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Will You Add? - T. L. S. Part I: Tier Level Selling - A Penetration Strategy
What I’m about to reveal to you is “classified” information. Top secret stuff.Okay… maybe not top secret… but you should know some entrepreneurs pay big bucks for the information I’m about to reveal to you. And that’s no fib either.If your business is listed in the yellow pages this strategy will send lots of customers your way… resulting in more sales.It’s a simple tactic, but works in a big way. Yet hardly anyone uses it. I’m not sure why. I’m guessing it has something to do with a tendency us to go along with a crowd without even consciously thinking about it.When it comes to marketing, we want our customers to buy from us or hire us. Then again, we’re often afraid of appearing too different from other businesses.So what’s this got to do with advertising in the Yellow Pages? Plenty.In fact … I can prove it. Just go right and grab your local Yellow Pages Directory. Alright now… open it up… and tell me what you see.Lots of ads, right? Problem is… they look alike.Right at the top of 99% of these Yellow Page Ads is the business name. For example, under the “Haircutters and Stylists” listings we might see something like the following at the top of each ad block:“Sally Jones Hair Salon”“Theresa’s Hair Care”“Quickie Cuts”“The Family Hair Gallery”Now… if you’re thinking, “Sure Joe, but EVERYONE structures their Yellow Pages Ad like that…”Uh huh. You see where I’m coming from?Most people are afraid of looking too different from everyone else in business. And this is especially true in their advertising.That’s no good. For one thing, your advertising is supposed to set you “apart” from the crowd… tell readers what’s unique about you. And second… you’re paying big bucks for a Yellow Page Listing.So make your yellow page advertising count!The person who opens up the yellow pages is looking for something. They’re either looking for a particular item, or they’re looking for something to solve a partic
2. MARKET PROFILE----
(MARKETS—CUSTOMERS—COMPETITION) This is a critical assessment of the factors that affect the customer’s business. You need this intelligence to determine and allocate the necessary resources. Areas to explore include: What types of markets are they in? Are their markets growing or shrinking? What is their market share? Are they exploring new markets? What types of customers are they after? Who are their major customers? How do they generate new business? What is their large to small customer ratio? Who is their competition? What price or profit pressures are they experiencing?
3. LEAD TIME FROM THEIR CUSTOMERS----C2
This helps you get a better understanding of their business. By understanding their customers you will be able to determine the time lines from order to delivery. What could be done to shorten the cycle time and perhaps determine what your customer’s pain factors are? You must know the top five customers of your customer.
4. TECHNICAL COMPETENCE
What type, if any, technical assistance will they require?
5. DESIGN CYCLES
If it is an O.E.M.----How long does it take to get a typical product prototyped and designed?
6. FORECAST, MRP OR BUILD TO
Robert has become a mobile fast food shop. He was released recently from prison, after having served for one year on petty-theft which he had practiced for several years before the hand of the law came knocking. Now he has changed, if his rehabilitated status passes the test of time. He sells meat soup lased with a few pieces of meat. His other menu includes eggs, rice and potatoes. He carries all the food on his body, complete with cutlery! He has an oversize coat with many pockets. The coat has some of the pockets when he bought. He sewed in many more of different sizes to accommodate plates, cups, spoons, spices, and a small salt container. The only visible containers that he carries around are two containers of almost 10 liter size, one for soup and meat, and the other for rice and potatoes. He moves around with all these as he mingles with his drinking colleagues. Strange! One would wonder how he can serve his food, and if he has customers, until he sees how he removes an assortment of cutlery, plates, cups, and bowls from his coat pockets to serve human turn beasts-ferocious, hungry, dirty, drunkards.Robert is just one among many in the third world who have not decided to leave their lives to fate. There are many people, mostly made up of young and middle ageds who are doing crazy things and some have gone to suicidal extents to survive. Some are falling down out of exhaustion and many suffer from mental fatigue. Privileged members of society, whose feelings have been ironed out by rampant poverty and misery, cannot do anything to help. And what is worst is that they would want to be the only ones in the privileged positions. The only concern to them is their security. And even if some would want to help the poor, they may be suspicious of them, and therefore retreat back. They think that some of the poor may be thieves and hardcore criminals.Many of the poor are turning entrepreneurs for real, and some are becoming entrepreneurs of some sort. Real entrepreneurs want to break away from the vicious cycle of povert
• Your top twenty accounts have tremendous growth potential that you have not taken advantage of fully. It is easier to sell an existing account than to generate new business. It is also less costly.
