opportunity	0 (start)	0%
Determine Needs	Qualify Sponsor	15 days	25%
Evaluate Alternatives	Develop Power Sponsor	25 days	50%
Select Solution / Evaluate Risk	Prove Capabilities	45 days	75%
Negotiate and Close	Negotiate and Close	35 days	100%
	Average Sales Cycle:	120 days

The sum of the time required at each milestone then gives us the average sales cycle time, which in the above example is 120 days.

In addition to the sales process, the following information is used in the calculation:

The sales target or Goal – for example, suppose this is 1.8 million
The time remaining to achieve the goal – for example, suppose we are at the beginning of the year, so we have 365 days left

Then the ideal pipeline value at each stage is calculated using the following formula:

(Goal x (Average Sales Cycle / Time Remaining to Goal) x (Average Days in Stage / Total Days in Average Cycle)) / %Yield in Stage = Ideal Amount for Stage

So for the above example, we would get the following ideal pipeline:

Buyer’s Milestone	Seller’s Milestone	Average time required (days)	Probability of closure	Ideal Pipeline
Develop Business Strategy	Create Opportunity	0 (start)	0%	-
Determine Needs	Qualify Sponsor	15 days	25%	2,95,890
Evaluate Alternatives	Develop Power Sponsor	25 days	50%	2,46,575
Select Solution / Evaluate Risk	Prove Capabilities	45 days	75%	2,95,890
Negotiate and Close	Negotiate and Close	35 days	100%	1,72,603
	Average Sales Cycle:	120 days	Total Pipeline Value:	10,10,959

The total pipeline value here is less than the total goal, because this is the pipeline at the beginning of the year. Assuming that new opportunities keep entering the pipeline as older opportunities flow out of the pipeline at the same rate, the pipeline over the entire year will achieve the required goal.

See the excellent explanation of this provided by Tim Sullivan in the comments on the blog.

All in all, a very well explained and simple way to ensure that the pipeline is kept at the optimal size.

Posted in Sales Activity Manager, Sales Performance Management, Sales Pipeline Manager | Leave a comment

Managing Business by Remote Control

By admin | Published: February 4, 2009

Business owners and managers usually spend most of their time managing their operations to make their businesses work. Business scalability is compromised to maintain cash flow. The most difficult challenge of the business owner or manager is to create free time – to work on strategies to scale the business, or to just enjoy the fruits of labour.

Posted in Business Tracking, CRM Implementation Challenges, Sales Activity Manager, Sales Performance Management, Sales Pipeline Manager, Software As A Service | Comments closed

How to: Add note

By saurabh | Published: January 31, 2009

Notes are general updates on opportunity. Notes can be created by executives and by system itself.

To create a new note you should be on the project page for which you want to add a note.

For searching project follow Step 1 of tutorial How to: Update project / opportunity’s milestone and click on Project link to open project.

Click on Activities link from Quick Navigation Link.

Qucik navigation links for Summary, Value, Milestones, Activities, Statement and Files.

You will be taken to activities section which looks as shown below.

Activities section header

Click on “Add Note” to get following screen

Add Note form in On2Biz

Fill comments, assign a tag e.g. Status Update in above screenshot and select a contact if you want to send this note via email. Tags are customizable, contact support@on2.biz for customization.

Click on to add this note.

System creates notes whenever a milestone is changed and can be sen in Activity section as below.

On2Biz Generated Notes

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How to: Update task

By saurabh | Published: January 30, 2009

After the task is completed you update task created in On2Biz. This can be done in simple 2 steps.

1. List all tasks.

2. Update task.

Step 1: List all Pending Tasks.

Activity List of On2Biz

To list all Pending Tasks click on “Pending Tasks” and you will get a list of all the tasks pending. Following is the screen which shows list of pending tasks.

Task preview

Step 2: Update task

Click on button to update this task. Below is how this task will appear when you click update.

Task in update mode

Select appropiate Status from Pending, Done and Aborted. Status is customizable, contact support@on2.biz for customization. Fill Completed On date, Time Spent and Progress report. You can also send an email / SMS progress to team or project manager. SMS alerts are available on subscription to get SMS alerts activated for your profile contact support@on2.biz.

