8 Questions to Reignite Sales Growth

8 QUESTIONS TO
REIGNITE SALES
GROWTH
CHANNELINSTINCTS.COM
A guide to provoke
thought and ask questions
to help drive profitability in
a resource constrained
environment.

• Strategy is critical to long term success
• Within your business you have more ideas on what
you should be doing than resources
• Proper selection and prioritization is paramount
• Assessing where you are and
determining where you want
to be is the first step
STRATEGY IS ABOUT CHOICES

EIGHT CRITICAL QUESTIONS
1. How do our products compare?
2. How does our price compare?
3. How does our cost compare?
4. How does our service compare?
5. How does our marketing compare?
6. How effective is our sales force?
7. How does our sales penetration vary by region?
8. Where should we rate in 2 and 5 years vs.
competition?

START THE DEBATE WITH
POINTED QUESTIONS
• Every turnaround has a common theme that
the status quo was pushing the business in the wrong
direction − the need to change was obvious
• Another common theme? That the current situation is
someone else’s fault; another department, the past
leader, the dog who ate your homework…
• The hard part is getting past the finger-pointing
You need to be intensely honest in your assessment

HIGH LEVEL SCORECARD
Area Current
Status
Impact of
Improvement
Focus Level 2 Year
Goal
5 Year
Goal
Product Medium Improve
Price High Maintain
Cost High Focus
Service Low Maintain
Marketing Low Improve
Sales Team
Effectiveness
Medium Improve
Geographic
Coverage
High Focus
Poor Sub-Standard Average Advantaged Superior
At the end of this process you should have a clear picture of:
1. Where you are today
2. What will make a difference
3. Where you should direct your resources

PRODUCT SCORECARD
Area Current
Status
Impact of
Improvement
Relative
Focus
2 Year
Goal
5 Year
Goal
Product Medium Improve
Product
Segment 1
Product
Segment 2
Product
Segment 3
Product
Segment 4
Your Firm
Competitor A
Competitor B
Competitor C
Specific comparisons quickly highlight strengths and weaknesses:
1. The strengths should be incorporated into your marketing
2. They should be on the tip of every salesperson’s tongue
3. Don’t rush into the trap of automatically fixing sub-standard areas

Product Segment 1
$150M, 20% CAGR
20% Share
Product Segment 2
$30M, -20% CAGR
30% Share
Division A
95%
Division B
15%
Family E – 25% Family G -100%
Family F - 75%
Product Segment 3
$200M, 5% CAGR
40% Share
Family J – 80%
Family K – 20%
Family H – 40%
Family I – 60%
Family A
Family B
Maintain
Focus Milk
Exit
Family D
Family C
DETERMINE YOUR FOCUS AREAS
Product Segment 4
$120M, 2% CAGR
40% Share
Family N – 90%
Family O – 10%
Family L – 80%
Family M – 20%
Division A
80%
Division B
20%
Division A
60%
Division B
40%
Division A
50%
Division B
50%
Next
Generation
Product
A market map that shows how large the category is and how it is
trending is key understanding where you want to be
This analysis can also be
developed at more granular levels
and can be used to map other key
variables such as price and cost.

PRICE SCORECARD
Area Current
Status
Impact of
Improvement
Relative
Focus
2 Year
Goal
5 Year
Goal
Price Medium Improve
Product
Segment 1
Product
Segment 2
Product
Segment 3
Product
Segment 4
Your Firm Monitor Share Opportunity to raise
prices?
Competitor A
Competitor B
Competitor C
Low High Correct
Balance share gain with ability to raise prices:
1. Opportunities to raise prices on products within segments
2. Look for areas where an entire segment may be raised
3. Watch segments where you have a price premium

COST SCORECARD
Area Current
Status
Impact of
Improvement
Relative
Focus
2 Year
Goal
5 Year
Goal
Price Medium Improve
Product
Segment 1
Product
Segment 2
Product
Segment 3
Product
Segment 4
Your Firm
Competitor A
Competitor B With low prices &
high cost, they
should be looking to
raise prices
Competitor C
Fully evaluate your cost position :
1. Evaluate Material, Labor, Overhead, Distribution, SG&A, Inventory, Terms
2. Are customers paying for the features that cost more than competitors?
3. Are the premiums being featured by marketing and sales?
4. Should your cost position change your go-to-market strategy?

