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May 1, 2012
The Secret Sauce to Right-Sizing your Sales Force
By:
The first step in a sizing analysis is to understand where the client’s industry, company, product and sales organization are in their life cycles. For our purposes we consider three life-cycle stages: Growth, Maturity and Decline. We often find stage misalignment that inevitably causes disconnect between the overall sales strategy and the environment our client is operating in. The net result is unrealized revenue goals.
The second step in a sizing exercise is to assess current state. In this phase, we seek to understand where our client falls on the Sales Force Maturity Curve. Sale force maturity ranges from Level 1 (chaotic) to Level 5 (Predictable). A sales organization’s place on the curve correlates directly with their ability to implement change, a necessary output of a sizing exercise.
In addition to assessing their maturity level, we also look for insight into how our client determined headcount in the past. There are several common mistakes companies make when trying to determine headcount. Ignoring market dynamics and focusing solely on cost & affordability, many of our clients…
The third step in accurately sizing your sales force is conducting a series of tests to assess the current sales force size.
Download the Sales Force Assessment Tests Here
After assessing the current size of your sales force, the next step is to use one of the market-driven sizing methods to determine the optimal size of your sales force. There are various models; we recommend the following three:
Once you have determined your optimal headcount, the fifth step in right-sizing your sales force is determining the growth model that best applies. There are several ways to implement resource changes. Here are three:
The sixth and final step in sizing project is developing a Change Management Plan. Adding or cutting headcount is disruptive to a sales organization. Crafting a plan that addresses the potential resistance to change is critical to the overall success of the sizing exercise. Our Change Management planning begins day one with our client and is reinforced as the project progresses. See my previous blog post for tips on executing a Change Management Plan.
So there you have it… the secret sauce. If you need some help in the kitchen, give me a call or shoot me an email, I would be happy to lend a hand.
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