• The total potential of your top twenty accounts equals your S.A.M. (Served Available Market) potential.
• Salesmen are too costly to waste time making cold calls and prospecting.
• Inside sales can handle all other accounts not listed in your top twenty programs.
Although there is some basic truth to those points, there is also some fallacy of assumption in them.
1. There aren’t many salesmen in all of distribution that handle twenty true premier accounts. By definition, a top account should be in your highest 10% ranking based on annual revenue, profit margin and potential.
2. Most accounts will not put 100% of their eggs in one basket.
3. Generally speaking, the total volume purchased by an account does not equal your S.A.M. that you specifically can supply.
4. It is a fact that accounts have life cycles. You WILL lose some accounts for any number of reasons regardless of who you are or what you do. Lack of prospecting will eventually cause your territory to die a slow painful death.
5. Vendor relations can suffer dramatically as your salesmen drive by an account while riding with a manufacturer’s representative explaining that he is not allowed to call on that account as it is not on his top twenty premier list.
6. What does the salesman do with his spare time – since most accounts don’t want to see salesmen more than every couple of weeks? That means seeing twenty accounts every two weeks gives you an average of only two sales calls per day maximum.
7. Salesmen get bored, creativity is suppressed and they even get angry when they have to incorporate too much administrative time into every one of their accounts. The kind of paperwork nightmare associated with this type of program can get out of hand. Unlike the T.L.S. program that differentiates each level of five accounts with regard to administrative time, this type of program requires identical, sophisticated tracking of every account and every activity. That answers the question of what the salesman does with his extra time. Paperwork. Paperwork that often requires trying to document, “What you don’t know you don’t know.” GIVE ME A BREAK! I have actually seen that question listed as a requirement in a program of this nature.
A number of years ago, I actually reviewed a program built on these principles. I looked at the top twenty listing of accounts for 167 salesmen. It turned out that over 30% of the accounts I reviewed were on a C.O.D. status established by the credit department. Another 50% fell way short of logical parameters to be included in a top twenty premier program. Parameters such as total revenue and potential. Don’t be discouraged. The basic concept still has merit. There is another alternative that takes into consideration the valid assumptions this type of program is based on and negates the invalid assumptions.
That program is called:
T. L. S. A Penetration Strategy ----------5 + 5 + 5
PROGRAM OBJECTIVE:
The primary purpose and benefits of this Tier Level Selling program is to become and remain focused on your strategic objective in becoming the Distributor of Choice. This program becomes a flexible guide to successful growth in sales.
5 * 5 * 5 CONCEPT
FIVE
ACCOUNTS THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY VERY SUCCESSFUL WITH BUT YOU HAVE NOT REALIZED MAXIMUM POTENTIAL. (YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE CURRENTLY CONSIDERED DISTRIBUTOR OF CHOICE)
FIVE
ACCOUNTS THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY DOING A FAIR AMOUNT OF BUSINESS WITH BUT YOU ARE FALLING WELL SHORT OF THE ACTUAL POTENTIAL OF THAT ACCOUNT.
