Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Forums About Advertise Blog Network Contact Be An Author

Do you need more business? - The big picture

Do you need more business? - The big picture
Free Download - Mergers and Acquisitions - a buyers’ guide for SMEs By Phil Shipperlee
Name: Email:

This is the first in a series of articles. My objective is to share my success with you and to hopefully give you some good ideas as to how you can apply our techniques to improving the performance of your business.

Perhaps the most critical performance factor for any business is its ability to produce a reliable and predictable flow of new and repeat business, sufficient to deliver the financial goals within the business plan. Many businesses find themselves in the position of looking at the most recent month or quarter and wondering what happened. It doesn’t matter what has already happened, it’s now too late to change it. What does matter is that you have available to you the means of determining the future.

During the 30 years that I have been building and running successful businesses for myself, I have always ensured that I had in place a robust, fully integrated selling function. This is the first thing that I put in place; production, delivery, HR, etc. can wait because, if you cannot create enough customers to buy at the right price, then you do not have a viable business.

Over 50 years ago, Peter Drucker said; “There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer” More recently, Sir John Harvey Jones said; “Most British companies fail not in their attempts to be innovative or creative. Most fail because they undervalue the importance of professional selling”. Can two very different, but equally great, business leaders be that wrong?

What do we do?

The business of Performative is very simple – we help our customers to bring about long-term sustainable improvements in the performance of their businesses. Our primary focus is the structure and performance of the Go-to-Market model, i.e. all of those activities associated with first creating customers and then selling your product, service or solution to those customers.

The processes that we use are based on our own methodology, Performative Structured Selling ®, and this has four main elements or components. Those elements cover the key areas of; Market Focus, Prospecting for Customers and Opportunities, Creating Customers and growing them into Strategic Accounts and finally Creating, Identifying and successfully Pursuing Opportunities.

Below, I have provided a brief summary of these four critical elements and in the subsequent articles I will expand on these topics and give you tips and ideas to apply to your own business.

Market Focus (your Proposition and Target Market)

The first element, Market Focus, creates an essential foundation to the whole Go-to-Market model. Simplistically, the Market Focus process looks at what you sell (your proposition) and who you should be selling it to (your target market).

The Market Focus articles will look at the mechanisms used to understand your proposition, through the eyes of your prospects and customers. I will also explain the parallel process that you could use to choose your market and within that market which sectors and segments to focus on.

Prospecting for Customers and Opportunities

The output from the Market Focus process will be a list of companies that we call suspects. The suspects are those organisations who appear, based on external research, to have the characteristics to become customers of your company and then to be interested in your proposition.
By producing the smallest possible number of suspects, before expending expensive selling effort, all remaining activities will be more focused and therefore more effective and efficient. This will help to give you a higher rate of return on your selling effort and a more predictable outcome. This will also help you to build some leading indicators which will enable you to spot weak points in the sales pipeline in time to do something about it.

The article on Prospecting for Customers and Opportunities will look at the various options available including; direct sales, tele-marketing, tele-selling, channels and partners. It will also look at the mechanisms used to take the “intelligence” gained in the Market Focus stage and to turn it into a qualification process to drive not only prospecting but later Customer Creation.

Creating Customers and growing them into Strategic Accounts

You will already have picked up that we see the creation of a customer as a very distinct process from that used when creating and pursuing opportunities.

The process of creating a customer, as a carefully planned activity, helps you to build your customers understanding of the value of your proposition and the value of their relationship with your company. If you are not perceived in terms of value then you will be perceived as a commodity, a price and expendable.

The articles dedicated to this topic will, amongst other things, look at qualification, account planning and account networking. It will also show you how to rank different prospects in terms of their potential value to you.

Creating, Identifying and successfully Pursuing Opportunities

As already stated, this is different and separate from the creation of customers. This is driven by a process that we call quantification.

The articles on this topic will look at; quantification, bid planning, creating value propositions, preparing ROI models to support your bid, proposals and presentations. It will also look at different bidding regimes spanning the informal through to highly structured RFI/RFP process and government processes involving the European Journal and S-CAT. Finally, we will look at approaches to creating a sales pipeline including risk analysis and probability calculations.

Summary

By the end of the series of articles you will have the means to create a joined up process that turns your Go-to-Market model into a value chain taking your suspects through a process of qualification and quantification. The flow of orders into your business will be more predictable and you will have a series of leading indicators enabling you to take remedial action if problems are brewing in future months and quarters.

Copyright © Performative plc 2001-2006. All rights reserved.





