{"id":50666,"date":"2022-01-11T19:34:17","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T02:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vendavo.com\/?p=50666"},"modified":"2023-10-30T18:49:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T00:49:43","slug":"preparing-sales-teams-volatility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vendavo.com\/all\/preparing-sales-teams-volatility\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Know or in the Dark? How to Prepare Sales Teams for Volatility"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In periods of volatility and uncertainty, companies must be ready to adapt at the drop of a hat to rapid changes in underlying market conditions. They need an inbuilt, organisational sense of <em>agility<\/em>. Pricing and selling agility are critical to not just surviving the unknown, but to beating the competition.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you think about how to achieve agility, your first instincts may lead to concepts of more flexibility for the sales team: in terms of targets or floors (although we hope you have already stepped away from the practice of using floors).  Or in general, establishing more decentralised decision authority.&nbsp; There is certainly nothing wrong in principle with empowerment. We want to achieve that. However, if it is <strong>not combined with supporting information and guidance<\/strong> to help sales make the right decision, then it may come at the cost of profitability and margin performance.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Agility_Alone_is_Not_Enough\"><\/span><strong>Agility Alone is Not Enough<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Organisations need agility, but <strong>not at the cost of making the wrong negotiation decision<\/strong>. Today, B2B commercial processes demand both the speed (right product) and accuracy (right price) to empower sales teams to take advantage of profitable opportunities and respond quickly (right time) to changes in market conditions. Think of it as <strong><em>Agility through<\/em> <em>Accuracy<\/em>.<\/strong> Accuracy of the target guidance, accuracy of cross-sell and up-sell recommendations, and accuracy of the identification of poor performance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I want to focus further on the latter topic: <strong>Accuracy of the identification of poor performance<\/strong>.<em> <\/em>Agility through Accuracy is achieved in this case by combining data and technology, putting it into the hands of the right experts. Better pipeline visibility allows quicker decision-making for allocating resources and whitespace identification to prioritise opportunities. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:67%\">\n<p>Achieving agility requires up-to-the-minute actionable intelligence delivered into the hands of the sales team. Pricing playbooks offering a repeatable, easy-to-use process <strong>provide a shortcut to best-practice analytics<\/strong> to quickly respond to trends in pricing and sales operations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s time to think about three things:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Adopting_Statistics_to_Reduce_Analysis_Time_and_Improve_Accuracy\"><\/span><strong>1. Adopting Statistics to Reduce Analysis Time and Improve Accuracy&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Statistics and advanced statistical analysis are being used in a variety of industries to great effect.  From baseball to blackjack, they are game-changers in establishing a competitive advantage.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column has-green-20-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33%\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-gray-30-color has-gray-10-background-color has-text-color has-background has-medium-font-size\">Organisations need agility, but not at the cost of making the wrong negotiation decision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Baseball_%E2%80%93_The_Story_of_Billy_Beane\"><\/span><strong>Baseball<\/strong> <strong>\u2013 <em>The Story of Billy Beane<\/em>&nbsp;<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Billy Beane was the GM of the Oakland A\u2019s baseball team, and his story has been captured in the book <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Moneyball\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Moneyball<\/em><\/a> by Michael Lewis and in the film of the same name.&nbsp; Traditionally in baseball, to improve the team a group of target players is identified based on a scout\u2019s assessment and some average statistics. This meant that <strong>all teams were basically identifying the same set of target players<\/strong>.&nbsp; All things being equal, the team with the most financial clout will always be able to afford more and &#8220;better&#8221; players.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Billy realised that the Oakland A\u2019s were <em>never<\/em> going to be able to compete financially \u2013 they needed to think differently. He understood that the most important element of the game was actually to &#8220;get on base&#8221;, which increased the probability of scoring and winning.&nbsp; He adopted<strong> a different approach<\/strong> and used advanced statistical analysis, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiK49e3lav1AhWWKM0KHZfiBQUQFnoECAIQAw&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.britannica.com%2Fsports%2Fsabermetrics&amp;usg=AOvVaw0xrQe0p4QMiuWPi1ydz8bw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sabermetrics<\/a>, to evaluate players based on their on-base percentage (OBP) performance&#8230;players everyone else <em>overlooked<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2002, the Oakland A\u2019s completed a 20-game winning streak, the first time since the Chicago Cubs completed the same feat in 1935. They <strong>outscored other teams 141 to 65<\/strong> and did so on a payroll of $42M, versus the Yankees&#8217; payroll of $126M in that same season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Blackjack_%E2%80%93_The_Story_of_Jeff_Ma\"><\/span><strong>Blackjack \u2013 <em>The Story of Jeff Ma<\/em>&nbsp;<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff Ma was a member of the infamous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjyopWgjKv1AhUZVs0KHY2PAPUQFnoECAMQAQ&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMIT_Blackjack_Team&amp;usg=AOvVaw34tVAPdkZWJ4KZ2Iru8r2l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MIT Blackjack Team<\/a> and his story was captured in the film <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/21_(2008_film)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>21<\/em><\/a>.  