Brady Rafuse is a friend and former Level 3 colleague of mine.  He now heads up Colt’s enterprise business.

Brady has a blog titled BradyRafuse.  Perhaps the blog name is not so creative.  However, he makes up for this with the high-quality content of the blog.   Brady had a recent post on what it takes to be a solid account executive.  The post is called Broken Windows–but you need to go to blog and find title (I can’t directly link to a particular post).

As a back drop for his point, Brady uses the crime clean-up that took place in New York City in the mid-1990s.  The rapid improvement in NYC was achieved because New York’s police force emphasized quality-of-life or signs of crime as well as on serious crime.  Brady writes:

I think the parallels between Bratton’s NYPD and a great sales team are very strong indeed. I see the New Jack City approach of bringing down the kingpin like ‘elephant hunting’ or bringing in big deals. They are very important to the success of a company or a sales team. But they are just a small part. Sales is about discipline, about doing the basics right every time. Compstat is like salesforce.com or Siebel. Salespeople have to manage their funnels properly, their time properly, their account plans properly, pre-call plans, post-call reports … tactics that link to an account or territory strategy. A day that starts with catching up on email and then progresses to its conclusion on the comings and goings of that inbox will not lead to great sales success unless it’s linked to an overall strategy. Any salesperson will improve through the right discipline. A great salesperson is the one who is trained to be successful and is laser focused on the disciplines of selling. It really isn’t about charisma, or gift of the gab, or being a born salesperson. Great salespeople aren’t born, they’re made just like any other profession. It’s the combination of knowledge, skills and attitude with a discipline to be successful every day.

Well said, my good friend Brady!

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Steve Schilling is a friend from within the telecom industry. He is currently the President and CEO of Cypress Communications and prior to that he was founder and president of Netifice Communications, which merged with Megapath Networks a couple years ago. Steve is also a MFS Communications alumni, though we didn’t know each other in those days.

Steve sent me an email about my blog series on sales funnel management. When I asked Steve if I could post his comment on the blog, he said “Have at it….Forecasting accuracy is a religion [at Cypress]… and I am a preacher!”

Steve’s email was:

Dan – I had to laugh… I never have understood organizations who present sales forecast based on sales step (although that is what Cypress was doing before I showed up as well). I too learned years ago that sales step and probability are two completely different things, and I have always felt you need both. Given the complex nature of most of the sales environments I have typically lived in, as a rule I don’t allow a deal to be forecasted in the 30 day bucket if we haven’t already begun contract negotiations. It never ceases to amaze me reps who say… “they have committed to make a decision this month…” and thus want to forecast it in that month. Inevitably, if they do get the deal, it turns out to be the last week of the month, leaving no time to work through contract details.

Our term around here is “Blood Oath” … we find it sets the right tone.

Thank you Steve. This reinforces why I am so passionate on the topic. Your comment will help bearonbusiness readers.

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Top 10 Reasons for Sloppy Sales Funnels: Reasons 6 through 10
Effective Sales Funnel Management is a Job Requirement
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Examples of Sales Funnel Sloppiness
More Examples of Sales Funnel Sloppiness

I guess I am the one who is getting sloppy. I have said many a times that managing the sales funnel effectively is a mandatory part of the account executive position. I’ve also said that each account executive could choose whether or not to use our methodology, with the only qualifier being that if they want to use a different methodology, they need to resign first.

I do this because I know a well managed sales funnel, followed consistently, works.

I also do this because I know the best account executives appreciate our methodology. It is simple. It rewards competence. It ensures the account executives get the support of other organizations, because their key deals are in the spotlight. Also, it makes it easier to notice those account executives that do an excellent job month in and month out. We see what they are working on. We see that they are on top of their opportunities.

Finally, I do it because it makes it easy for me to keep a tab on what is going on the business.  In five minutes, I can scan through each business units sales funnel and see the quality and quantity of activity.  It gives me a sense of if we are on a good track or if problems are linguring.  It makes it easy for me to probe individual account executives on specific customer opportunities.

My sloppiness is that I have seen several people do a poor job at following the methodology and I have been more patient than I would have been a few years back. These posts are my attempt at communicating to sales management across the board. Do not be patient in this area. If an individual is fighting you on this, there is probably a much bigger problem that needs to be uncovered. You best and brightest account executives will embrace the methodology—and the methodology will ensure the organization gets behind them. They will make more money as a result.

To close out this series of posts, I want to thank those who are doing an excellent job of managing their sales funnels—both as individuals and as sales managers. Across our various businesses, we have a dozen or so standouts. I will look for opportunities to give you recognition for what you are doing. Thanks.

