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John Haskell (aka Dr. Revenue ) | B2B contributors

The news is overflowing with stories of failing businesses. A near-

ly 100-year-old company has decided to close its doors. The currentowners, fourth-generation brothers, blame the economy. Howev-er, their great-grandfather survived the crash of 29 and the GreatDepression, and dad survived the craziness of the 60s. But, theydecide to give up.

When times get tough, the first place to seek answers is within thesales team. When looking at the sales force, start at the manage-

ment level. Begin by asking yourself three questions, and then con-sider the methodology behind them:

Question #1: Is the Sales Manager managing thesales force aggressively?Having an aggressive sales manager is important because

aggressive, smart leadership motivates and inspires sales peoplein tough times. If your sales manager has not been acknowledgedas a really aggressive personality who manages every elementrelated to the sales force, how can your business survive in this

tough environment?In a tough economy, there is a real premium on efficien-

cy. Your sales manager must impact the way your fieldsalespeople work with customers. In most cases, callreports are more fiction than fact. The key is to get yoursalespeople to create a Call Guide to organize, drive andsupport their sales efforts.

Question #2: Is the sales manager working witha well developed sales and marketing plan todrive his teams efforts into crash mode?

Moving into crash mode is the first step to surviving therecession, and the key here is to identify ways to find andclose business quickly and effectively. A written marketingand sales plan is vital. Without a well-conceived and well-supported plan, the sales force is working with one handtied behind their backs.

The sales manager should create a book for every ter-ritory. The sales manager must proactively drive the devel-opment of individual customer plans to achieve the salesgoals. Salespeople have to be trained to use their sales tools.

Benchmark now for future growth and success.Top management and in-the-trenches marketing and

sales management need benchmarks. However, most smalland mid-size companies cannot afford big, sophisticated,expensive studies. The good news is that these big, expen-sive and slow-to-obtain studies are useless, and simple, fast,benchmark analysis is available. A simple survey conduct-

ed by your own sales force can reveal vital information. But, evenbetter, a survey done by a professional interviewing company byphone or in person will reveal even more.

Get your information from the people who count.In most businesses the number of customers who actually make

a difference is very small. If you have 20 sales territories, there areprobably fewer than 20 customers in each territory who contributethe bulk of that territorys sales. Why not survey the top five in eachterritory? You will be surprised how much you learn and how fast.

Question #3: Would you bet your life on your salesmanager? (You are!!!)

The sales manager is often times your point person for recessionsurvival, so its important you trust them with your life and yourincome! Now is the time to review the sales manager's performance,in writing and in-depth. This is not an exercise tied to a compensa-tion review; in fact, compensation should not be a part of thisreview at all.

The person who manages, drives and controls the producers mustbe up to the task. The best way to assure that he or she is with youthrough thick and thin is to analyze skills, organization and resultsnow and every 30 days from now on. This may sound like micro-management, and to be honest, it is! Salespeople hate paperwork.Salespeople hate accountability. Salespeople hate to be criticized.Salespeople hate to be managed. Micro management is the only wayto guarantee your companys success.

If you are a leader of your company, the Rx to survive the reces-sion is to get yourself into the middle of the sales and marketing sit-uation now, and stay there!

John Baker | B2B contributor

Dwight Eisenhower, when contemplating the Herculean effort toplan for Operation Overlord (the code name for the invasion of Nor-mandy and northwest Europe during WWII) said, Plans are noth-ing. Planning is everything. His considered view was that whileboth are necessary, plans by their very nature are nothing but stat-ic documents, yet planning is a responsive and dynamic action thatbrings focus to uncertainty.

In business, planning is just as vital, especially when things arerapidly changing and the economy seems to be in constant flux.

With the market in less-than-perfect shape and so much uncertain-ty in the air, many business leaders forego the discipline of estab-lishing a business plan under the assumption that it is a waste of time. The most essential reason to write a business plan isnt to seta course of action, but to provide a management tool to use in thepresent, as well as the future.

Business planning is fraught with misconceptions; the biggest isassuming that the planning process needs to be complicated andburdensome. A sound business plan only needs to address fourquestions:

Where are we? The plan should clearly define the financial, envi-ronmental and market realities facing the business. This should notbe addressed in the overly technical language of an MBA, but ratherwith straightforward words that uncompromisingly define the busi-ness health and competitive position. It is imperative that the planhas its foundation in what is real, not something once assumed or

hoped for. Someone reading this section of the plan should, withclarity,understand the strengths and weaknesses of the business, andhave a sense of the companys potential given the current reality.

Hint: The best way to lose any enthusiasm in your business plan is to make this section a complex, statistical death by numbers dissertation. Readers care nothing about your plunging ROI, but care intensely about what that means to your business. Use onlythose financial matrices pick three to five that truly explain

how your business is performing. Where are we going? The plan should spell out the intentions for

the business in the coming years; what does the organization wantto accomplish? This section of the plan is a statement of businessaspiration, balanced by the reality set forth in section one of theplan. This section of the plan allows the reader to understand thepotential of the business in three ways:

Financially: Why should one invest in us?Externally: Why should clients and prospects do businesses with us?Internally: Why should employees work here?

