 |
 | Contact Us | Bulldog Europe |
|
| | Return to MWJ Home
| ||
 |
November 2008, Issue 57 |
Consultants: Make Selling Top Priority! Results from "Best Practices for Integrating Sales Process into Consulting and Professional Services Organizations," derived from the 2008 Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study Study Reveals that a Defined Sales Process May Benefit Consulting Firms A recently released report on the consulting and professional services industry urges the industry to sit up and take notice of their sales process. Best Practices for Integrating Sales Process into Consulting and Professional Services Organizations, derived from the 2008 Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study, delves into the sales practices of these organizations and identifies activities that could potentially increase profits and improve customer relationships.
"The principals in many of these companies do not view themselves as salespeople, so they don't see an obvious need for a well-defined sales process," said Sam Reese, president and CEO of Miller Heiman. "However, through our research and experience with various clients in the industry, we know that a rigorous sales process can provide significant value in improving the business development results for these organizations." According to the study, respondents in the consulting and professional services industries were 21 percent less likely than respondents from other industries to agree that their sales force is very effective at selling new products and/or services. "Many firms will purposely remove the term 'sales' from their corporate vernacular," said Bethany Schultz, vice president of client engagement for Miller Heiman. "Consultants are often so entrenched in their own deliverables that they avoid going out to sell a service outside of their own delivery competencies." Listen to Your Customers The study also revealed that these organizations are 50 percent less likely than Winning Sales Organizations (WSOs) to agree that they regularly engage their strategic accounts in their product/service planning process. WSOs are defined as those companies who saw a 20 percent increase in annual revenue, average account billing and new account acquisition from the previous year. According to Rob West, a Miller Heiman sales consultant, this presents an opportunity to leverage what has made these firms successful over the years—their expertise. "The best way to do that is to put together a structured process for talking with the client about what is happening in the client's world," West said. To view the full report, download "Best Practices for Integrating Sales Process into Consulting and Professional Services Organizations." Selling in a different industry? Download the study's executive summary or browse Miller Heiman's library of available industry reports. Return to MWJ Home About Miller Heiman: The Sales Performance Company For 30 years, Miller Heiman has brought precision to the art of selling through simple, yet powerful processes and tools to help drive performance, especially in complex selling environments. Miller Heiman publishes the award-winning Sales Performance Journal and conducts the world's largest annual research project on sales effectiveness, the Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study. This study reveals best practices, trends, issues, and opportunities in today's selling environment. As the thought leader in sales performance, Miller Heiman provides organizational sales process implementations that result in revenue predictability, clearer sales management communication, and best practice selling activities that can be replicated. Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, Miller Heiman has offices around the world and partners in over 20 countries. For more information, please call 877.552.1747. Marketing Watchdog Journal is a monthly newsletter from Bulldog Solutions, a lead optimization and lead management company dedicated to helping our clients generate more, better leads and turn them into revenue. We welcome your feedback on this newsletter's content and design, and encourage you to share your ideas for topics you would like us to cover in future issues. Please send your comments or questions about Bulldog Solutions to Amy Bills, senior manager of Field Marketing. |
 |
HOME | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US © 2008 Bulldog Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. |