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Examples of Sales Funnel Sloppiness
Fuming about Sloppy Sales Funnel Management
Top 10 Reasons for Sloppy Sales Funnels: Reasons 2 through 5
Top 10 Reasons for Sloppy Sales Funnels: Reasons 6 through 10

The past two days were reasons 2-10 for having a sloppy sales funnel. Today I present the number 1 reason.

1. I love to bug Caruso, and I know this is the one area I can get under his skin.  It is fun to poke the Bear.   Hmmmm. Deliver 2X your quota and I’ll get over it…until next month, that is.

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Top 10 Reasons for Sloppy Sales Funnels: Reasons 6 through 10
Top 10 Reasons for Sloppy Sales Funnels: Reasons 2 through 5
Fuming about Sloppy Sales Funnel Management
More Examples of Sales Funnel Sloppiness
Examples of Sales Funnel Sloppiness

5. I like to keep my cards close to the chest, that is, I’d rather not show you what I am working on.  It gives me job secuirty.   Some account executives simply believe in keeping their opportunities to themselves. They are fearful that they will lose out if they share their valuable relationships or disclose their opportunities. Other companies are okay with this, as long as you deliver. I am not okay with it. If you are uncomfortable reflecting your opportunities in the funnel, you should resign and find a company that is more conducive to your way of doing business.

4. I’m too busy working on getting orders: The account executives who deliver the best numbers have, without exception, been the ones who have managed their funnels well. I repeat: without exception. If you are using this excuse, it almost certainly means that you aren’t used to delivering great numbers.

3. I am lazy: Obviously, this is not one that an individual would likely volunteer. But I suspect this is a problem with one or two.

2. I don’t give a crap: Another one that is unlikely to be volunteered yet I believe is out there at times. Often the person is looking for another job and is just riding this one as long as they can get away from it. Less common but possible is that a person has another job—perhaps rep’ing some other product. They will double dip as long as they can get away with it.

You will need to wait until tomorrow to learn the number one reason for having a sloppy sales funnel. A clue—it is the only one that has a tinge of respectability.

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Top 10 Reasons for Sloppy Sales Funnels: Reasons 6 through 10
Top 10 Reasons for Sloppy Sales Funnels: Reason Number 1
Effective Sales Funnel Management is a Job Requirement
Fuming about Sloppy Sales Funnel Management
More Examples of Sales Funnel Sloppiness

My responses are in bold/italizes:

10. I am new. Great. Welcome aboard. If you don’t have an account, tell your manager you want one by tomorrow. If your manager is able to train you, ask him or her how you can quickly get up to speed. If you don’t get a good answer, email Sandi Mays or me and we will help.

9. I didn’t understand expectations. You do now.

8. Salesforce.com is too time consuming to make edits: Most changes require only dates or stages to be altered, which I understand is a very quick process. I’m told our tool is far easier than others that our account executives have used in past lives. If not, post a comment here or shoot me an email. If I don’t hear from you, I will assume the tool is not the problem.

7. I was traveling, I was on vacation, or I couldn’t get on the Internet. I don’t care. I expect your funnel to be up to date. If you can’t make changes for a couple of days, ask your manager to pitch in.

6. It is accurate. I just don’t have opportunities that are likely to close this month or next. It is better for your sales funnel to be accurate and sparse than overstated but plentiful. If this is the case, you and your manager have work to do. Excluding new hire or job transfer situations, I cannot think of a single quota bearing position that doesn’t carry the expectation that sales get closed within the next 30 – 60 days. You shouldn’t hesitate to ping your boss’ boss if you are feeling queasy about the lack of opportunities to close business.

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Top 10 Reasons for Sloppy Sales Funnels: Reasons 2 through 5
Top 10 Reasons for Sloppy Sales Funnels: Reason Number 1
Effective Sales Funnel Management is a Job Requirement
More Examples of Sales Funnel Sloppiness
Fuming about Sloppy Sales Funnel Management

I was flipping through Salesforce.com the morning of August 1st. Yesterday’s post provided examples of why I was disappointed in what I saw in July. Next I reviewed August and I was appalled.

Before I rant, let me give credit where credit is due. Zayo Bandwidth’s August view was in good shape. The vast majority of ZB’s account executives had already spent time on their funnel. Without me saying a word, it was in great shape as the day progressed. (I wouldn’t say this was true for every ZB account executive—so I encourage ZB to keep reading.)

The August sales funnels for Zayo Managed Services and Envysion were in poor shape. Those July opportunities that lingered in “commit”, “upside”, and “working” meant that they were not represented in August. Moreover, the number of new opportunities identified for August were minimal. Almost nothing was in “commit.”  The amounts in “upside” and “working” were grossly insufficient.

To hit a quota, a account executive should have opportunities identified that equal ten times their quota. Perhaps 3-4 times the quota should be associated with the current month, with the remainder of the 10x in the subsequent two months. I didn’t add the number up for either ZMS of Envysion, but it probably would have been less than 1x quota.