The group created an ingenious method for counting cards based on talent, creativity, and statistics.  Jeff Ma now works as a consultant helping companies look at the way they analyse their data.&nbsp; He states: \u201cIt\u2019s about changing emotional gut feel environments and achieving success by gathering the right data and analysing it rationally.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, if it\u2019s possible to use statistics and advanced statistical analysis in blackjack and baseball to gain a competitive advantage, <em><strong>then why not in pricing?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/em> The answer, of course, is that this is <em>exactly<\/em> what you should be doing; using statistics to speed up the opportunity identification process and to become more specific about your analysis, not just relying on average metrics.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:75%\">\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Defining_a_Standard_Documented_Process_to_Guide_the_Analysts\"><\/span><strong>2. Defining a Standard, Documented Process to Guide the Analysts<\/strong>&nbsp;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Why do you need a documented process for analytics? Well, it\u2019s the same reason that when you cook something for the first time, you follow a recipe.&nbsp; You probably follow the recipe the second or even third time, until you know the steps so well that you can cope without.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s no different with <strong>pricing analytics<\/strong>. The first time you use the solution, you need to be guided; if you want to analyse X, start with Metric A and then follow steps 1 to 4. Repeat.  This is your <em>Analytics Playbook<\/em>; a documented, standardized, repeatable step-by-step guide to the analytics process that you use until you know the process by heart.  It&#8217;s going to save your analysts a lot of time and a lot of frustration.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Using_Technology_to_Automate_the_Opportunity_Identification_Process\"><\/span><strong>3. Using Technology to Automate the Opportunity Identification Process&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>There are three steps to the analytics process: <strong>Opportunity Identification, Evaluation and Capture<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you know, even with clean data and a state-of-the-art <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vendavo.com\/glossary\/pricing-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pricing Analytics<\/a> solution, identifying the opportunities<strong> still takes time<\/strong>.\u00a0 Using statistics for quick identification can shorten that process, but still leaves a lot of work to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column has-green-20-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:25%\">\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-gray-10-background-color has-background has-normal-font-size\">Download our eBook, <em><strong>Price Excellence: A Road to Monetizing Innovation<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-white-color has-green-20-background-color has-text-color has-background has-small-font-size\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Download_Now\"><\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.vendavo.com\/2021_PriceExcellence-RoadtoMonetizationeBook_LP_Download.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Download<\/a><\/strong><a href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> <strong>Now<\/strong><\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As Henry Ford realized in 1908, the major advantage of a standardized, repeatable process is..?  That you can<strong> automate it.&nbsp; <\/strong>So, why not with the Opportunity Identification process? This is, in fact, the future of Pricing Analytics; using a set of automated algorithms, that combine statistics with the automation of a repeatable, standardized Analytics Playbook to generate a list of potential opportunities to improve your pricing and margin.<strong> This will drive organizational agility through the accuracy of the guidance and insights <\/strong>delivered to the sales team.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is the lesson to walk away with?&nbsp; Agility is vital to contending with the volatility of markets, particularly in current conditions.&nbsp; To enable such agility, however, an organisation <strong>must first be able t<\/strong>o identify poor performance and key opportunities to improve that performance.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Without accuracy in how agility is targeted, a business may indeed be able to move faster&#8230;but may find it has simply accelerated how quickly it reaches the <em>wrong <\/em>destination.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-green-20-color has-css-opacity has-green-20-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Robert Irwin explains why agility alone is not enough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":50667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[496,1241],"tags":[1521],"class_list":["post-50666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-selling","tag-vendavo-sale-optimizer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>In the Know or in the Dark? How to Prepare Sales Teams for Volatility | Vendavo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Robert Irwin explains why agility alone is not enough for an organization to ride out the volatility being seen in today&#039;s markets.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vendavo.com\/all\/preparing-sales-teams-volatility\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In the Know or in the Dark? 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