Lean Sales
04 June 2010
Many companies take initiatives to make production processes ‘leaner’. ‘Lean management’ creates faster, less wasteful processes. In competition with low income countries, western manufacturing companies cannot afford to let hold-ups and waste continue to go on in production processes. Companies who have introduced ‘lean manufacturing’ have experienced that the risk of mistakes in a process decreases as the process becomes faster. But how do things work in the sales process?
The slower the sales process, the greater the risk of mistakes
It is becoming clearer and clearer that delays and waste in the sales process can have an exponentially negative effect on the whole organization. When mistakes (unconsciously) creep in from the first talks with clients about their wishes, this can lead to the ultimate form of waste: producing a product that was not what the client intended and which must ultimately be thrown out. The slower the sales process, the greater the risk of mistakes.
Lean sales
Making the sales process smarter and faster should be considered. A smarter and faster sales process not only leads to a better quality of sales – but automatically makes sure that the processes backing it up become leaner. Investing a dollar in ‘lean sales’ could easily lead to more profits than investing that same dollar in ‘lean manufacturing’! How could this be achieved in practice?
Right from the very first start
Evidence shows that implementing Guided Selling is a very elegant way to make the sales process lean. Guided Selling structures the dialogue with customers in order to analyze their needs, simultaneously matching product options and features with the customer’s wishes. In doing so, the product is being configured correctly – right from the very first start of the sales process. This has proven to be a great way to avoid miscommunication between the vendor and the customer.
Focus on the customer
Taking product configuration to the sales process can however not be done with product configurators that have originally been designed just for manufacturing purposes. It is essential that the Guided Selling solution is capable of performing a complete needs analysis that drives the product configuration. Doing so, the communication is designed “outside-in”, focusing the entire organization on creating value for the customer and eliminating waste. Thus, lean sales avoids waste, not only in the sales process, but also and more importantly in the manufacturing and logistics processes that follow the sale.
Otto van der Tang is Managing Director at Sofon - supplier of sales support software. As Otto has a lot of contact with clients, he has a clear insight into how companies that deliver customer-specific products and services can realize improvements within their sales and quotation process.
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