Excerpt:  Our work with hundreds of distributors has reinforced this message over and over.  Sales management is the real competitive differentiator.  Why?  Because strong sales management provides leverage.  Investing in a sales rep gets results from one territory.  Investing in a sales manager offers the potential for improvements in all the territories that report up through him.

Question: I bought the Deluxe Ab Assassin two months ago and have used it every day since then.  But I still can’t see my toes.  Why don’t I look like the ripped model in the ad? 

Answer: Because the model is not on a first name basis with the Krispy Kreme counter lady. 

Like a sophisticated exercise machine, customer relationship management (CRM) software is only one piece of the “sales fitness” equation. The healthiest people have the best habits, not necessarily the most expensive equipment.  But hope persists and CRM continues to suffer the highest failure rate of any enterprise software.  Why?  To answer this question we need to consider the original ideas behind the technology and explore some mundane but critical implementation constraints.   

Sales management practices largely determine whether your company will thrive or dive.  Crucially, many companies fail to provide sales managers with the clear sales objectives or management processes that are critical. In short, they don’t have the tools to get the job done.  Start with your foundation: set clear sales objectives, apply uniform measurements for accountability and institute a baseline sales management structure.

Change is required in the role of the field sales representative. Based on current value added and competitive choices, customers are choosing lower cost alternatives.

Finding new business is essential, but it is equally critical to respond effectively to the business that finds you.  For many distributors, such business arrives in the form of a request for quotation. This case study shows how one distributor increased sales, improved customer service and reduced costs by significantly enhancing its quotation process management.

The four stages described here provide a framework for achieving marketing discipline: (1) the traditional model, (2) sales and service resource alignment, (3) performance sensing, and (4) strategic solutions.  This article excerpt is reprinted with permission from the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors' Outlook 2003. See www.nawpubs.org for more information.  Excerpt from National Association of Wholesalers' Outlook 2003, Reprinted with Permission. See www.nawpubs.org for more information.