FIVE
ACCOUNTS THAT YOU ARE NOT DOING BUSINESS WITH AT ALL BUT THEY HAVE SUBSTANTIAL POTENTIAL. (THESE LAST 5 ACCOUNTS ARE LIKELY TO REVOLVE)
BASIC REQUIREMENTS----T. L. S. PROGRAM
* IDENTIFY SALES POTENTIAL BY PRODUCT BY ACCOUNT
* IDENTIFY SALES REVENUE POTENTIAL IN DOLLARS
* ESTIMATE POTENTIAL GROSS MARGIN BY ACCOUNT
* SELECT A COACH
* WRITE SPECIFIC DETAILED ACTION PLANS FOR EACH OF THE 15 ACCOUNTS
* FOLLOW PROGRAM GUIDELINES
I. KNOWLEDGE COMPONENT
The knowledge components listed are the tendons and the muscles, the heart of the T.L.S. program. Each element becomes a building block in the program’s foundation. Without good dialog with your 5 + 5 + 5 accounts, securing the information necessary to formulate a meaningful plan becomes very difficult. To ensure maximum benefit from the information you collect, the questions asked and the answers given should be recorded in the narrative. This allows you to understand the subject and the answer. It reinforces your ability to understand the concept and the T.L.S. account.
1. CUSTOMER PROFILE----(HISTORY, OWNERSHIP)
This provides an important snapshot of the T.L.S. prospect. It tells you exactly what kind of company you are dealing with. Areas to explore include: When were they founded? How did they get started? Are they private or public? Is their family still involved in the business? Where are they headed? Do they have a strategic plan? What are their growth expectations? Who are the principals of the company? What are their demographics as it relates to their market, their branch locations?
2. MARKET PROFILE----
(MARKETS—CUSTOMERS—COMPETITION) This is a critical assessment of the factors that affect the customer’s business. You need this intelligence to determine and allocate the necessary resources. Areas to explore include: What types of markets are they in? Are their markets growing or shrinking? What is their market share? Are they exploring new markets? What types of customers are they after? Who are their major customers? How do they generate new business? What is their large to small customer ratio? Who is their competition? What price or profit pressures are they experiencing?
3. LEAD TIME FROM THEIR CUSTOMERS----C2
This helps you get a better understanding of their business. By understanding their customers you will be able to determine the time lines from order to delivery. What could be done to shorten the cycle time and perhaps determine what your customer’s pain factors are? You must know the top five customers of your customer.
4. TECHNICAL COMPETENCE
What type, if any, technical assistance will they require?
5. DESIGN CYCLES
If it is an O.E.M.----How long does it take to get a typical product prototyped and designed?
6. FORECAST, MRP OR BUILD TO O
The decision to start my own business was a hard one. I went through a lot of doubts, a lot of fears. Required a lot of long hours, and hard work.There were times I wondered what am I doing? What if I fall flat on my face? How long is it going to take to start a profit?You took a temporary back seat to the business start up. You listened patiently as I explained my goals and my dreams and you saw my eyes dance with ideas that you did not let die. You saw the determination and you listened.You listened to all my newbie thoughts and didn't judge or criticize. You gave me your experiences in the business world and applied it to my business.I went through all the newbie stages and you let me learn these things for myself."Hey I found a place where I can host my site for free.""Guess what if I put up this banner, I will 5 cents per click through. That's no problem at all.""$1,000 in 24 hours and they will build my downline. Can't beat that!"Then when I finally knew the ropes you really helped.You rejoiced when I got my first subscriber, when I hit 1,000, and then 2,000 subscribers.You rejoiced when I got my first sale.You gave me praise when I designed my site.When you saw that business license, you knew that I was taking care of my goals.When a computer enters a marriage it sometimes can either make you or break you. It takes up so much of your time, you feel as though you will never come up for air.You have to learn how to organize your life and your marriage. As I have said before, if your marriage was in trouble before, starting a business will add more stress to it. You have to fix what is broken first and then you can keep up with your goals.Now I'm not saying that you cannot accomplish your goals by yourself. You can do anything you can set your mind to. But I am grateful for who is beside me and helping me all the way.It really honestly takes long hard work to achieve your goals.You have to sacrifice some things in orde
4. It is a fact that accounts have life cycles. You WILL lose some accounts for any number of reasons regardless of who you are or what you do. Lack of prospecting will eventually cause your territory to die a slow painful death.
5. Vendor relations can suffer dramatically as your salesmen drive by an account while riding with a manufacturer’s representative explaining that he is not allowed to call on that account as it is not on his top twenty premier list.
