Lynn Shively, principal at Sales Foresight, wrote an article presenting his model to determine how many sales people should be in any sales organization. I found this article to be interesting and I hope you will too.

"We at Sales Foresight have solved a problem that most sales executives wrestle with; how to determine the right number of sales people to have in their sales organization to make certain they hit their sales targets. This leads to the further questions of what level the people should be, how should they be organized, when should new sales people be added and how should you set sales quotas. Then once we have the people in place, how can you best improve your sales organization.

First, let me say that setting the right staffing level is critical to the success of your organization. If you have too many people, you will probably miss your profit targets. Too few and you most likely will not hit your revenue targets. The right balance can be difficult to achieve and planning for it is even more difficult."

How many times, after a three, six, or twelve month selling cycle, have you had one of your reps give you the bad news that they've lost a sale that's critical to making your number for the quarter?

When do you think the rep knew, in their heart of hearts, that they never had a real chance at winning the business? Was it after the first meeting? The fifth? The fifteenth? Why didn't they just flush the deal out the pipeline once they realized they couldn't win?

The worst thing a salesperson can do is 'go the distance' and lose the business anyway. In today's selling environment, it serves no purpose to have a pipeline full of 'stale' or 'loser' opportunities.

Would it help if, to take advantage of the current economic conditions, your sales people could learn how to quickly gain access to those senior executives who have responsibility to achieve their company's business objectives, and uncover and present back measurable business value your offering can assist them create?

Read RedDot Solutions Corp. Story...

Senior executives can't waste valuable time and political capital on 'good ideas'. The CustomerCentric Selling® process, introduced by KeyRoad Enterprises™, empowers organizations to architect executive conversations by providing Sales Ready Messaging®.

Sales people learn how to initiate opportunities at executive levels and use proven prompters aligned with the needs of each executive title. Predefined questions help uncover the barriers to goal attainment, the metrics associated with those barriers, and the corresponding capabilities needed to resolve them. This process allows the executive and the seller to mutually determine if a solution exists, to calculate the value to the executives' organization, and to create opportunities that are truly qualified.

If your sales people possessed these tactical sales skills, could they sell more effectively, overcome price resistance, negotiate from a position of strength, eliminate unnecessary discounting, expedite purchase decisions, and allow you to meet your second quarter revenue?

Have you ever struggled to achieve significant results from your tradeshow and other industry events? Susan Friedman, "The Tradeshow Coach", became a partner of ours late last year.

In her article, Susan reviews the top ten mistakes exhibitors often make. By learning how to avoid them, you and your organization will significantly increase your chances for a successful tradeshow.

click the book icon to order it now and start learning about:

• How to integrate sales & marketing
• How to use the Sales Ready Messaging® process to support your sales efforts
• How to clone your top salespeople

Want to improve your tradeshow return on investment: Contact The Tradeshow Coach, Susan Friedman.

Want to evaluate if a CustomerCentric Selling® workshop is for your organization? Join us at the next CCS® public workshop in Golden CO, March 1st to 4th. When registering, please indicate that KeyRoad is the referring party so that we get notified of your registration. See Quick Links on the right for more information.

Want to determine if your sales organization can benefit from our services? Please call 415-229-9226 or email plavie@keyroad.com for a free consultation and assessment of your sales situation. We look forward to hearing from you.

Good selling,

Philippe Lavie
KeyRoad Enterprises™, a CustomerCentric Selling® Affiliate