COMPANY PROJECTS – SALES AND COMPETITION

Marketing and revenue generation plans

Every business and every unit of the business should have both a marketing plan and a revenue generation plan. The marketing plan addresses where to go and who to approach; the revenue plan sets goals and adds the when and the how. They require different disciplines but need to be developed in conjunction with each other. It is surprising how many companies lack any kind of written plan, and this ignores a major component of the marketing equation.


Sales Collateral

Companies spend considerable sums on sales collateral and yet other avenues are overlooked. It is a valuable exercise to review the effectiveness of marketing materials, public relations, advertising, direct marketing, trade show activities and Internet strategies in relation to each other as gaps can often be detected.


Feedback programs

High quality information about customers, competitors and suppliers can be found in the most unexpected areas of organizations, as many lower-level workers have daily contact in these areas. Many companies overlook this, but formal feedback systems that collect information are relatively easy to install.


Customer Mix

Large customers are great to win and catastrophic to lose. They represent significant potential risk and companies need to have taken steps to reduce their vulnerability to these customers, ensure that overhead has not built up to support them and identify steps they will take if they lose the business.


Competition - hunted rather than hunter

As companies become successful they become a target for competitors. What started out as a raid on some of the larger players rounds back on you and rather than attacking somebody else’s market share you find yourself defending your own. You need new strategies to deal with this before it becomes a problem.


Sales compensation structure

Sales compensation is a journey rather than a destination and needs to be continually reviewed to ensure that it is appropriate. You get the behaviors you reward and it is essential that the compensation plan is aligned with what you want to accomplish.


Organization and Structure

Employee Issues

Operations

Financial