One of the account executives showed nothing in August. This same account executive showed two opportunities in July, both of which were signed deals well before the month of July ended. The two together were way south of quota. I asked myself, “What is going on with this account executive?” In the next few posts, I will offer generalized reasons why any account executive might have so little to show.

What should I have expected to see on August 1st? Well, the August sales funnel should have been nicely developed. By mid-July, August should have been on the mind of each account executive. They should have been populating August with opportunities that were uncovered in July or earlier, but which are unlikely to be signed in July. Some of these should have been classified as commit, reflecting the account executive’s expectation that they would get an order in the subsequent month. Others should be flagged as “upside” or “working” to reflect that they are orders that are viable for next month. Very little should have been done on July 31st—only the reclassification of borderline July/August orders. These are important ones, as an order that was pushed from July commit to August almost certainly should be put in the commit column.

Bottom line: an account executive should not wait until August begins to populate Salesforce.com.

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Examples of Sales Funnel Sloppiness
Effective Sales Funnel Management is a Job Requirement
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Top 10 Reasons for Sloppy Sales Funnels: Reasons 6 through 10

Yesterday’s post “Fuming about Sloppy Sales Funnel Management” introduced how irritated I became when I looked at Salesforce.com this past Friday. The problem wasn’t the results. The problem was the sloppiness of how some individual account executives represented their work. In subsequent posts, I will reflect why. In this post, I want to provide examples of the sloppiness.

Before I do, let me stress that the majority of Zayo and Envysion account executives do a fantastic job of managing their funnel. It is always up to date and accurate. Moreover, it reflects their hard work and dedication to their profession by showing what customers and specific orders they are pursuing.

I used the word majority in the prior sentence. I didn’t include the word “vast” in front of “majority”. That is a problem.

As you read through my meanderings below, keep in mind it is August 1st–a day after the last day of the month and the first day of the new month.

July is over. I looked at July to see what orders were secured. Signed orders should be in one of two categories: closed or accepted. “Closed” means that account executive has an signed order in hand. “Accepted” means that the order has been reviewed by service delivery and is deemed to be good. Since “Acceptance” can occur up to two business days after month end, it wasn’t surprising to see a fair amount of orders in the Closed column.

However, I saw many orders in the Commit column. Commit means that the account executive is expecting to get the order signed by the end of the month. It is August 1. Why would any order be in commit? By the time you get to the last day of the month, there should be very few orders in the commit column. By the time July 31st rolled around, only those that you have a good reason to believe an order is being signed that day should be in this column. This means you are either meeting with the customer to get the signature, or that the customer has verbally told you he or she will fax a signed order that day. I cannot think of any other reason for an order to be in the commit column on the last day of the month.

What does a good account executive do prior to ending work on the final day of the month? They shift each order to “closed” or they move it out to the next month. Again, most account executives will have very few orders to change status on, as very few should really be in the commit column on the final day of the month.

More troubling was the number of July orders in “Working” or “Upside”. The month is over for gosh sake. Why in the world is the July funnel showing orders in the “working” and “upside” stage? Certainly it makes sense for a few orders to be “upside” on the last day of the month (but only if there is a good reason to believe an order could materialize that day). However, they should be pushed out before the end of the day. However, I can think of no reason to show an order in “working” as the month approaches its end.

Tomorrow, I will discuss what I saw when I reviewed August.

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Effective Sales Funnel Management is a Job Requirement
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To Commit or Not to Commit

I was on vacation last week. On Friday morning, I woke up early. By 6:30am, I was sitting at Starbuck’s and logging into the Internet. By 7:00am, I was fuming.

Friday was August 1st. I thought I would log into Salesforce.com to see how July sales turned out for each business unit. I started with Zayo Bandwidth. The July numbers were only okay, but I knew that already. May and June were great months. I expected Envysion’s results to be solid and was pleased to see that July 31st was a good day. ZMS ended a little better than I thought it would; like Zayo Bandwidth, it was an okay but not stellar month.

As I looked at ZMS and Envysion’s July funnel, I began to get irritated. I then jumped to August and became even more bothered. The problem was that quite a few of our account executives did a lousy job of depicting their funnels. I view this as unacceptable. I phoned the leaders of the groups and expressed my displeasure.

I view effective funnel management as mandatory, not optional. After looking through the funnels of Envysion and ZMS, I wondered whether I was living in a fantasy world of my own creation. Bottom line, I let out a few of my old fashion bear growls and the funnels were cleaned up by the end of the day.

Since then, I have been pondering why the funnels would get in such sloppy condition. I decided to dedicate this week to the ponderings.

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Examples of Sales Funnel Sloppiness
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