6. What does the salesman do with his spare time – since most accounts don’t want to see salesmen more than every couple of weeks? That means seeing twenty accounts every two weeks gives you an average of only two sales calls per day maximum.
7. Salesmen get bored, creativity is suppressed and they even get angry when they have to incorporate too much administrative time into every one of their accounts. The kind of paperwork nightmare associated with this type of program can get out of hand. Unlike the T.L.S. program that differentiates each level of five accounts with regard to administrative time, this type of program requires identical, sophisticated tracking of every account and every activity. That answers the question of what the salesman does with his extra time. Paperwork. Paperwork that often requires trying to document, “What you don’t know you don’t know.” GIVE ME A BREAK! I have actually seen that question listed as a requirement in a program of this nature.
A number of years ago, I actually reviewed a program built on these principles. I looked at the top twenty listing of accounts for 167 salesmen. It turned out that over 30% of the accounts I reviewed were on a C.O.D. status established by the credit department. Another 50% fell way short of logical parameters to be included in a top twenty premier program. Parameters such as total revenue and potential. Don’t be discouraged. The basic concept still has merit. There is another alternative that takes into consideration the valid assumptions this type of program is based on and negates the invalid assumptions.
That program is called:
T. L. S. A Penetration Strategy ----------5 + 5 + 5
PROGRAM OBJECTIVE:
The primary purpose and benefits of this Tier Level Selling program is to become and remain focused on your strategic objective in becoming the Distributor of Choice. This program becomes a flexible guide to successful growth in sales.
5 * 5 * 5 CONCEPT
FIVE
ACCOUNTS THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY VERY SUCCESSFUL WITH BUT YOU HAVE NOT REALIZED MAXIMUM POTENTIAL. (YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE CURRENTLY CONSIDERED DISTRIBUTOR OF CHOICE)
FIVE
ACCOUNTS THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY DOING A FAIR AMOUNT OF BUSINESS WITH BUT YOU ARE FALLING WELL SHORT OF THE ACTUAL POTENTIAL OF THAT ACCOUNT.
FIVE
ACCOUNTS THAT YOU ARE NOT DOING BUSINESS WITH AT ALL BUT THEY HAVE SUBSTANTIAL POTENTIAL. (THESE LAST 5 ACCOUNTS ARE LIKELY TO REVOLVE)
BASIC REQUIREMENTS----T. L. S. PROGRAM
* IDENTIFY SALES POTENTIAL BY PRODUCT BY ACCOUNT
* IDENTIFY SALES REVENUE POTENTIAL IN DOLLARS
* ESTIMATE POTENTIAL GROSS MARGIN BY ACCOUNT
* SELECT A COACH
* WRITE SPECIFIC DETAILED ACTION PLANS FOR EACH OF THE 15 ACCOUNTS
* FOLLOW PROGRAM GUIDELINES
I. KNOWLEDGE COMPONENT
The knowledge components listed are the tendons and the muscles, the heart of the T.L.S. program. Each element becomes a building block in the program’s foundation. Without good dialog with your 5 + 5 + 5 accounts, securing the information necessary to formulate a meaningful plan becomes very difficult. To ensure maximum benefit from the information you collect, the questions asked and the answers given should be recorded in the narrative. This allows you to understand the subject and the answer. It reinforces your ability to understand the concept and the T.L.S. account.
1. CUSTOMER PROFILE----(HISTORY, OWNERSHIP)
This provides an important snapshot of the T.L.S. prospect. It tells you exactly what kind of company you are dealing with. Areas to explore include: When were they founded? How did they get started? Are they private or public? Is their family still involved in the business? Where are they headed? Do they have a strategic plan? What are their growth expectations? Who are the principals of the company? What are their demographics as it relates to their market, their branch locations?
2. MARKET PROFILE----
(MARKETS—CUSTOMERS—COMPETITION) This is a critical assessment of the factors that affect the customer’s business. You need this intelligence to determine and allocate the necessary resources. Areas to explore include: What types of markets are they in? Are their markets growing or shrinking? What is their market share? Are they exploring new markets? What types of customers are they after? Who are their major customers? How do they generate new business? What is their large to small customer ratio? Who is their competition? What price or profit pressures are they experiencing?
