Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Investment Capital for Canadian Projects

In this post, and the next, I am documenting sources of capital... from angel through secondary and on... for folks that are interested in developing a company or product through stages. I personally would like to keep this resource available for projects that I am mulling. Hope it is helpful to folks on the blog... this and the North American Medical Captial resource guide that is on the next posting...

http://researchwhitepaper.com/canadian-capital-providers-guide-p-37.html

Canadian Capital Providers Guide

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Our Canadian Capital Providers Guide is a useful guide assisting Canadian companies or companies seeking to raise capital from Canadian investment institutions including – Venture Capital, Private Equity, Debt Financiers, PIPE Financiers, Angel Investors and others.

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I have run into countless folks who had great ideas for products in the medical device market over the past twenty years. I have had a few sources of captial, but really not a "go-to-resource" that I could recommend. I came across this report on Linkedin recently... it would cost around $70.00 USD, but if an idea is really good, it is likly a great resource. Hope it is helpful...

http://researchwhitepaper.com/biotechnology-healthcare-capital-providers-guide-north-america-p-66.html

Biotechnology Healthcare Capital Providers Guide - North America

Biotechnology & Healthcare Capital Providers Guide – North America

About This Guide
This Capital Providers Guide provides over 400 investments firms and over 1,000 key contacts of institutions investing in Biotechnology, Life Science, E-Health, Medical Devices, Healthcare related industries. The companies include in this report are based in Canada, US and Brazil. Available both in PDF and Excel Format.

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More than 400 investment institutions in Canada and US with over 1,000 contacts with names, titles, contact details
Investment firms investing in start-ups, acquisitions, mid-stage opportunities
Diversified segments – R&D, healthcare, biotechnology, health supplement, medical devices
Format: PDF and Excel are both available

Top 5 Reasons why buyers have purchased this Report

1. Start-Up companies looking for investment capital for their innovations or products
2. Companies looking for investment capital to commence commercialization
3. Medical devices, E-Health companies, Technology in the healthcare sectors looking for investments
4. Companies looking for capital for acquisitions and expansion capital.
5. Pharmaceutical companies, life-science companies looking for capital to expand their R&D phase.

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Buyers who have purchased this report have also purchased the following reports:

Global Mining and Resources Capital Providers Guide
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Export Guide – Health Food in Asia and Middle East
Asia Pacific Biotechnology Capital Providers Guide

Monday, September 7, 2009

Expectations... of a selling team

Expectations...

I sometimes wonder about the dichotomy of expectations betwixt a hiring manager and a new sales person... the one hoping the right decision is being made... and the other, hoping the right decision is being made... but for different reasons, perhaps.

And I also wonder about how the evolution of the relationship will track... and whether looking in on it periodically, we can look back from that initial point-in-time... to the expectations that were at the initial hiring moment... and the ones that were established for both the sales manager and the sales person, going forward.

Within days of a hiring, it seems to me that everything that was in the past for both the sales manager, and especially the sales person is, exactly that... in the past! There is a new situation, and time needs to be taken at the outset to understand a) what is expected from the quality of the person being hired and from the quality of the manager and of the company doing the hiring; and b) what short, mid-term and long-term goals are expected to be achieved by the sales person; and c) what skills and support the manager and company will bring to the relationship.

It seems to me that too often these things are left to chance... too little time is spent in the process of hiring, and being hired. It occasionally dooms the future, and often limits the potential. Too little time is spent, as well, ensuring that the background of the new sales person is thoroughly understood so that the groundwork needed for excellence in selling with the new company is solid. This will then form the basis of the stages of training and goals.

The groundwork, or baseline knowledge and skills is a critical component. Often in the routine of the screening and interviews, the focus is on accomplishments, fit and so on. But once the hiring decision is made, it is time to get real... the sales person needs to open up and the sales manager thoroughly sort through the individual strengths and weaknesses of the new person. Here, the manager needs to be an expert at helping the new employee feel comfortable in showing where help is needed. Then the manager needs to establish the near, mid and long-term training and goals. Also, it is an opportunity for the manager to find strengths in the new person that can be quickly brought to the team s/he is managing.

I don't understand why more time is not invested at this hiring stage when no relationship walls have been built. It is a chance to establish working conditions and expectations that are real... and can lead to success.

Opening that window to look in on sales people and managers is not reserved only for the hiring moment. At any time there is an opportunity to take a look at where the two employees are in their progress toward goals. The second level manager should be encouraging the first level manager and all of the direct sales reports to keep the communications open. Have a list of the critical performance factors that, at a minimum, are necessary for success... there should also be a list of factors that if maximized, will allow unrivalled success for both the manager and the sales people who are reporting.

Too often in my experience, managers are not managing the performance factors of the sales people. They are caught up in the end results... taking care of the numbers. It is more effective to take care of the performance 'factors', and the numbers will take care of themselves.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Selling Processes and Golf Have a Lot in Common

There is a sense that selling, and sales management are more of an art than a science. This is the probable reason that most universities don't have thorough programs intended to train graduate students (or undergraduate for that matter) on the sales management process. It is also the likely reason that sales people who are promoted to sales management have not had any significant training. It is also a suspected reason that there are few if any text books on sales management... and those that exist on selling skills have little if any factual data backing them up.

But in fact there is a science to selling and sales management and when done properly, a selling team can launch and sustain products and services to the extent that they are maximized relative to their market potential. How often are market potentials achieved? When everything does come together and a great launch is achieved, how many companies know what they did right, who did it, and how do they repeat it?