Do you need more business The big picture - To learn more about this author, visit Phil Shipperlee's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

Article Tags:

Article Feedback
 Article Feedback No article feedback found.
  Leave Your Feedback
article feedback

Article Feedback
Michiel Jonker
As a Certified Information Systems Auditor, Michiel assists businesses in a professional capacity by evaluating the threats to their businesses. He acquired the necessary knowledge, skills, and techniques to minimize a business owner’s risk of business failure and to maximize his chances of high growth and success. He strongly believes that you CAN maximize your chances of business success, by implementing the business solution he has advocated for more than 12 years in your business plan and planning. Michiel has decided to share his experience with business owners by putting almost everything he knows in a business plan and survival guide (compiled in an e-book format) and written as a high growth SMB coaching course for SMB business owners, directors and managers - titled as the “Survival Kit for Small and Medium Businesses - Profit from your Business Risks!” According to Michiel, his goal was to add new techniques to a business owner’s business planning survival kit and instruct him or her in using these in the future - without any help from a consultant! For more information about the benefits of implementing profit protection planning in your business, please visit: http://www.business-around-the-globe.com - Visit Michiel Jonker's Website

David Barr
David Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website

Anne Barr
Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website

Casey Gollan
Casey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website

Kim Castle
With nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website

Jeff Foster
WebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas.  We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing
- Visit Jeff Foster's Website

David Acheson
David Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns.  David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website

Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website


To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us.

 About The Author


Phil Shipperlee
(Visit Phil's Website)
Phil Shipperlee, CEO and Founder of Performative, started in sales with Olivetti in 1969 and progressed to senior roles in Sales & Marketing in the Software & IT Services sector; UK country manager, head of global sales & marketing based in the USA, head of European operations (UK, France, Benelux, Germany and Italy). Phil was instrumental in creating a selling process integrating 12 acquisitions and used throughout operations in North America, UK, Europe, Australia, Japan and India. Since 1980 he has built and run several successful businesses. Performative provide business performance improvement solutions to companies across the UK. There is an indisputable link between the overall performance of the whole business and the performance of the sales operation, hence, our core focus commences in the sales operation but also looks upward to the Board and its strategy, and outward at the integration of the selling operation with the rest of the organisation. Special areas of knowledge: the creation of high performance selling operations within any corporate environment, solving the business issues of SMEs, using and selling offshore solutions, M&A, post-acquisition integration.


Phil Shipperlee is a Gold author on EvanCarmichael.com
 About The Author

 Author Blog
 Author Blog

 Video
 Video

 Free Downloads


Phil Shipperlee's

Complete
List Of
Sales
Articles

Name
Email
If you enjoyed this article, get Phil Shipperlee's Complete List of Sales Articles For FREE!

More Phil Shipperlee
Market Focus taking the proposition to market
Creating Customers a distinct process
Mergers and Acquisitions a guide for SMEs
Creating Customers plan the relationship
GotoMarket model the value chain
Opportunity Pursuit part 2 making sales
Opportunity Pursuit part 1 identifying or creating
Do you need more business The big picture
Opportunity Pursuit part 3 keeping a finger on the pulse
Mergers and Acquisitions a sellers guide for SMEs
 Free Downloads


 
 
 


Evan Elite Authors
Casey Gollan  
Staging Diva  
George Ludwig  
Evan Elite Authors

Become An Author
Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details.
Become An Author

Evan's Latest Video
Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media
Evan's Latest Video




Evan's Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Evan`s Newsletter

Free Downloads
CAN-Spam Checklist Icon CAN-Spam Checklist
New Sales Leadership Paradigm Icon New Sales Leadership Paradigm
Manage, Click, Learn. 2009 Icon Manage, Click, Learn. 2009
Instant Classified Advertising Icon Instant Classified Advertising
Instant Quotes Icon Instant Quotes
Free Downloads - Complete List

Entrepreneur Tools and Guides
Top 50 Blogs For Startups To Watch In 2008
Top 50 Blogs For Startups
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008
 
Top 50 SEO Posts of the Year
Top 50 SEO Posts - 2007
Top SEO Posts of the Year
 
Entrepreneur Tools and Guides

SEO For Africa
SEO For Africa
Foster Odei Nkawkaw, Ghana,
Foster Odei
Nkawkaw, Ghana
SEO For Africa

If I Were A Startup...
Erez Zevulunov, $150k to $504k in 2 years
Erez Zevulunov
$150k to $504k in 2 years
Travis Hartley, 426% Growth in 2 Years
Travis Hartley
426% Growth in 2 Years
If I Were A Startup... - Complete List

Famous Entrepreneurs
Charles Schwab, Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab
Terry Matthews, Mitel
Famous Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneur Advice
Donald J. Trump, Trump University
Donald J. Trump
Trump University
David Allen, Getting Things Done
David Allen
Getting Things Done
Entrepreneur Advice - Complete List

Popular Articles
(Premium Authors)

     Anger Solutions at Work Can Your Team Survive
By Julie Christiansen
     Anger Solutions™ at Work: How to Cope with a Bully Boss
By Julie Christiansen
     Anger Solutions at Work - The Psychology of Procrastination
By Julie Christiansen

Have A Suggestion?

Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!

Have A Suggestion?

More Evan Carmichael
More Information