Sales organisations must be aligned to new business strategies and economic conditions, says LoganLea.

With a tough economic forecast for 2011 and increasing competition, UK companies need to urgently examine the cost-efficiency and performance of their sales departments and make sure sales operations are aligned with changing business strategies. According to sales transformation and performance consultancy LoganLea, too many companies put new business strategies at risk by not making the necessary changes to their sales organisations. Changes are often limited to providing new training and brochures; yet experience shows that in most cases, successful delivery of a new strategy needs more than this.

“In today’s uncertain economic environment, businesses of all sizes are implementing new strategies that need different resources, numbers of people, skills, products and services, and business processes,” says Tony Mortimer, a Partner at LoganLea and ex-global vice president for Hewlett-Packard with over 30 years of sales experience. “But while most business leaders understand that strategic changes impact production, operations and the supply side, the impact on the sales organisation is frequently overlooked.”

To properly execute a new strategy, sales divisions need some degree of change at all levels. This often involves process and skills, but may also require changes to roles and responsibilities, rewards, management and other areas. Most importantly, the change needs to be delivered in an integrated way – piecemeal change is no more effective in sales than it is anywhere else.

LoganLea recommends the following actions to translate business strategy into a successful sales operation:

1. Make sure the sales strategy aligns with the business strategy and describes targets and tactics for each market/vertical/product; the budgets and resources required; how different sales teams and channels will be deployed; the interaction with other departments; the systems and processes used; and how required changes will be implemented.
2. Build an organisation structure that supports the strategy with amended roles, responsibilities and reporting if required.
3. Size the sales force and territories to deliver the strategy efficiently.
4. Define a clear competency model for the ideal salespeople to operate successfully in the target markets – this could very well be different than it is now.
5. Don’t forget the sales managers and assess and develop management competencies so that they can support, coach and performance manage their teams.
6. Get the sales process right from initial prospecting through opportunity management to sale closure, supported by well-structured and practical reference documentation and tools – this changes depending on the product/service/solution, the sales cycle and the customer.
7. Reward and measure for success with the right incentive scheme and performance management framework to accelerate adoption of new sales approaches.
8. Develop an integrated and well-managed change programme that is communicated effectively and has the support from every related area of the business. Critically, the change must be visibly sponsored at the highest possible level.

“While it’s true that many aspects of sales are common to all strategies, often the assumption is that sales will just ‘get on with it’; maybe with some extra training in new products and services,” says Scott Druck, CEO at LoganLea. “But to get the best from your salesforce in good times or bad, the sales strategy and organisation structure need to be matched to trading conditions, competitor activity and the product and service portfolio.”