Unique Skills for Business to Business Selling

In the world of B2B Sales there are two important principles – what I call Organizing Principles – you must be aware of to move into the superstar ranks of sales people.

First, what are Organizing Principles and why are they important?

Here is what Wikipedia says about Organizing Principles…

An organizing principle is a core assumption from which everything else by proximity can derive a classification or a value. It is like a central reference point that allows all other objects to be located. Having an organizing principle might help one simplify and get a handle on a particularly complicated domain. On the other hand, it might create a deceptive prism that colors one’s judgment.

In my world of b2b sales, organizing principles are the systems or measurement of systems creating a known return on my selling activities. In other words, it is the ability to hold myself accountable for the results and outcomes expected in my job. Interesting, that read like a management consultant report – sorry about that!

In simple terms, organizing principles give us a measurement showing our effectiveness in the field. Depending upon the trend line of this data, it tells us if we are doing well or need to improve our production.

Here are the two Key Organizing Principles for B2B Sales…

Return on Energy (ROE) - For simplicity our equation is Usable Hours Available with Customers divided by actual hours worked with a customer. Obviously – using one week as a time period – if you worked the entire 40 hours with customers your return on energy is equal to 1; if you only spent 30 hours with customers your return on energy is 1.3 (any score above 1 shows time no working with customers); and finally if you worked 60 hours with customers during the week, your Return on Energy is .66 (Here you are burning more energy than the prime customer time and you need to analyze your work flows and how much of this time was truly necessary or required. Reason is if you are spending too much time with customers each week, over time you will burn out or lose your passion for sales.) Balance is the name of the game here. You will be more successful if you have balance in your life.
Okay, looking at the math and throwing your hands up in the air! Think about how much time and energy you are investing in obtaining new business as well as building existing business sources. Your goal is to maximize your energy or effort into your accounts so you get higher returns on your time and effort. Growing your accounts 9and still maintaining life and work balance is the key to a long and productive career.
Return on Time Invested (ROTI) – Okay, this is not truly a financial equation, however, it is a key determinant for increasing your sales results. Primarily, it is all about which customers or prospects are you calling on? The concept to spend more time selling to the 20% of your customers who contribute 80% of either your revenue or profits. Your goals is to spend more time with these accounts – to increase your opportunities for sales growth. Sales growth can come from selling these top accounts more or additional products, thus increasing your sales to a top account. Using this method as a guide, you can significantly increase your sales results.

There you have a couple of guidelines to use for checking your personal productivity in sales. Are you using your limited time resource effectively? Take the time to reflect upon your performance and how you are getting the results you get. Are you calling on your best customers enough? Are you offering the best customers additional opportunities – such as additional product lines? When you improve your ROE and ROTI, you will be in the winners circle more often.

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