The Revenue Monkey & Sales Stages

We all have a Revenue Monkey. It lives on our back. It's not like Curious George; smooth, friendly, cartoonish. It's a real 85 pound chimp; hairy, strong hands and grasping feet. It's on our back and goes everywhere we go.

We have to feed the Revenue Monkey sales bananas (aka secured contracts), or it gets hungry. And when its hungry - it's noisy and distracting. However, when the monkey's well fed, it sits quietly on our back. We can even forget it's there.

But sales bananas take time to grow. And there aren't always enough around to keep the Revenue Monkey happy.

What can we do? Cultivate crops of sales bananas in all stages of growth. That's our Revenue-IQ article this month.

Regards,

Chris Arlen, President, Service Performance

The Revenue Monkey's Survival

We know that famine kills the Revenue Monkey - no sales bananas, no business.

But bingeing makes a very sick monkey too. Too many sales bananas in one year hurts. Remember when you brought on too much business too fast? How over-stretched your operations, staffing, and finance became?

So a bumper crop one year, and nothing in the fields the next is a killer. A happy Revenue Monkey lives somewhere in between.

Increasing Crop Yield - Year after Year

We want annual crops of sales bananas that steadily increase year after year (aka sales compound). Steady and growing is better than feast-or-famine.

Improving each crop's yield is an ongoing business goal.

Cultivating Crops

We cultivate crops of sales bananas with an eye to the timing of their harvest. Sales bananas take time to grow, especially the large ones (think contract renewal dates).

We have to plant some while we're harvesting others. Then we'll have one crop ready for harvest, while others ripen behind them.

Growth Comes in Stages

Like bananas, sales have different growth stages. Each stage requires different work to produce the right results.

And each growth stage has it's own objectives, challenges and measurements. Don't look for one answer to all stages - sales bananas don't grow that way.

This means we're always working on crops in their different stages of growth.

Sales Bananas' Growth Stages

Growth stages (aka sales stages) have been defined in many different ways. But simple is better. And specifically for facility contractors is best. Here's ours.

1st Stage: Pre-Approach

Define target sales bananas in a short (1-pg) specific, "must-do" plan. We don't want to grow cactus when expecting bananas.

Buy or collect prospect data and prioritize it in contact management software. Then prepare mailers and materials in advance - don't want to get sidetracked later.

2nd Stage: Initial Contact

It's all about reaching Decision Makers. Cut to the chase - being straightforward and brief wins every time. Decision Makers must learn within seconds what's in it for them. This is true on the phone, face-2-face, in voice mail, email and mailers.

3rd Stage: Follow Up Campaign

This is the long-term work. The "right" sales bananas are prospects until they become customers. If you hear "No", it only means "not now". Remember, your Decision Maker may move on and your sales bananas can still be there.

Provide Decision Makers reasons for staying in touch with you. Become a knowledge source to them for your service. See my blog as an example.

4th Stage: Bid Opportunity

This is what you've been working for - The Moment of Truth. The only time to win bananas. Create persuasive proposals, they win more than informational ones.

Define bid attractiveness & proposal effort -> learn more. For large bids, don't wait for RFPs, start early -> learn more.

5th Stage: Bid Submittal

For medium to large bids, this is the presentation. For smaller ones you drop off your proposal. Always ask for a presentation. Sometimes you won't get one. That's why it's called a Bid Submittal.

Engage customers and respect the time allowed. Never read the onscreen text to customers - they can read (duh!)

6th Stage: Happy-or-Hungry Monkey

Customers decide. You win contracts regularly - happy monkey! If not, place prospects back in the 3rd Stage Follow Up Campaign. They'll eventually come around again.

Summary

• Famine & bingeing is bad for the Revenue Monkey
• Steady increases are best
• Year after year increase crop yield - that's our business goal
• Growth comes in stages
• Some sales bananas can take a long time to grow
• Cultivate crops in all stages - plant some while harvesting others
• Do the "right" work for the growth stage

Permission to reprint or distribute: email info@serviceperformance.com

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