SERVICE SCORECARD
Area Current
Status
Impact of
Improvement
Relative
Focus
2 Year
Goal
5 Year
Goal
Service Medium Maintain
Fill Rates Ease of Doing
Business
Rep
Training
Rep
Knowledge
Speed to “Make
it Right”
Your Firm Fix this area
Competitor A What happens if
they fix their SC?
Competitor B
Competitor C
Service is broader than product delivery:
1. Is your organization easy to do business with?
2. Do customers or consumers have to fight to get issues addressed?
3. Who is monitoring social media?

MARKETING SCORECARD
Area Current
Status
Impact of
Improvement
Relative
Focus
2 Year
Goal
5 Year
Goal
Marketing Low Improve
Advertising Packaging Website Product
Presentations
Social
Media
Catalog Product
Launch
Your Firm Fix Shift
resources?
Comp A
Comp B
Comp C
Are your resources being effectively deployed:
1. Should traditional materials and media be replaced by digital?
2. Is your story relevant and consistent?
3. Are you seeing a difference in your sales?

SALES SCORECARD
Area Current
Status
Impact of
Improvement
Relative
Focus
2 Year
Goal
5 Year
Goal
Sales Medium Improve
Headcount Territory
Alignment
Training Incentives Product
Knowledge
Solution
Based
Selling
Your Firm Develop training
material for new
products
See Training
Comp A
Comp B
Comp C
Look beyond the standard metrics:
1. How long does it take a new salesperson to get up to speed?
2. Are some salespeople more proficient at selling some products?
3. Are the hustlers out earning the “premium” territory?
4. How would your customers rate them?

GEOGRAPHIC SCORECARD
Area Current
Status
Impact of
Improvement
Relative
Focus
2 Year
Goal
5 Year
Goal
Geographic High Focus
United
States
Canada Latin
America
Asia Eastern
Europe
Western
Europe
Other
Your Firm Need to
pass product
approval
Study
Entrance
Comp A
Comp B
Comp C Could changing
cost position push
them out of US?
Explore on a more granular level and roll it up:
1. Why do regional differences exist?
2. What level of focus is being put on low share areas?
3. How much investment would it take to gain share in low areas?

BRINGING IT TOGETHER
Each functional area self evaluates, but presents to all
• Have open honest conversations
Gain consensus on the high level scorecard
• It will be more difficult than you think!
Define what needs to be accomplished to make
the changes
• Spend time on focus areas first
Determine resource constraints and gaps
• Strategically prioritize
Agree on what is not going to be done!

KEY OUTPUTS EXAMPLE
1. Develop products in high growth segments by
moving resources from non-strategic segments
2. Raise price in segment where market low-baller
has a cost issue
3. Give authority to fix customer issues to lower level
of organization
4. Shift resources to launching products
5. Fix the website
6. Develop training materials for the sales force
7. Adjust product to pass key standards

KEY QUESTIONS
• Does your organization have this level of
understanding and harmonization today?
• Should this or something similar feed into your current
business planning process?
• Who in your organization could facilitate or lead this
effort?
• How much could this process generate or save us?

17
CHANNELINSTICTS
[ Accelerating your path between ideas & actions ]
Greg Bonsib is a marketing expert and consultant who has worked with
various sales teams and customers such as Newell Rubbermaid, Owens Corning,
SentrySafe, Norandex, Reynolds Building Products and others to launch new products
and programs. He can be reached at greg@channelinstincts.com.
This PowerPoint is adapted from the Channel Instincts blog at channelinstincts.com.

8 Questions to Reignite Sales Growth

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