SalesStrategy

A brief of Company: It's a Five year old company catering the Educational segment by providingtechnologyproduct/service.ThecompanyiswellknownnameinBangaloreasdemographicareaamongtheeducationfraternity.

Goal:Thoughhavebeeninmarketfor5yearshadbeeninnegativerevenuesforalltheyears.NeedtoincreaserevenueandimprovetheBottomline.

Obstacles:· Revenuecash�lowwasunevenduetopaymentcyclebeingquarterly· FinancialSpikeandTurfsacrosstheyear· Absenceofprofessionalsalesteam· Nosalesorsalesstrategyinplace· Financiallowhiringnewsalesteamwasnotpossible· PresalesandPostsalesprocesswasnotdesigned

ModelofsalesStrategy:Theuniquenessofthecompanyanditsculturewassuchthatitcouldn'tgetadaptedtowellprovedsalesmodelhenceuniquewayofworkingwastobedesigned.

Physiological Barriers: The employeeswere not from corporate background, the staffwasworkingtogetherforallthe�iveyears,anditwasmorelikefamilyoutingofwork.

ManagementTeam:Theteamhadlivedtogetherandwashabituatedtoslowgrowthofrevenuewithnotargetsandnopressureforreachingtargetsandatsametimelackedincentivizingforperformances.

Process: After having gone through in understanding the management vision and employees.UnderstandingofthemarketandsegmentationoftheclientsandtargetprocesswasstartedwhichwasmadeinThreePhase

Phase1:SettingthePreSales

As the client was in Educational segment, the �irst was to get database of educational institutionsavailable.Theprocessofgeneratingthedatabasewasputintoprocess.Whereinone-personjobwastopulldatafromInternetandcollectdataofeducationalinstitutions.

Thedatacollectedwasputforscrutinyandvalidationwhereinonepersonwouldcalluptheinstitutionandverifythedetailsalongwith�ixingappointmentsforsalesperson.ThechallengewasdesigningthescriptonwhichtheTelesaleswouldtalkandengagetheeducationalinstitutionheadandalsogivebriefabouttheserviceandcollectinginformationofcompetitorincaseiftheeducationalinstitutionswereusinganyotherservice.

Thesalesteamwouldgomeettheeducationaldecisionmakerandprovidedetailsofservice;theywerenotauthorizedtoprovidecostofservice.Theteachingtheteamandchangingattitudewentalongwayinchangingthewaytosellwasbytellingandnotselling.Astheteamhadnopriorexperienceofcorporatesaleswhereinlotofprocessweretaught,heretheteamlackedhencemotivationalvideoswereshownandthethoughtprocessofhandlingNOfromclientwasconvertedtoNEXTOPPORTUNITY.

Sales Strategy

Phase2:Providinglowcostmarketingsupport

Thedatacollectedwasdesignedinsuchawaythatallinformationpertainingtotheinstitutionwouldbetaken at one go. The email id's of the principal or the decisionmakerwere taken, where in emailcommunicationwassentonceaweekandthemobilephonenumberscollectedwereusedforsendingoffermessages.

Phase3:SalesStrategyforconversion

The�irstaspectthatwasdesignedwascoveringasmuchaspossibleeducationalinstitutionsinadayhence themovementwasdesignedareawise.Thehourwiseplanningwasbrought in toensurenowastingoftimewasdoneatclientplace.

Everystepofsaleswasanalyzedkeepinginmindthepeopleandtherebehaviorastheresistancewastooheavyfromeducationalinstitutionsforchangingthereoldwaysandgettingusedtotechnology

Theidentifyingofdecisionmakerwascrucialastherearemanygatekeepersineducationalinstitutionwhenitis�inancialimplication.Thepsychologyofeverystepfromsecurityguardtoreachingdecisionmakerwasunderstoodandprocesswasdesigned

Thefactorswhichhelpedinconversionwaspitchingsameareaeducational institutewhichactedascompetitorhavingadvantageandtheusageoftheservicehowithelpedinincreasingtheadmissionanditsimageastechnosavvyeducationalinstitute

Targetswerebroughtinandpressurewasbuilttogivesenseofseriousnessalongwithincentivizingwithclientconversionwithacakeandticketstomovies,givingthoughtprocessofvariousaspectssuchashowtoengagethedecisionmaker,itshouldn'tjustbesellingitshouldbetellinggivingexamplesandalsochangesinsocietywereusedtosubstantiatethechangerequiredfrommovingfromtraditionalmethodstotechnology

Theotherhurdlewasthecostfactorwhichwashighestinpricingwhencomparedtoothercompetitors,itwasnotaboutdiscountingfactors,itwasaboutmakingthedecisionmakerfeelthateverypennywasworthasit.

PostSales:

Thehandingoverofclientfromsalesconversiontoimplementationofservicewasthebiggestchallengeas the backend team that would interact with client were the data entry people who had limitedunderstandingoftheclient.

ProjectManagementOf�icewascreatedwiththecompletebibleofstepstobetakenalongwithrolesandresponsibilitieswerelaidouttoensurethatclientshouldn'tbeleftwithdualmind.Therelationteamwascreatedtomeetandgreettheclientandprovidewithinductionofservicesthatwouldbeofferedandhowitwouldbene�it.

Toensurethatactualpayersoftheserviceparentswerealsogiventrainingaboutthebene�itsoftheserviceandtheroleitwouldplayinhelpingtheirwardimprovetheperformance.

Sales Strategy

Theacademicstaffalsotrainedtounderstandtheserviceandhowitwouldhelptheminreducingtheirmundanejobandimprovingtheirmethodologyofteachingandgivingmoretimetowardstheacademics

TheinitiativesthatwerestartedarewishingthedecisionmakeronBirthday's,Interactionwithprincipalby understanding the nature and behavior of the principal. Understanding the urgency of thecommunication.ProcessofRespondingratherthanReactingwasbroughtin

Results:

· Increaseofclientsinthreefolds· Increaseofrevenuebysixfolds· Increaseofsalesteam· Increaseinpenetrationtonewmarkets· Increaseinmanpower

Duration:Timetakentobringthecompletechangewas24Months

Sales Strategy