First Principles Sales Process Audit - Your Baselines (i)

This past month I brushed upon how the Idiot Index could help us trim our winning sales process. Later adding initial questions for ourselves this could spark.

For the process junkies among us, this tantalises with opportunity to go deeper.

So here's a first step for the foundation any such exercise could build from.

Knowing where we're at.

1

You could well start with the current duration. What our typical cycle time is right now. How many days?

2

Then let's project. How many days could we aim to make it instead? That's our Magic Wand cycle length.

3

Take that ideal from our actual. We have our Gap.

Always a good number to have at the forefront.

4

Let's then get our launchpad assumptions out there. Being a big fan of Strategy doyen Roger Martin, borrowing his starter to 'decompose' our situation, WWHTBT; What Would Have To Be True?

There's three angles to ask this of; the Buyer, us Internally, and our Product. In each case, what would have to be true for each to make the Magic Wand cycle time happen.

You can take real deals. For instance, ask yourself;

"If we ran this deal again with perfect conditions, what is the absolute minimum number of days it could close in?"

With inevitable check;

"And why can't we get there?"

Every answer to 'why not' is an 'inflator' to investigate.

There's a lot in that step.

Which your competition are likely nowhere near thinking about.

Giving us a great platform from which to build.

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nb these four initial steps I've followed with First Principles Sales Process Audit - Your Baselines (ii Process Map) posted next day