3. LEAD TIME FROM THEIR CUSTOMERS----C2
This helps you get a better understanding of their business. By understanding their customers you will be able to determine the time lines from order to delivery. What could be done to shorten the cycle time and perhaps determine what your customer’s pain factors are? You must know the top five customers of your customer.
4. TECHNICAL COMPETENCE
What type, if any, technical assistance will they require?
5. DESIGN CYCLES
If it is an O.E.M.----How long does it take to get a typical product prototyped and designed?
6. FORECAST, MRP OR BUILD TO
Today’s job market is a dog eat dog environment. You are competing against global candidates, ever younger, ever more technologically competent, ever more willing to work for less. How you approach your job search is key to your success.Here are the things you need to determine before you begin your job search:1. What do you value in the work place? What do your ethics demand in the way of what you give at the job? What is your philosophy of working? Are you a 9-5 kind of person? If so, maybe the more structured government work routine is to your liking, then. Do you work at all kinds of odd hours, well into the night? Then maybe freelance work or a self-directed selling career is for you.2. Make a long list of all the companies you think you might like to work for – do your research first and find out what their style is, what they are looking for, how they operate. Don’t eliminate any company just because you are not sure you qualify. If the company appeals to you, put it down on your list.3. Discover who the hiring manager is – by name. If you can’t direct your inquiry to that person, directly, you will have much less of a chance of success in getting the job.4. Put down the names of everyone you know who might be able to introduce you to a hiring manager. Don’t be afraid to ask for this help – people love to feel like they are “in the know” and will be happy to pass your name along. And if they can’t give you a referral, they might have a good tip for you.5. Always have your resume prepared by a professional so that it stands out from the pack, emphasizing your results and accomplishments. Don’t leave home without it!Once you start implementing your strategy, you will be surprised at how many people you know who can help you. Don’t let up for even one day, because marketing yourself is a full time job until you get the job of your choice.
A number of years ago, I actually reviewed a program built on these principles. I looked at the top twenty listing of accounts for 167 salesmen. It turned out that over 30% of the accounts I reviewed were on a C.O.D. status established by the credit department. Another 50% fell way short of logical parameters to be included in a top twenty premier program. Parameters such as total revenue and potential. Don’t be discouraged. The basic concept still has merit. There is another alternative that takes into consideration the valid assumptions this type of program is based on and negates the invalid assumptions.
That program is called:
T. L. S. A Penetration Strategy ----------5 + 5 + 5
PROGRAM OBJECTIVE:
The primary purpose and benefits of this Tier Level Selling program is to become and remain focused on your strategic objective in becoming the Distributor of Choice. This program becomes a flexible guide to successful growth in sales.
5 * 5 * 5 CONCEPT
FIVE
ACCOUNTS THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY VERY SUCCESSFUL WITH BUT YOU HAVE NOT REALIZED MAXIMUM POTENTIAL. (YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE CURRENTLY CONSIDERED DISTRIBUTOR OF CHOICE)
FIVE
ACCOUNTS THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY DOING A FAIR AMOUNT OF BUSINESS WITH BUT YOU ARE FALLING WELL SHORT OF THE ACTUAL POTENTIAL OF THAT ACCOUNT.
FIVE
ACCOUNTS THAT YOU ARE NOT DOING BUSINESS WITH AT ALL BUT THEY HAVE SUBSTANTIAL POTENTIAL. (THESE LAST 5 ACCOUNTS ARE LIKELY TO REVOLVE)
BASIC REQUIREMENTS----T. L. S. PROGRAM
* IDENTIFY SALES POTENTIAL BY PRODUCT BY ACCOUNT
* IDENTIFY SALES REVENUE POTENTIAL IN DOLLARS
* ESTIMATE POTENTIAL GROSS MARGIN BY ACCOUNT
* SELECT A COACH
* WRITE SPECIFIC DETAILED ACTION PLANS FOR EACH OF THE 15 ACCOUNTS
* FOLLOW PROGRAM GUIDELINES
I. KNOWLEDGE COMPONENT
The knowledge components listed are the tendons and the muscles, the heart of the T.L.S. program. Each element becomes a building block in the program’s foundation. Without good dialog with your 5 + 5 + 5 accounts, securing the information necessary to formulate a meaningful plan becomes very difficult. To ensure maximum benefit from the information you collect, the questions asked and the answers given should be recorded in the narrative. This allows you to understand the subject and the answer. It reinforces your ability to understand the concept and the T.L.S. account.
