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Sales
Strategy
TopMark helps each of its clients put together a sales
strategy that optimizes revenue growth at the least
possible cost by leveraging the capabilities of the
organization, individuals, channel members, information
and systems. Working with management in sales strategy
development, we:
- investigate customer needs, buying processes
and behaviors, value perceptions, and channel preferences;
- detect pre- and post-sale activities central
to the delivery of a company's segment-specific
value proposition;
- design cost-efficient sales channels;
- document and analyze current sales processes
and specify new processes to increase coverage
effectiveness and control costs;
- determine support capabilities required to facilitate
customer coverage and sales channel effectiveness;
- identify and overcome implementation challenges;
and
- create sales organization enthusiasm for, and
commitment to, the strategy.
An effective sales strategy articulates how a company's
sales channels fit together to efficiently and successfully
attract and retain customers, including, for example,
the:
- definition of customer segments;
- targeted current and prospective customers;
- products, services and value propositions matched
to each segment;
- alignment of sales channels and resources with
current and prospective customers;
- messages and activities consistent with the overall
marketing strategy;
- intelligence covering competitors in each segment
and for the company's product/service offering;
and
- support that will be provided to facilitate market
coverage.
Prior to matching sales channels to customer segments
and targets, a company should assess its internal sales
capabilities relative to those of its channel partners
and the competition. In addition, the economics of
its employee sales force and support functions should
be compared to the company's internal objectives and
competitors. The results of both analyses provide valuable
information for determining channel and sales/support
activity assignments and minimizing channel conflict.
Sales management challenges have expanded as companies adopt
multi-channel sales strategies in response to customers' increasingly sophisticated
buying methods and the transparency of sellers' costs. Successful management
of a collection of sales channels requires:
- information systems for tracking account details and activity by channel;
- financial systems that identify the profit derived from channels, channel
partners, customers, and product/service purchases; and
- controls, cross-channel communication and training.
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