This post was inspired by a recent entry on The Sales Blog that discussed how it is easy to do the enjoyable things, when instead we should focus on things needed to improve sales results. Such as, resolving customer problems. Problems with a customer don’t go away, unless the customer goes away. So from our quantitative perspective, how would we suggest making it easier for salespeople to engage in difficult conversations? Three ways this could be done: Mix up the servings. Segment your customer portfolio based on buying cycle. Ensure that the salesperson is calling on all segments in some proportion that reflects both gains in immediate sales and long-term relationship. Use the CRM system to set up call blocks that are driven by analytics, to ensure consistent actions across the entire sales force. Demonstrate the loss from not making the call. Salespeople hate leaving money on the table. To show how much could be left behind, define a customer segment to call first as suggested above. Then identify actual sales revenue from sales calls made previously to a similar customer segment. Use this revenue figure to establish a per-customer baseline of incremental sales generated. Multiply this figure by number of customers in your “to call first” segment. Use …Read More