1. CUSTOMER PROFILE----(HISTORY, OWNERSHIP)
This provides an important snapshot of the T.L.S. prospect. It tells you exactly what kind of company you are dealing with. Areas to explore include: When were they founded? How did they get started? Are they private or public? Is their family still involved in the business? Where are they headed? Do they have a strategic plan? What are their growth expectations? Who are the principals of the company? What are their demographics as it relates to their market, their branch locations?
2. MARKET PROFILE----
(MARKETS—CUSTOMERS—COMPETITION) This is a critical assessment of the factors that affect the customer’s business. You need this intelligence to determine and allocate the necessary resources. Areas to explore include: What types of markets are they in? Are their markets growing or shrinking? What is their market share? Are they exploring new markets? What types of customers are they after? Who are their major customers? How do they generate new business? What is their large to small customer ratio? Who is their competition? What price or profit pressures are they experiencing?
3. LEAD TIME FROM THEIR CUSTOMERS----C2
This helps you get a better understanding of their business. By understanding their customers you will be able to determine the time lines from order to delivery. What could be done to shorten the cycle time and perhaps determine what your customer’s pain factors are? You must know the top five customers of your customer.
4. TECHNICAL COMPETENCE
What type, if any, technical assistance will they require?
5. DESIGN CYCLES
If it is an O.E.M.----How long does it take to get a typical product prototyped and designed?
6. FORECAST, MRP OR BUILD TO
There sure is a lot of stress in America over careers. Students in colleges are careful to pick their career paths and get their specific degrees. They carefully survey each corporation, which tries to recruit from the campus.Then once employed they start to make a decent wage and then are troubled by economic and industry factors and fear they might lose their jobs and go into bankruptcy, lose their home and destroy their credit rating. Are you in fear for your career? Did you know you are not alone and that 67% of all Americans are very worried that they might lose their jobs?You would think with unemployment at an all time low of 4.7% that folks would not fear losing their job. And you would think that if people did fear losing their job that they would not go out and get in more debt with new cars, credit cards and a new home to boot? Nevertheless this is what is happening and these folks are not saving their money or stockpiling, as if they believe that their job will be there forever?Are you one of the 67% that fears losing your job? Are you one of the 70% who has bought a new car within the last 3 years? Are you one of the 80% of Americans with high credit card debt? Are you one of the 52% of Americans who has bought a new home in the past 5-years? Chances are that you are and so, I ask you why are you not dealing with your fears and confronting them? Consider this in 2006.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS----T. L. S. PROGRAM
* IDENTIFY SALES POTENTIAL BY PRODUCT BY ACCOUNT
* IDENTIFY SALES REVENUE POTENTIAL IN DOLLARS
* ESTIMATE POTENTIAL GROSS MARGIN BY ACCOUNT
* SELECT A COACH
* WRITE SPECIFIC DETAILED ACTION PLANS FOR EACH OF THE 15 ACCOUNTS
* FOLLOW PROGRAM GUIDELINES
I. KNOWLEDGE COMPONENT
The knowledge components listed are the tendons and the muscles, the heart of the T.L.S. program. Each element becomes a building block in the program’s foundation. Without good dialog with your 5 + 5 + 5 accounts, securing the information necessary to formulate a meaningful plan becomes very difficult. To ensure maximum benefit from the information you collect, the questions asked and the answers given should be recorded in the narrative. This allows you to understand the subject and the answer. It reinforces your ability to understand the concept and the T.L.S. account.
