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FROM OUR BLOG:

Part 1: Want to know why sales are down? Fifty-Six Reasons for Sales Leakage!

Sales is a process; control the process and you control your future. The following are 56 reasons I have found that companies are failing. Of course, there are other points of sales leakage, but I have found 56 to be the cause of a lot of grief. This post has 15 of the 56.

1. Killed your momentum? If sales go into a slump, look to your company's actions and find out what your company did or did not do three to six months ago. There are common momentum killing mistakes that can ruin your forward momentum. One or a string of these and you have a recipe for disaster. Common momentum stoppers: changes in sales incentive plans, territory reorganizations, senior management changes, premature product deaths, promotional programs sliced to contribute to the bottom line (talk about an oxymoron). Knowing what you did to kill the momentum is the first step in recovery. Why it Matters Sales Leakage happens to every company. The issues are common, the fixes are slow in coming because no one wants to face people and process problems!

It is a tragedy for the sales manager that is too stubborn or unwitting to know when he or she has been given a gift for making quota; tragedy for the salespeople who are not led and taught and convinced that their future lies in the leads given to them by marketing; tragedy for the stock holders that suffer as 2-20% of every revenue dollar is spent on marketing and 90% of that is wasted.

Full post >

Part 2: Want to know why sales are down? Fifty-Six Reasons for Sales Leakage!

If you've read Part 1 you have some feeling of the sales leakage problems that stalk every company. Here we have another 16, with the last 24 to follow.

16. Is there fiction between sales and marketing? It is supposed to be a team, these marketing and sales folks. If there is anger and frustration between the groups, if their goals are not the same, either get them working on the same team or fire the department heads so you can form new teams.

17. Sales incentive systems too complicated? Ask 10 salespeople how they are paid and if they know how much they will make by selling your products you are probably doing OK. If they cannot explain your incentive compensation plan, you don't have one.

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Part 3: Want to know why sales are down? Fifty-Six Reasons for Sales Leakage!

This is the last of the sales leakage issues, at least in this grouping. There are more, but this is enough to use as a check list.

33. Do you know the customers buying process? How does your customer buy? What are their steps? How many "touches" do they require to be comfortable enough to sign the PO? Do your processes match their steps? Are you in sync or out of sync with their processes to buy your product?

34. Do you have defined steps to the sale for your products? How many touches and steps does it take to make the sale? Are your steps different from the customers buying process? You have to know the customer steps in order to control the sales process (steps).

35. Open sales territories? Open territories can silently kill sales force productivity. If you have 50 salespeople (600 months of sales time) and you turn over 10 territories a year and lose an average of six months per territory you have lost 60 months of selling time. Plug that hole with creative hiring, maybe a recruiter to reduce risk and time, and add thirty months back into the sales productivity column and watch sales increase.

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Would You Like Your Own Internet Radio Program?
SLMA Launches Radio Channel for Marketing and Sales Programs

Internet radio is great, because while others think eyeballs are good, we think ears are better. Ears on internet radio listen for 20-30 minutes at a time. These aren't clicks, these are people who want to listen to interviews, experts, commentators, tips and tricks, humor and stories; this is live (and yes replayed) internet radio programming. And you, your company, your products and your story can be on internet radio for pennies per listener hour.

Internet radio is increasingly a popular source for information. And now, after more than three years, and 175 programs and interviews (with 275 C-level executives) which brought 40,000 hours of programming to listeners, the Sales Lead Management Association is expanding from its own radio show and launching its internet radio channel, SLMALive.

The SLMALive Channel will initially have eight, 30-minute program slots every Thursday. Eventually, we will expand into a second and third day of programming. The thought behind the channel is to deliver continuous hours of programming for listeners, though their computers, tablets, and even smartphones, while they work or on the go, or from their iTunes subscription. I am listening to an episode right now as I write this (The Eight Pillars of Demand Generation for Revenue Acceleration).