Hint: Abstract vision statements are as credible as Britney Spears speaking at a parenting conference. The best plans are

insightful because they balance bold market aspirations with commonsense business acumen.

How will we get there? The plan should set forth the imperativesof the business; the tasks that are absolutely non-negotiable interms of achieving success. By definition, this section not onlydefines a critical path for the business, but it also identifies the

important, but non-essential objectives. After reading this section of the plan, the reader should know not only what keeps the leaders of the business up at night (i.e. achieving their imperatives), but alsowhat lengths they are willing to go to for a good nights sleep.

Hint: Want to break down organizational silos? Make sure each employee knows where his or her job fits within the critical path outlined in this section. If not, he or she is not fully a part of theteam.

Are we on track? The plan needs to define what success lookslike and how it is measured. The plan should clearly define who isaccountable for which measure, when measurements will be taken(i.e. monthly, quarterly, etc.) and the corrective actions to be takenin the event of a deviation from plan. The best business plans areevergreen; they are constantly referenced and regularly amended.You should understand how success is defined and measured.

Recession Rx: Start with Sales Management

www.b2billinois.com

Dr. Carolyn Kay Brancato and Stephan Rabimov | B2B contributors

Institutional investors have, once again, topped their previousrecord ownership levels in the largest 1,000 U.S. corporations, TheConference Board reports today in the latest edition of its Institu-

tional Investment Report .Data on institutional investor ownership in the largest 1,000 U.S.corporations show that institutions have substantially and consis-tently increased their holdings from 1987 with an average of 46.6percent of total stock to an average of 61.4 percent of total stock by2000 and then rising to an unprecedented 76.4 percent of corpora-tions by year-end 2007. Concentration of ownership in the largest25 companies also tops all previous data when measured by thenumbers of companies that have the largest institutional owner-ship. For example; In 1985, no company had institutional owner-ship of 60 percent or above, but by 2007, 17 companies had insti-tutional ownership of 60 percent or above, including six with insti-tutional ownership of 70 percent or above.

Latest available year-end 2006 data show that total institutionalinvestors defined as pension funds, investment companies, insur-

ance companies, banks and foundations controlled assets totaling$27.1 trillion, up from $24.4 trillion in 2005. Their 2006 level rep-resents a ten-fold increase from $2.7 trillion in 1980.

The equity market value of total institutional equity holdingsincreased from $571.2 billion in 1980 (or 37.2 percent of total U.S.

equity markets) to $12.9 trillion (or 66.3 percent of total U.S. equi-ty markets) in 2006. This represents a historic all-time high in theamount of total U.S. equities controlled by these institutionalinvestors.

Pension funds continue to account for the largest block of insti-tutional investor assets, with $10.4 trillion or 38.3 percent of total2006 assets under management. Within the pension fund category,state and local pension funds which tend to be the most activistin terms of exerting corporate governance pressures on companies have grown more rapidly than other types of pension funds suchas corporate pension funds.

Pension Funds Make Growing Investments in HedgeFunds

As of September 2007, some $1.8 trillion in assets was estimat-

ed to have been managed by about 10,000 hedge funds worldwide.This represents an increase of 23.6 percent in hedge fund assetsand 5.8 percent growth in the number of funds since 2006. Of these,more than half are domiciled in the United States.

Based on an analysis of data from Pensions & Investments, the

report also finds more and more pension funds are investing inhedge funds. As of September 30, 2007, 62 out of the largest 200defined benefit pension plans invested in hedge funds comparedwith only 48 the year before. The majority are public state andlocal funds; of the 62 funds investing in hedge funds in 2007, 37 arestate and local or public pension funds (which invested $59.6 bil-lion out of a total $76.3 billion for all funds) while 25 are corporatepension funds (which invested $16.7 billion out of a total $76.3 bil-lion for all funds).

The Conference Board operates as a global independent mem-bership organization working in the public interest. For addition-

al information about The Conference Board and how it can meet your needs, visit our website a t www.conference-board.org.

U.S. Institutional Investors Boost Ownership of U.S. Corporations to New Highs,Reports The Conference Board

Pension Funds Make Growing Investments in Hedge Funds

B2B Illinois is a product of The Daily Journal Advertising Department.

John Haskell, aka Dr. Revenue , is a ProfessionalSpeaker, Seminar Leader and Marketing and SalesConsultant. As a former CEO/COO of divisions of Fortune 500 companies and as President of The Pro-fessional Marketing Group, Inc., he consistentlydemonstrates the value of written marketing andsales planning. Please visit www.drrevenue.com or e-

mail drrevenue@drrevenue.com.

Editor: Andrew Wheeler815-929-5416 awheeler@b2billinois.com

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BESTin Local Dining The DefinitiveBusiness ContactRESOURCE

John Baker is author of the newly-released book,READY Thinking Primed For Change. As a lead-ership expert, speaker and founder of READY Think-ing, LLC, John has helped hundreds of organizationsachieve success by adopting a practical framework of thinking during times of change and opportunity.He has over 20 years experience as a senior execu-

tive with companies including American Express and AmeripriseFinancial, specializing in sales, client loyalty and customer service.For more information, e-mail JohnBaker@ReadyThinking.com orvisit www.ReadyThinking.com.

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