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How to: Create Task

By saurabh | Published: January 30, 2009

To create a new appointment you should be on the project page for which you want to create a Task.

For searching project follow Step 1 of tutorial How to: Update project / opportunity’s milestone and click on Project link to open project.

Click on Activities link from Quick Navigation Link.

Qucik navigation links for Summary, Value, Milestones, Activities, Statement and Files.

You will be taken to activities section which looks as shown below.

Activities section header

Click on “Add Task” to get following screen

Add Task in project / opportunity.

Fill Date on which task should be completed in “Due Date”. Enter Type of Task, Type of Task is customizable, to get it customized contact support@on2.biz. E.g. of Task Type are Queries, Send referance literature, Send samples, Arrange Demo / Presentations, Call the customer etc. Fill Description, select the executive who will perform this task and select if you want to send an Email OR SMS alert now. SMS alert is available in account after its activated from On2.biz administrator. To get SMS alerts activated in your profile contact support@on2.biz.

Click on to save this task

Once you add task you get a email alert on the due date of task and SMS alert if you have opted for SMS alerts (Contact support@on2.biz for SMS alerts). Also you will be able to see Task in Activity list in On2Biz. under “Pending Tasks”.

Activity List of On2Biz

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How to: Update appointment.

By saurabh | Published: January 30, 2009

After the appointment is completed you update appointment created in On2Biz. This can be done in simple 2 steps.

1. List all appointments.

2. Update appointment.

Step 1: List all appointments pending.

Activity List of On2Biz

To list all appointments pending click on “Scheduled Appointments” and you will get a list of all the appointments pending. Following is the screen which shows list of appointments pending.

Scheduled Appointment list.

Click on to update this appointment. Below is how appointment will appear when you click update.

Appointment in update mode.

Fill call status “Completed”, Was the call objective met?, Time spent in travelling, Time spent with customer and call report and Save to update.

You can send this call report to client as well as team by selecting Send Call Report to Attendees. By selecting this and Saving your call report will be converted to a mail as shown below, this can be sent to multiple receiver as well as you can attach files.

Minutes of the meeting email from On2Biz

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How to: Create appointment.

By saurabh | Published: January 29, 2009

To create a new appointment you need to be on the project / company page for which you are planning.

To search for a project follow Step 1 of tutorial How to: Update project / opportunity’s milestone and click on Project link to open project.

Click on Activities link from Quick Navigation Link.

Qucik navigation links for Summary, Value, Milestones, Activities, Statement and Files.

You will be taken to activities section which looks as shown below

Activities section header

Click on “Add Appointment” to get following screen

Add Appointment form

Fill Date, Time, Call Type (Call Type is customizable, contact support@on2.biz), Attendees(Internal), Attendees(External) and Agenda of the appointment. Appointment creation allows you to send agenda to attendees by email.

Click on to add this appointment.

Once you add appointment you get a email alert on the day of appointment and SMS alert if you have opted for SMS alerts (Contact support@on2.biz for SMS alerts). Also you will be able to see Appointment in Activity list in On2Biz.

Activity List of On2Biz

In activity list you will see your appointment in Scheduled Appointments.

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How to: Update project / opportunity milestone.

By saurabh | Published: January 29, 2009

You need to perform 2 steps to update a project / opportunity milestone.

Search for project / opportunity.
Open and Update.

Step 1: Search for project / Opportunity.

Global search of On2Biz. Search for contacts, end customers, projects etc. here

A Global Search facility is available through out On2Biz which can be used to search any object in On2Biz e.g. you can search for contact, end customer, projects / opportunity related to end customer or contact … etc.

To search for a project you can enter name of end customer .e.g. rediff and you will get list of all the projects for rediff. See screenshot below.

Search results.

Now clicking on Project link “On2Biz for Ad selling” will take you to project page.

Step 2: Update milestone

On project page click on “Milestone” link from quick navigation links. Below is the screenshot which shows quick navigation links.

Qucik navigation links for Summary, Value, Milestones, Activities, Statement and Files.