1. CUSTOMER PROFILE----(HISTORY, OWNERSHIP)
This provides an important snapshot of the T.L.S. prospect. It tells you exactly what kind of company you are dealing with. Areas to explore include: When were they founded? How did they get started? Are they private or public? Is their family still involved in the business? Where are they headed? Do they have a strategic plan? What are their growth expectations? Who are the principals of the company? What are their demographics as it relates to their market, their branch locations?
2. MARKET PROFILE----
(MARKETS—CUSTOMERS—COMPETITION) This is a critical assessment of the factors that affect the customer’s business. You need this intelligence to determine and allocate the necessary resources. Areas to explore include: What types of markets are they in? Are their markets growing or shrinking? What is their market share? Are they exploring new markets? What types of customers are they after? Who are their major customers? How do they generate new business? What is their large to small customer ratio? Who is their competition? What price or profit pressures are they experiencing?
3. LEAD TIME FROM THEIR CUSTOMERS----C2
This helps you get a better understanding of their business. By understanding their customers you will be able to determine the time lines from order to delivery. What could be done to shorten the cycle time and perhaps determine what your customer’s pain factors are? You must know the top five customers of your customer.
4. TECHNICAL COMPETENCE
What type, if any, technical assistance will they require?
5. DESIGN CYCLES
If it is an O.E.M.----How long does it take to get a typical product prototyped and designed?
6. FORECAST, MRP OR BUILD TO
For many meeting planners, technology is all about helping us perform our jobs more efficiently – from online registration systems, printing name badges, tracking attendees and managing budgets. Sometimes it may be easy to forget that technology plays a very important role in an attendee’s experience. Below are some ways technology can improve that experience.Wow - That Was a Great Presentation! In today’s world of instant information, near constant Internet access and ever-changing technology, attendees are beginning to expect more than just a single speaker reading off of PowerPoint slides. Technology makes it easy to really jazz up your presentations and begin to truly engage your audience. PowerPoint can easily be combined with Flash animations, embedded audio and video and other cool features that can really enhance a presentation.Wait – Don’t Go! It does not matter how great the presentations are if the attendees don’t attend. Keeping attendees in the meeting environment is always a challenge for planners, especially with the distraction of PDAs and cell phones. Setting up an Internet caf? outside of meeting rooms that provides Internet access between sessions will encourage attendees to stick around.Giveaways – Yes Please! With the PhRMA code and the new California Marketing Compliance Law (CMCL) restricting what giveaways are appropriate, wowing attendees with expensive giveaways are a thing of the past. One giveaway that has recently become popular is a USB flash drive imprinted with a company or conference logo. Information about the company or conference can be saved on the drive for attendees to access later. Attendees can easily use the drive for other purposes.That Would Have Been Cool… Technology is wonderful when it works, but if something goes wrong it can leave a bad impression of the presenter and the conference. Every failure can’t be avoided, but you should take steps to ensure that they are few and far between. Be sure that you have ful
2. MARKET PROFILE----
(MARKETS—CUSTOMERS—COMPETITION) This is a critical assessment of the factors that affect the customer’s business. You need this intelligence to determine and allocate the necessary resources. Areas to explore include: What types of markets are they in? Are their markets growing or shrinking? What is their market share? Are they exploring new markets? What types of customers are they after? Who are their major customers? How do they generate new business? What is their large to small customer ratio? Who is their competition? What price or profit pressures are they experiencing?
3. LEAD TIME FROM THEIR CUSTOMERS----C2
This helps you get a better understanding of their business. By understanding their customers you will be able to determine the time lines from order to delivery. What could be done to shorten the cycle time and perhaps determine what your customer’s pain factors are? You must know the top five customers of your customer.
4. TECHNICAL COMPETENCE
What type, if any, technical assistance will they require?
5. DESIGN CYCLES
If it is an O.E.M.----How long does it take to get a typical product prototyped and designed?
6. FORECAST, MRP OR BUILD TO ORDER
What is their ordering practice?
7. VENDOR REDUCTION
Are they implementing a vendor reduction program or any other type of program that has significant impact on their purchasing practices?
8. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
Determine any and all special requirements such as packaging, receiving certifications or electronic commerce. Are they seasonal?
