Corporate Strategy and its Relationship to Sales and Marketing

A company that hopes for a prosperous future must have a sound plan. In the world of Sales and Marketing this is called Corporate Strategy.
Corporate Strategy is the overall direction of the company, defined by senior management, that takes into consideration an assessment of the existing capabilities of the company and external opportunities and threats. It usually coincides with the immediate future fiscal period or it could be developed with a longer-term view, such as a three-year plan.
It is important to understand the overall Corporate Strategy and its relationship to sales and marketing. The Marketing Strategy works within the direction provided by the overall Corporate Strategy of the company and also interacts with other elements of the Corporate Strategy.
Corporate Strategy is a combination of the following:

• Senior Management Direction and Insights: This is provided by senior management based on their experiences and insights related to the business.
• Corporate Product Strategy: This defines the products or services the company offers and the research and development efforts required to create them.
• Corporate Marketing Strategy: This defines how the company will target, position, market and sell the planned products and defines metrics, targets and budgets for all marketing activities.
• Corporate Operations Strategy: This defines how the company will manage operational activities, manufacture its products and provide the corresponding customer support and warranty.
• Corporate Finance Strategy: This defines how the company will manage its finances, attain funding and financially sustain its operations. The Finance Strategy should include forecasts and projections and summarize costs, income and investments.
• Corporate Human Resource Strategy: This maps the human resource capabilities within the company and considers talent management and acquisition needs to sustain growth.

Here are the components of Corporate Strategy:
Typically, companies have existing documentation regarding their component strategies. These must be considered in an integrated manner to define a coherent Corporate Strategy. The level and complexity of documentation for these strategies may vary depending on the size of the company and the breadth of its product portfolio and geographic reach. If formal documentation of these strategies is not available—for instance, as with a start-up company—the teams involved in strategic planning should consider the various strategies and decide on an overall Corporate Strategy, which can then become a benchmark to execute future plans. The SMstudy® Guide framework is a great help in this endeavor.
Finalizing the company’s Corporate Strategy can be a time-consuming and rigorous exercise that requires inputs from multiple stakeholders, particularly senior management. It is advisable to execute strategic planning exercises at appropriate and specific time intervals, such as once or twice a year, and then finalize a Corporate Strategy on which senior management and the heads of strategy teams agree. Following this process will help to ensure that the leadership team has coherently defined goals and strategies that align with the overall strategic goals of the organization.
The Corporate Strategy can be divided into lower level strategies depending on the complexity of the organization. For example, the Corporate Strategy for an entire company can be divided into strategies for each business unit or geographic region such as country, state, or city, and then subdivided further into a Product or Brand Strategy for each product or brand in a business unit or geographic region. The Product or Brand Strategy is the lowest level in this hierarchy.
This illustrates the relationship between Corporate Strategy, Business Unit/Geographic Strategy and Product/Brand Strategy:
Corporate strategy is an umbrella under which many components of a company plan for future profitability. When that umbrella operates at full force, the forecast calls for raining money.

Acknowledgement: www.smstudy.com
Blog URL: http://www.smstudy.com/Article/Corporate-Strategy-and-its-Relationship-to-Sales-and-Marketing

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SMstudy and the Post-Advertising World

We recently read that “We are living in a post-advertising world.” The claim was made by John Horsley, director of Digital Doughnut, a global digital marketing community. Horsley should know, so we took notice.

Horsley explained his claim in a LinkedIn group forum: “Conversations have replaced campaigns, engagement trumps reach, and brands are no longer built by above-the-line agencies, but at every touchpoint the business has with its customers. And the thread that links all these elements is social media.” This resonates with us at SMstudy. We have included a lot about touchpoints, engagement and social media marketing in A Guide to the Sales and Marketing Body of Knowledge, also referred to as theSMstudy® Guide.
Horsley was using his claim to incite and invite members of the group to take part in a survey being conducted to explore the current status of companies and social media and contribute to his work “New Report: Social Media’s Impact on Customer Experience.” He says “businesses have been slow to respond, often hampered by outdated structures, siloed thinking and a lack of strategic understanding.” Now, that really resonates with us because we wrote an entire book on Marketing Strategy as one of the six aspects covered in the SMstudy® Guide and we offer certifications in marketing strategy.
His claim did not resonate so well with others, however. One group member commented, “Social media channels are simply another way to touch someone, as is and remains advertising. Effective communications usually consist of multichannel or cross channel strategies.” We had to agree with several points here. Our Digital Marketing book says, “Given the nature of the online world, which is constantly evolving and expanding—new channels are developing with greater frequency, and audiences are continuously exploring new sources of online content—digital marketers must regularly assess and reassess digital marketing channels for their effectiveness and applicability in helping achieve the company’s overall organizational goals and objectives.”
Social media provide many opportunities for delivering messages that advertise. Within Marketing Strategy whole sections have been dedicated to planning and developing social media as well as other digital channels.
The term “posting” (as it is used in advertising) comes not from posting mail but from a time when fences, street lamp poles, telephone posts and any available urban wall space were festooned with advertisements for products, shows, soon-to-arrive circuses and political candidates. When the rampant postings got out-of-hand, a new posting appeared saying, “Post No Bills.” Now, many marketing and advertising messages are being posted online and in social media. Perhaps we should say we’re living in a post-post-advertising world? Well … maybe not.
Another commenter added, “effective marketing communication is always a delicious idea (whatever it might be) served on many different (multichannel) dishes.” And that’s an idea we can relish.
To get more insights about sales and marketing, register for the free SMstudy subscription today - http://smstudy.com/Subscription/Free-Subscription
Acknowledgement: http://www.smstudy.com/