Want to know more
Go here or listen now to YouTube HOA (Hangout on Air) between Susan Finch and Jim Obermayer about the benefits of and excitement around internet radio from SLMALive. Or contact SLMA's VP of Business Development, our own internet radio expert, Ron Goodman T. 510.471.3874.

LISTEN TO OUR MOST RECENT SLMA RADIO SHOW FROM THUR, MAY 1 Pacific
(SLMARadio.com)

10:00 am: The Recipe for Awesome PR that Fuels Marketing/Drives Sales

Elizabeth Fairleigh founder of thE Connection discusses the power of PR to fuel marketing initiatives and drive sales with Jim Obermayer

10:30 am: Arm wrestling and how our history of relationships follows us forward
A side of Laura McGuire, founder of Vineya Group and Saligent you may not have seen.

AND LISTEN TO RECENT SLMA RADIO GUESTS:

April 24:	April 17:	April 10:	April 3:
"I don't want your business card, and you can't make me take it! and other networking reminders and Tips SLMA Radio co-host Susan Finch will be talking with Jessica Dewell, Chief Purposer/Founder of RedDirection.com. She is the host of Women in Business Today on Google+, a regular featured guest on the topic of identifying your target market segments well beyond demographics and sociographics.	Sales Managers Suck at Taking Responsibility Nick Hedges, Velocify In This 25 minute discussion, Jim Obermayer gets Velocify CEO Nick Hedges opinion as to why sales lead follow-up is so dismal, and why sales manager's appear to not take responsibility in making it happen. Jim says, "The premise is that millions of dollars are spend on lead generation and 75-90% of all inquiries are not followed-up.	Why an Integrated Marketing Strategy is More Important Now Than Ever Shelly Kramer of V3 Integrated Marketing. This show is NECESSARY for any company that has a marketing and sales team, does advertising, is on social media and attends conferences or any combination of the above. Do not miss this priceless list of recommendations, ideas and strategies covered by Shelly with SLMARadio co-host, Susan Finch Is your marketing impacting the customer at every step of their journey?   GOLDEN NUGGET: Get over being paranoid about sharing things that your competition may find, just do it better!     After this show, we switched to a 30 minute format.	How to take lead generation the in-house and achieve measurable results Host Jim Obermayer interviewed Jenny Vance, co-founder and president of LeadJen and tackle subjects such as: Why do internal lead generation staffs so often fail? What kind of process needs to be in place to improve the outcomes of lead generation? What kind of technology ( telephone solutions, data analysis, etc.) need to be in place for a lead generation team to succeed? What are the fundamentals lead generation teams? How do you know when you have quality data and what should you do with it? Jenny Vance is one of the leading women entrepreneurs in Indianapolis. She is the founder of LeadJen, a lead generation company, which she has grown to nearly 100 employees serving hundreds of companies across the United States, ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500. She also is co-founder of SalesVue, a CRM software solution.
Watch here >	Listen here >
Is there a forumla in today's selling market? Jim Obermayer and Andy Paul, author, founder of Zero-Time Selling discuss this question. He is a leading expert on maximizing the value of your selling to help customers make fast and favorable decisions. He is recognized as one of the leading global experts on social selling.	How to get an accurate database without getting ripped off. SLMA Radio Host Jim Obermayer interviews the father of modern database marketing, Vin Gupta. The interview ranges from how modern database marketing came about to exactly how to avoid getting ripped off by supposed database suppliers.
Listen here >	Listen here >	Watch here >	Listen here >
MARCH 25:	Is branding dead in a digital world? SLMA Radio host Jim Obermayer interviews Bart Young of the Young Company, which has roots as the oldest agency in the LA area. The interview will focus on the role of branding in a digital world. While the Young Company offers the full array of digital services, branding is part of its services as it has been for over sixty years. Bart gives us his opinion as he defends branding as an important task for every client.
Listen here >

Interested in being a guest on the show?
Contact Jim Obermayer with your ideas.
[email protected]

Guests get embed code to promote their show after airing, pre-show promotion links, and show promotion across all social media venues.