Hear that? It’s your frantic heartbeat.
Since the Acquisition, sales have plummeted 9 months in a row. You recommended combining sales teams which seemed reasonable and practical. Nothing suggested they’d continue to struggle to sell the other’s solutions.
It took you 9 months to realize you were trying (unsuccessfully) to ask “Product” Sales Representatives to sell “Solutions” and vice versa. Extensive (and expensive) training, coaching and mentoring programs have had little positive impact.
Instantly Compare and Contrast Teams
Then you login to Talent Analytics’ Advisor to compare the Product and Solutions Sales teams using cross functional visualization technology called CROSS Team-at-a-Glance.
Within a few clicks CROSS Team-at-a-Glance shows you that Product Sales professionals are intrinsically different from Solutions Sales professionals. Training, mentoring, competencies and experience don’t change “who” a person is. This analysis 9 months ago would have provided data to perhaps make a different decision saving 9 months of frustration, decreased business performance and lost revenue opportunities.
Sales “Style” Differences Matter
Within seconds specified teams are compared (see graph). Differences immediately emerge in their selling and communication style.
While forecasting different selling styles is useful insight generated by CROSS TAG, there’s more.
Business Ambitions Matter More
Advisor’s CROSS Team-at-a-Glance yields more insight. Focusing on the Theoretical row (highlighted), the gap indicates the Product and Solution sales teams is greatest. This indicates Solutions Sales teams need to have intrinsic desire and capacity to solve and customize
complex solutions. They would quickly feel bored of the Product Sales team’s off-the-shelf approach and vice versa.
Ambitions can tie directly to lackluster sales performance by both teams when they have to sell differently than what comes naturally.
Benefit: Comparing and contrasting teams to forecast alignment with goals and strategies is compelling. Cross functional Team-at-a-Glance solutions from Talent Analytics Corp. provides instant talent visualizations to inform business decisions that can dramatically affect business performance.
Download the free executive primer at talentanalytics.com to learn how this cross-functional team visualization module facilitates stronger cross-functional team performance through analytics-guided talent decisions.
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Mike Kennedy is a Technical Evangelist at Talent Analytics, Corp. He can be reached via mike@talentanalytics.com.