Blog URL: http://www.smstudy.com/Article/SMstudy-and-the-Post-Advertising-World

Channel Performance Measurement: A Close Overview

Channel performance measurement is a key activity when a sales organization employs different types of channel partners. In more complex multi-channel structures, it becomes even more important due to the number of people, processes, and roles involved. The performance of a channel can be measured across multiple dimensions. The parameters that are measured usually are effectiveness, efficiency, productivity, equity and profitability of the channel. 

The various channels have different purposes in the value chain; however, each task needs to support the overall corporate goals. As the number of channel partners increases, it is difficult to ensure that the channel partners are performing their specific roles as effectively as required. For example, the goal of a business might be to increase the number of strategic accounts. However, in order to gather maximum possible commission, channel partners might be engaged in getting the maximum number of accounts possible with total disregard towards prioritizing the acquisition of strategic accounts. It is therefore important to audit the channel partners and incentivize them for activities that are aligned with the corporate goals. The channel performance should also be judged on the ability to fulfill given tasks. A few carefully chosen metrics can give a good indication of the performance of each channel.
The channel performance measurement is primarily a four-step process.

1. Define the Sales Objectives
2. Determine Channel Performance Metrics
3. Set Channel Partner Targets
4. Manage Channel Performance

1. Define Sales Objectives
The first step in channel performance measurement is to define the sales objectives for the company. These objectives are outlined and discussed in sales meetings to ensure a shared understanding between members of the marketing and sales teams.

2. Determine Channel Performance Metrics
Evaluating the performance of a distribution channel depends largely on the agreed upon performance metrics. Choosing the right number and type of performance metrics can help to monitor and improve the performance of channel partners. These metrics provide an understanding of how well the channel partner is doing in reaching its performance targets.
Though it is possible to evaluate a channel on hundreds of performance metrics, this would make reporting and analysis of the performance a cumbersome job. When determining channel performance metrics, a key performance driver, such as sales or units sold, should be chosen to identify and measure the most important tasks. A series of performance metrics are then decided based on the key performance driver.

3. Set Channel Partner Targets
After overall sales objectives are defined, it is important to assign specific targets to each of the channel partners to ensure they are in alignment with the overall objectives. Properly set targets provide a benchmark to measure channel success, monitor performance, and take corrective action to meet expectations. Each channel partner has a specific role towards fulfilling the overall sales objectives. Performance targets should be set to reflect the channel partner’s contribution to the overall objectives

4. Manage Channel Performance
This is the final step in channel performance measurement. It uses the agreed upon goals, assigned performance targets, and identified performance metrics to manage channel performance on an on-going basis and to identify the performance shortfalls of the channel partners. During this step, management gains an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each channel. Management can then take corrective action to ensure efficient performance of the channel.
The success of a channel and its efficiency are determined by the efficiency of channel intermediaries in delivering goods and services to customers and the quality of services offered in the process. Developing a comprehensive marketing plan that provides clear and concise direction about marketing activities and strategy is critical to the organization's success.
To learn more about Channel Performance Measurement, visit www.smstudy.com

Original post url: http://www.smstudy.com/Article/Channel-Performance-Measurement-A-Close-Overview

Sales Training Program: The Foundation of Corporate Sales

A salesperson is the one who doesn’t think in term of sales rather believes in building a business.  A set of unique personal attributes along with approach to work makes a complete salesperson. It is always difficult to recruit and retain productive salespeople.
So, Sales training is essential for new sales team members as well as experienced professionals to hone their skills to deliver results. As the various Aspects of Sales and Marketing change over time, it is necessary for the corporate sales team to receive training on a regular basis. Sales training keeps the corporate sales team up-to-date about changes in the market, new sales techniques, gaps in existing processes, and changes in the industry with respect to PESTEL factors.
The corporate sales team is the company’s first point of contact with its customers.  Therefore, sales training for corporate sales team should be comprehensive and cover the entire range of processes, tools, and skills required from prospecting to closure.  And in designing sales training programs, the requirements and experience levels of the sales team members are taken into consideration.  If sales training does not match the team’s level of proficiency, it will not be effective and, its value may be questioned by the team.
Sales training should impart the following to the corporate sales team:

• Knowledge of sales processes: Sales training teaches the corporate sales team about the various processes involved in the sales cycle—prospecting, lead generation, qualification, needs assessment, presentation, and closure. For example, CRM training is essential for a sales team to learn how to plan sales activities by using a customer database to develop target lists and identify customer needs and customer potential for specific products and services.

