Generating Opportunities

The importance of ‘getting religion’

How to develop an ideology-based business marketing strategy. So you think you’re going to publish a newsletter? Hey, that’s not a bad idea! If you make it an e-mail newsletter — like the one you’re reading now — it’s a particularly cost effective exercise. Your distribution costs are nil. Your publishing costs are equivalent only […]

Generating Opportunities

A brief introduction to Relationship-centric Marketing

How to sell expensive (or complex) products and services [Listen to a seminar on this subject!] If your organisation sells expensive (or complex) products and services, odds are, you get most of your new clients by ‘word of mouth’ or referral. If you’ve tried your hand at lead generation advertising, you’ve probably discovered that, even […]

Applying Sales Process Engineering

Why you should simplify your engagement model

As many of you know, I’ve been splitting my time between Australia and the US for the last six months or so. I’ve been interested to see that, although I’ve cut my available capacity in Australia by almost half, our volume of Aussie sales has stayed exactly the same (in fact, in recent times it […]

Measures and General Management

How to establish a clear cause and effect relationship between business marketing promotional expenditure and sales

and how to fast-track the growth of your business in the process. Over lunch, a CEO recently admitted to me that his financial controller was using his organisation’s profits to build quite a substantial commercial property portfolio. When I asked if this was best use of his organisation’s free cashflow, he smiled, “How did I […]

Measures and General Management, Slaying Sacred Cows

Why resellers don’t sell, and why you should be glad they don’t!

“If only we could get distribution … we’d have it made.” I hear this anxious declaration regularly. Particularly from manufacturers and software vendors. I’ve even heard it from a number of musicians! Manufacturers want representation from agents or retailers. Software vendors want to establish relationships with resellers. And musicians want representation from a record label. […]

Measures and General Management, Slaying Sacred Cows

When higher conversion equals lower sales

I’ve discussed in the past that an assumption that underpins the design and management of most sales processes is that conversion (rate) is the primary driver of sales. The Sales Process Engineering method recognises this assumption as erroneous. In most all sales processes, opportunity flow (volume) is the primary driver, not conversion. It’s quite easy […]

Measures and General Management

Why accurate estimating may be costing you sales

Years ago, I remember consulting to a small printing firm. As is often the case in job shops (make-to-order manufacturers), estimation was the system constraint. Obviously, this wasn’t a good thing.  It meant that customers wanted to buy printing; that production had the capacity to fulfill their orders; but that estimating was limiting the flow […]