9. CREDIT (ABILITY TO PAY)
Do they pay their bills on time? Are there any special terms required?
10. PRODUCT CYCLE
What is their process from the time they receive an order until they ship to their customer? By understanding their process, you can better determine the pain factors and the opportunities to create a hero status.
11. CRITICAL COMPONENTS
What components are deemed to be highly critical in the customer’s operation? What if anything has the customer done in the way of preparedness in case of breakdowns or business interruption?
These are suggested questions to get you thinking. Don’t stop there; be creative. The more you know about your T.L.S. account, the better prepared you will be to shorten the distance required to meet your objectives. There is a knowledge component form available to help you on your fact gathering missions. It allows you and your selected strategic sales team to review every factor that could be significant in developing your action plan for each specific T.L.S. customer. The first thing that should be documented on this form is exactly where you stand as a supplier or potential supplier right now.
II. S. A. M. POTENTIAL (SERVED AVAILABLE MARKET)
Identify the T.L.S. customers and their actual potential. Total available market, less other channel supply that you do not participate in, equals Served Available Market. This is the actual potential that you have the opportunity to go after. Just because the customer buys a total of $XX does not mean his total purchase is realistically available to you. We have now entered the age of multi-channel distribution. Your S.A.M. must be a big enough potential with a high confidence for success level to warrant engaging the resources necessary to capture the account. This candidate should match the abilities of your company to perform. You must understand and be capable of performing under their “Rules of Engagement.”
III. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
Rules of engagement are simply the criteria that the customer defines as to how you must do business with them. They often involve many if not all of the following factors. • INVENTORY REQUIREMENTS
• CREDIT TERMS
• CONTRACT PRICING
• QUALITY PROGRAMS
• INTEGRATED SUPPLY
• SPECIAL SHIPPING AND HANDLING
• DROP SHIPS
• EDI—INTERNET
• CREDIT CARD SALES
• TRAINING
• STRATEGIC ALLIANCES
• CONSIGNMENT
IV. FORECASTING (by product, by quarter, by revenue, by margin)
This is not “pie in the sky” guessing. You should be able to back up your forecast with solid data and a reasonable thought process to the degree of your anticipated success. In other words, why and how do you feel you can accomplish this goal? A well thought out action plan must accompany the forecast.
V. IDENTIFY ALL KEY PLAYERS
Identify key players at the T.L.S. candidate’s company as well as prioritizing the key players at your company that must become involved to ensure success. Remember this is a tier level selling program designed to penetrate all levels of the organization. This penetration includes corporate headquarters all the way down to the shop floor. Prioritize each player’s involvement on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the highest. The idea is to record the key players you have identified at your target account. List all the individuals by department recording their phone number, fax number and e-mail address. Sometimes obtaining this data can be an adventure. Next, you need to determine the key player value. What are their personal interests? What are their hot buttons? How do they define a good supplier? What is their communication preference? And most importantly:
• What keeps them up at night?
• What gives them pain?
Take away their pain and becoming Distributor of Choice becomes much easier.
VI. INTERNAL----Company Key Support Players
Identify key players at your company that must support efforts to accomplish the objectives established for this particular T.L.S. candidate. You must establish the who’s who of your T.L.S. program. There should be enough detail in creating task descriptions for each player to explain exactly what this person’s involvement will be in the program. In addition, hierarchy should be noted so that you can mentally put together an organizational chart. This must be kept up to date.
VII. PICK AND IDENTIFY A COACH
There is usually one person in their organization (not always the buyer) with which you can develop a special relationship. This person can become your coach. Often times this person can run interference, supply competitive information and even tell you how to become successful at this particular account. Who are they??
VIII. T.L.S. CANDIDATE
You must develop a quick numerical snapshot of the T.L.S. candidate. Determine the actual potential of this account as well as historical data relating to past performance.
IX. CURRENT ANALYSIS—KNOWLEDGE COMPONENTS
The current analysis knowledge component is the baseline that allows you to understand your current position with the T.L.S. candidate. It provides the starting point of where you are and where you want to g
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