• Knowledge of the industry, market, and target segment: This includes knowledge about competitors, understanding of the target segments, knowledge of macro-environmental factors that affect the industry, and knowledge of industry practices. For example, a supplier of manufacturing equipment needs to understand the production processes of its customers which will allow them to provide definite product recommendations to its customers to improve productivity, eliminate waste, or reduce manufacturing costs.

• Soft Skills: Soft Skills or People Skills are the personal traits that define an individual's ability to communicate and interact with others. The six critical soft-skills for sales person are communication, flexibility, teamwork, positivity, time management and confidence. Soft skills help the corporate sales team develop and maintain good relationships with prospects and customers.

• Knowledge of tools and marketing resources: In addition to understanding the CRM system, sales personnel need to be aware of existing marketing resources such as presentation templates, e-mail templates, videos and other internal and external marketing assets that can be used during the sales process. For example, In L’Oreal a gap was seen in product knowledge within its sales team, so they carry out an e-learning program for empowering their team.

• Motivation: Motivating the corporate sales team is necessary to prevent lags and burnout. Motivational training is more important for existing corporate sales team members than new ones because of their longer exposure to achieving sales targets. For example, Best Buy Company used Path to Excellence initiative. Best Buy awarded sales force badges to ones who implemented concepts taught in training and badges led to four distinct levels of recognition, ranging from bronze to platinum.

• Business values and ethics: A corporate sales team that demonstrates good business values and ethics will have a significant effect on the success of the organization. The corporate sales team must be trained on business values and ethics, irrespective of their experience prior to joining the company. 

There are various modes of delivering sales training to the corporate sales team:

• Classroom Training:  An instructor in a lecture hall or classroom typically conducts classroom training. This provides a setting for participants to learn new skills and concepts, and to practice and demonstrate the learned skills.

• E-learning:  In e-learning situations, training is delivered through electronic media and allows sales team to brush up their product knowledge. E-learning can be provided through instructor-led virtual sessions, using on-demand content stored in a central repository, or through online forums for collaborative learning.

• Libraries/Repositories:  Corporate sales team can use industry reports, sales books, research data, and other texts to increase knowledge about the industry and to improve existing sales processes.

• On-the-Job Training: For effective real world training, new sales team members are paired with senior sales team members to learn actual sales processes. On-the-job training is traditionally the most commonly used mode of sales training. In Walgreens, “Well Experience” training was given in pharmacy environment to get a hands-on experience. They used games like merchandise scavenger hunts for sales team to familiarize with new store layouts.

Sales training can be carried out using a combination of the above modes of training based on company requirements. Continuous sales training is recommended for the corporate sales team.


Acknowledgement: This article has been borrowed by www.smstudy.com (Original URL: http://www.smstudy.com/Article/Sales-Training-Program-The-Foundation-of-Corporate-Sales )

Corporate Sales Strategy

Corporate Sales Strategy

Evaluation of business outcomes is not easy. For a corporate customer, products are purchased to deliver positive business outcomes. So it is very important for the selling company to come up with a product that significantly and quantifiably brings positive business outcomes for its customer or their business. It is therefore necessary to identify quantifiable, positive business outcomes that the product can provide, to develop the sales value proposition.

A quantifiable outcome represents the tangible value of the offering to the customer. This value is typically expressed in numbers, percentages, and timeframes. In addition to this, there are also intangible outcomes. E.g. Opportunity Cost. Opportunity cost is the loss that is incurred when one option is chosen over the other. It is something that must be identified and considered in establishing the sales value proposition.

The information that the company gathers after evaluation helps it to understand the desired attributes of the offerings according to market segments. The customer business outcome evaluation documents business outcomes based on these attributes.

Another way of doing customer business outcome evaluation is by interviewing existing customers. Customers being the user of the product validate the evaluation process by their practical experience. Interviews can be conducted across different areas and positions in the customer organization to determine the impact of the offering. New, desired, business outcomes may emerge and existing business outcomes can be validated.

Internal analysis is another way to do customer evaluation. The collective sapience combined with experience of the company holds a broad overview of business outcomes from a customer’s perspective. However internal analysis must be validated by customers to escape the risk factors associated in it. Direct input provided by the customers is typically more valuable and reliable input when determining customers’ business outcomes.

Strategists evaluate investments and actions in terms of likely cost and benefit outcomes. The product offering must draw substantial improvements in client’s business in terms of customer satisfaction, service delivery etc. The seller must narrow down its focus and align sales and marketing activities around its customer. The segment specific sales attempt combined with customized offering helps develop sales value proposition.

Acknowledgement: The content is borrowed from www.SMstudy.com (original blog url: http://smstudy.com/Article/Customer-Business-Outcome-Evaluation)