Delta Institute Switzerland
The Turbocharger
May 2005
Our website offers information about sales system management (SSM) and about DELTA T-Selling®, the leading methodology in key account sales system management. We update it continuously - adding new links, pointing out new books and events.
With our sales management newsletter THE TURBOCHARGER we inform our subscribers of such updates. We call it THE TURBOCHARGER because SSM, and especially DELTA T-Selling® “turbo charges” sales systems – leading them to outstanding business success.

In this edition …

Doing THE RIGHT THING - sales executive's personal performance scorecard

New on our website ...

New presentation SALES SYSTEM MANAGEMENT - for you to download. Questions? We will reply with pleasure.
New additions to our list of recommended books
We found two new books about "globalization" and one "classic" case story on the power of TOC:
- Why Globalization Works (Martin Wolf) "Simply the best book on economic globalization (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)
- Global Governance: An Architecture for the World Economy (Horst Siebert) 9 essays by world renowned experts.
- Leading the Way to Competitive Excellence : The Harris Mountaintop Case Study (William Levinson) A classic: Turnaround with TOC
News about Delta Institute Switzerland
It's a pleasure to announce that Harley Systems have joined the growing network of associate partners. They are located on the East coast of South Africa, in Botha’s Hill (+- 30 km from Durban (Ethekwini)). Harley Systems started in 1994 focusing on sales and implementation of software for sophisitced simulation models. Since they ahve expanded their offer fousing more and more on Theory of Constraints (Dr. E. Goldratt). Starting early 2005 Richard Smal is now their lead consultant for the DELTA T-Selling methodology.

Ideas? Questions? Requests? eMail us - we will reply with pleasure.

Doing THE RIGHT THING - the sales executive's personal scorecard

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Are we worth our money? The sales executive of a large multinational company once asked me at a dinner: "What can I personally contribute to my sales organization? How do I know if I am doing the right thing? ... Hiring the right people, increasing sales goals every year, cutting cost, traveling around patting on shoulders and negotiating big contracts with the top management of our clients ... is that really the right thing to do? That just can't be it."

From point of view of "classical" sales management: yes, that is it.

From point of view of sales system management: definitely not.

Bill Russell, VP at HEWLETT-PACKARD (one of the best sales executives I ever met, and my boss for some time) once said: "It is NOT the job of a sales manager to read reports and add up numbers. For this work we use assistants, not managers. Sales manager's true assignment and contribution is the difference between the sales which their people would achieve without them, and total sales."

In terms of sales system management this means:

Sales executives' job is to resolve the constraints in the sales system.

Just that. Nobody else in the enterprise can do that job. If we do that job well we are worth our money. If we fail ... sales will start to flatten off, then to drop. (Our job is certainly NOT "to understand, develop and implement information technology tools like CRM and SFA" - as was required recently in a job posting for a senior sales management position).

But aren't we doing this anyway all day long? Discounts, price adjustments, contract negotiations, special conditions, performance commitments ... one decision after the other to remove road blocks for sales? Do we not do that in every meeting we lead or attend?

Certainly, we make many decisions. But are we making the right decisions? Do our decisions actually result in the constraints of our sales system being resolved? The proof being: do our decisions result in increased sales?

All high performance athletes track their performance in their personal performance scorecards. In our days, leading a sales system is as demanding as high performance professional sport. A sales executive's personal scorecard (download a copy here) tracks four key items:

The sales executive's goal for sales growth
Sales achieved WITHOUT any decisions to resolve constraints ("unconstrained sales") - no decision from sales management required
Sales achieved with help of sales management's decisions to resolve constraints
Decisions resulting in sales from resolved constraints

This is your personal performance scorecard. Like any world class athlete you must keep it updated personally. You should use it as basis for personal improvement, for your sales meetings and for your work with your colleagues in management. If your personal contribution (sales achieved after constraint resolution) grows .... you are doing your job. Then, you are definitely worth your money (possibly more, than they pay you today).

With best regards,

Dieter Legat

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