As you move across the technology terrain, remember that technology alone does not equate to an increase in productivity. In a paper published in 2003 titled, The Measurement of Firm-Specific Organizational Capital, 15 researchers found that investments in organizational capital accounted, on average, for 71 percent of sales growth across the 250 companies they researched. The report found that organizational capital is driven by how information is communicated and coordinated and that technology can enhance this process. For technology to show results, it must be integrated into your firm and its work processes. The company has to value it, and the professionals must be willing to use it.

The decision as to what technology to implement is specific to your firm. At FTI, we are implementing a CRM tool that will integrate with our accounting system. As long as your system is maintaining your data, is simple to use, and can be accessed and mined to meet your reporting, management, coaching, and prospecting needs, it is sufficient. The various process documents, activity modeling, and pipeline tools discussed in this chapter were developed using Microsoft Excel in conjunction with contact management software. As your firm grows, you will likely find that your technology needs will grow as well. The key point to remember, however, is that you must have a defined sales process before you implement a contact management or CRM technology solution.

Our philosophy of integrating technology within your organization is similar to the philosophy associated with sales tracking. If your technology is used for tracking time or as a control tool, it wont work. For a technology implementation to succeed, it must:

Have value for its users, the sales and client service professionals. Be integrated with the firms unique sales process.

Achieve buy-in. Those who are expected to use it must be both willing to use it and be held accountable for using it.

Summary

Right now, you are contemplating something new, a sales organization in a professional services firm, and you might be tempted to go with the more orthodox, traditional approaches in professional services sales. As you read this chapter, perhaps something intrigued you or resonated with you. Now the something new feels possible, and perhaps achievable. But, as with all new challenges, peering over the edge is likely to bring you a feeling of anxiety. You might be thinking about turning back. For inspiration, I suggest this excerpt from the book True Success, by Tom Morris:16

Have you ever watched bungee jumping? You know people screaming like maniacs, or praying like crazy, leap off high bridges over rivers attached by a long elastic

cord tied around their ankles. They fly through the air like acrobatic suicides, and then at the last second before contact with earth or water, are snatched back to security by the cord. Since not everyone lives near a tall bridge over a deep gorge, the bungee jumping companies began bringing large cranes into parking lots to lift adventurous souls on metal platforms high above asphalt for the daring dive. For $60 or so you can line up and get on the platform. It is very interesting to watch, especially the first timers. You can see on their faces the transition from bold to tentative to terrified. Hoisted up into the air peering over the edge of their little perch, these folks confronted something the likes of which they had never done before. Most froze. But the bungee pros, the operators, were ready. A companion on the platform spoke reassuring words of encouragement, a little pep talk. A guy with a mike blasted, three, two, one, bungee.

And on the count most people jumped. But some stood there with jelly legs, shaking and trembling and thinking this might not be such a good idea after all, willing now to offer twice the admission to get back to solid ground the slow, safe way. But their platform coach said, hey, you can do this, youll be fine, it will feel great, just do it. And the crowd is yelling, jump, jump, jump. And the announcer, three, two, one, bungee, and with a roar from the crowd below, the novice dives. Some took three countdowns, nonstop pep talks, and lots of cheering. But they all jump.

Take a lesson from the bungee crowd. We all need support when we confront something new, particularly in some of the more staid professional services enterprises. It can be difficult to leap into something different. It can take a lot of reassurance. It can take pep talks. It can take a great deal of cheerleading. But with enough support, with enough confidence, and with the momentum that comes just by starting, you can do it. When you set yourself the high goal of creating a world-class firm, you gave yourself a challenge. Now, use this chapter and the resources as your mentor and your cheerleader. Each section provides you with insight and actual tools to enable you to:

Organize, build, manage, and coach your sales team.

Understand your sales process and sell effectively. Track, measure, and promote your results.

Choose the systems and technologies that will best benefit your firm. Generate revenue!

Remember, whether yours is a firm of 10 or 10,000, a sales organization is an effective tool for revenue generation and enhanced client service.

RESOURCES

The following online and printed resources will help you as you establish a sales organization within your professional services firm:

Selling, Marketing, and Management

American Marketing Association: www.marketingpower.com

Robert B. Cialdini, PhD, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (New York:

William Morrow & Co., 1993). Kevin Hoffberg, www.decision-quality.com and www.kevinhoffberg.com Al Reis and Jack Trout, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000).

Recruiting, Training, Hiring

Achieve Global, www.achieveglobal.com

Sales Essentials Group (SPQ Distributor), Rose Venditto, rose@salesessentials-group.com

Society for Human Resource Management, www.shrm.org

Customer Relationship Management

CRM Research: www.crmguru.com

Kevin Hoffberg, www.decision-quality.com and www.kevinhoffberg.com

NOTES

1. Like herding cats, Economist (April 18, 2002).

2. See note 1.

3. Available from http: www.marketingpower.com/live/mg-dictionary-view2714 .php (February 19, 2004).

5. Rosann Spiro, William J. Stanton, Gregory A. Rich, William E. Prentice, Management of a Sales Force (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002).

6. Lisa Burris Arthur, Guided Selling: Merging Marketing and Sales, available from http: www.marketingpower.com/live/content15696.php (February 19, 2004).

7. Should You Adjust Your Sales Compensation, available from http: www.shrm .org/hrmagazine/articles/0202/0202agn-compensationa.asp (February 19, 2004).

8. Telephone interview with Patrick Strong, managing director, FTI Consulting, Inc. (February 8, 2004).

9. Structured Behavioral Interviewing: Oldie But Goodie, available from http: www.shrm.org/ema/library published/nonIC/CMS 006200.asp (February 2004).

10. Telephone interview with Wendy Lea, Managing Partner, Chatham Group, LLC (February 6, 2004).

11. See note 10.

12. Telephone interview with John Salomon, managing director, FTI Consulting, Inc. (February 16, 2004).