Stepping Up To The Task Of Setting Standards:

Yea. I know "mention the word benchmarking and I'm out of here, not my baby, I'll leave that one to the 'top brass', nothing to do with me".

If this is a reflection of your attitude, then I'd think again and here's why?

Firstly: You are a sales director, sales manager, key account manager, sales representative business operator, whatever, but imperative to the way you perform is the level of professionalism you devote to your work. You have two choices here (a) Give attention to everything you do at all times and operate in the most thorough way possible or (b) Plod away like always and hope tomorrow will bring something better. Remember also, that benchmarking maybe a topic that is being or has been, already pursued on an organisational basis by your peers in relation to other processes, fair enough but that not getting you off the hook. We are talking about the topic in a more focused way and relative to your section/team only. There is nobody else who knows the job as well as you do, nobody else knows your salespeople as well as you do, their strengths/weaknesses, likes and dislikes, when it comes to matters 'selling' your are the expert, 'you da the man'. So how come you believe that topic is best left to somebody else, not a chance, ignore it at your peril!

Secondly: Take a look at our economy now, a predicted 400,000 people unemployed by year-end. Good management? I think not! In fairness there are many external factors influencing conditions, however there are also internal factors that our political masters have ignored and are struggling to get to grips with. The question is, what strategies are you putting in place now that will help you and your organisation capitalise on the upturn when it occurs? Indeed what strategies are you adopting currently to help alleviate the consequences of the downturn, as it exists presently? Your thoughts, plans, actions, strategies and tactics in answer to these questions are likely to impact on the livelihoods of your team members for better or worse, will depend on you. So if the topic of benchmarking were one you can easily dismiss, then I would question your suitability for the job of sales manager.

Remember the most successful companies today are pro-active, forward looking and competitive bringing new and innovative products/services to local and global customers. What makes them stay ahead in the race for business survival is their maintaining a keen eye on anticipating emerging trends and also in aligning resources to maximise performance for competitive advantage. To exploit that potential you need to know what level of selling performance is most important in achieving revenue and profit targets. This requires up-to-date interpretation of critical business information and issues in relation to the capability of your sales team in near real time visibility to drive pro-active, intelligent decisions for business success. With the correct visibility and insights you have fast, reliable and accurate information at your fingertips, which will permit you to employ better strategies and enhance tactical decision-making.

I'm not a benchmarking guru and I don't want to turn you into one either, so I'll be back with some practical guidelines.
Regards for now
Dave
Website: http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/