Screen will be directly scrolled to Milestone section of Project.

Milestone section

Click on Edit will present you this section in Edit mode as shown below.

Milestone section in Edit mode.

Select the latest milestone and click on to update milestone.

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How To: Add a new sales opportunity

By admin | Published: January 28, 2009

This tutorial steps through creation of a new sales opportunity in On2Biz. It assumes that you have an On2Biz account and know how to login to your account.

Step 1: Select the Workspace Tab in On2Biz

The On2Biz Workspace tab

Step 2: In the workspace menu on the right, select the sales workflow in the workflow selection menu, and then click on the link below it to “Create New Project”

Workflow selection menu and links to create new project or company

Once you click on the link, the New Project Form will be displayed in the central area of your screen.

This form contains various sections, each containing a template for entering information about your sales opportunity.

Step 3: Fill in the Associates section of the project form

Associates section of the new project form

The first box is to enter the name of the prospective customer’s company name. Once you start entering the name, On2Biz will query your existing customer database and find all matching names and show you a drop-down selection menu as shown below. In case the company already exists in your database, you can select it from the drop-down menu. If you would like to enter a new name, just continue typing the full name.

Enter End Customer name here. If End Customer name is already present in On2Biz then a drop down will be shown from which you can select the Name.

Below the company name, you have two tabs for entering a contact person, and an address. The default tab is for adding a contact. You can use this form to enter the details of the contact person in the new prospect. To add an address, select the Add Address tab next to the Add Contact. This will change the contact form into a form to enter the address.

Add contact and his address for associate.

In addition to the End Customer, you can also link this opportunity with other companies such as business partners, consultants or channel partners. These additional fields can be configured for your On2Biz account. It allows you to review your sales pipeline for any one of these partners too.

Additional associates linked to the opportunity

You can add contact details of the person by clicking on “more” link next to the input field.

Step 4: Fill the Overview section of the project form.

Overview section looks like following. Overview of project consists of a Title, Description, the team who will work on this project, start date of project and expected date of closure of the project. Basically, this section gives the Overview of this opportunity.

Overview section in On2Biz opportunity / project creation form

Provide a title to a project. Title is a searchable value i.e. you can search for title and find the project using On2Biz global search.

Title for a project / opportunity.

A short description should be entered in Description field. Description is also searchable using global search of On2Biz.

Enter short description for this project / opportunity.

Next is selecting a Project Manager and Project Team. Project Manager is a executive who is responsible for closing this project / opportunity, Project Team is a set of executives who will work with Project Manager. By default name of the executive who signed in is Project Manager.

Select Project Manager and Team.

The Project Manager and the Team specify the permissions for which users can view or edit the project page. This opportunity will also figure in their respective pipelines. Please note that for some On2Biz accounts, the Project team feature may not be activated. You can request support@on2.biz to get this activated.

Select a workflow, enter start and expected date of closure and if you want this project to be seen by the End Customer or not.

The Workflow selection box is not required to be edited. Only administrators and top management have the option to edit the workflow of the opportunity.

Select Start Date and Expected Date of Closure of this opportunity. By default the Start Date is the current date.

Also there is a option if you want to share this project progress with End customer of this oppoortunity. You can enable this option by selecting Yes for Share this project with contacts.

Step 5: Fill Values section

Values section allows you to select the product segments you will be selling through this opportunity. Product Segments are customizable, contact support@on2.biz to get it customized.

Value section of On2Biz add project form. Here you select the product segment you will be selling in this opportunity.

Also a more info OR product segment specific form can be added to capture more information on this product.

Customizable form to capture more information requirement.

To get a customized form please contact support@on2.biz.

Step 6: Fill Milestones Section

Milestones specified the stage which opportunity has completed. e.g. if you have provided Quotation to client then you select “Quotation Submitted” milestone. By default while adding a new lead, first milestone gets selected i.e. “Lead Captured” in this case.

Select a milestone which this opportunity has completed. e.g. "Quotations" if Quotation is submitted.

Similar to Product segment, each milestones can also have customized form to capture more information regarding selected milestone. Below screenshot shows a more information form for “Order Confirmed” milestone.