Marketing and Sales can be a productive team when there is a thorough plan communicated to the sales management team. When the sales management team puts together an implementation plan for the sales team members, with a clear selling process; with appropriate monitoring tools; with continuous evaluation of performance; with process adjustments when necessary; and when there is a feed-back loop to marketing... and so on; things become a science.

I like to use sports analogies to explain some of the dynamics of selling. When done correctly by marketing and sales management, a plan can be beautifully put into place. It is a little like a golf swing... in part like this:

1st you have the set-up of the golfer ... the 60 degree angle of the back, the windowpane position of the head, the proper bend of the knees, the drop of the hands to the comfortable holding of the club and

2nd then you have the take back of the club, inside the 30 degree triangle from the ball, to the right shoulder, and to the left shoulder

3rd at the mid-point of the back-swing the club should still be inside the triangle

Well, it goes on and on... and we think of golf as a sport. But if you want to win in golf, it is probably more likely that you should look at it as a science. In the end, when all the individual swing parts are working properly and they are put together in series... you will get a 300 yard drive. Like when Tiger Woods does it right... the knees moving forward, allowing the hips to clear, allowing the thorax to unwind, adding velocity and power to the shoulders which move forward adding torque to the arms, wrists, hands, club...

This is what selling is about... when marketing sets things up right, when the managers ensure the process is well practiced, repeated routinely by the sales professionals... the torque build up is the same... and the WHACK is audible... how many sales teams can say that they put it together like Tiger Woods who hits over a million balls a season to perfect this swing... do any of us work that hard at the 'PROCESS of SELLING'?

Check and compare your selling to Tiger's swing at http://www.metacafe.com/watch/361150/the_perfect_golf_swing/ Just click on this address into your browser and comment back here when you compare...

Sunday, January 25, 2009

WHAT WOULD YOU DO...

The Quarter finished three days ago. As the VP & National Sales Manager of your company, you have just sent out an email congratulating your team of five District Sales Managers and the sales reps, for achieving its forecast and booking budget. It feels great to make it again, fifth quarter in a row.

The President and GM of the company has just left your office... his parting words were, "miss plan next quarter and you're fired!".

Your emotions are all crisscrossed... the revenue was on plan, and you had actually done a little better than your booking forecast. You have been with the company for a year and a half, you have never seen this anger from the President. He missed his profit target, is that your problem if you made your key targets. What would you do?

Believe it or not, this often happens in business. Usually it is a result of poorly communicated management targets, from the top down. But is that situation one that absolves the sales manager from the responsibility of making his company successful? Of course not! In effect, it is a little late when the boss threatens to fire you, to start doing things that should have been done, in the first place.

It is a critical function of the Sales Manager, at each level of a company... VP, District and territory sales rep to make his/her boss look good by helping the boss achieve the corporate goals. Not knowing the corporate goals, in effect, your boss' goals, is not a reasonable answer to the question " what should you do" ... no matter what, no matter where, no matter when, no matter who you are working for ... if you are a Sales Manager.

The situation above is demonstrative of sales management of the financial results of a sales team. Usually, even when things are going well, it is 'too little/too late', to wait for financial results to tell you things are broke.

So, starting today, what should you do? The first answer is to start managing the sales process, instead of the financial results. What does this mean? According to Peter Michie, at Performax Technologies, managing process consists initially, of identifying the activities of a sales manager or sales representative that lead directly to success. Once these activities are identified, managing the process means to ensure that the activities are communicated to and understood by the team members. Further, it means that the activities will be measured, monitored, and evaluated routinely by the efficient sales manager.

S/he should establish process standards relative to the sales management or selling model that is chosen after the field assessment. When the standards are not met, the sales manager should take action to rectify the situation... prior to them negatively impacting financial results.

If financial results come in below expectations, and the parameters are being actively measured, it will be clear what " caused" a shortfall... eg: not enough leads were qualified in month one of the quarter; two sales people were not trained on a new product that sold well in all the other territories. Action to rectify the short fall, if not already underway, can be taken without analyzing financial (read " non-process" results.

So what can you do to avoid the shortfall, or at least be ahead of the curve on resolving it?

1) Clearly understand the expectation of the boss, and the targets of the company
2) Understand the expectations of the finance department relative to financial parameters that might be in your control
3)Closely 'observe' the most successful sales managers, understand what they are focusing on and what they measure
4) Closely 'observe' the top 20% of the sales reps to understand what they focus on and do to be successful
5) Establish standards for a series of processes that contribute to the success of the managers and sales people, and that will allow you to measure regularly who is doing the things that will contribute to their success
6) Communicate clearly what will be measured and why
7) Manage the process; train where necessary; analyze process performance; adjust/correct the processes and individuals who are missing standards
8) Inform individuals of process failures immediately, in writing; expect performance improvement in appropriate time
9) Identify additional or alternative processes as necessary, to assure the proper processes that contribute to success, keep up with the changing needs of the business
10) Ensure the underlying data is accessable, but utilize it only when necessary due to problems with results... either process or financial

The processes that are being reported routinely can be looked at as a DASHBOARD in a car... it doesn't make the car work, it just ensures the driver understands the operating conditions.

These management obligations, if not in place now, should be. It is part of the Sales Manager's and Sales Representative's kit.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

We Can't Teach... A Passion For Success!

Please note... if you are new to this blog, please go to the first entry and read from there. If you are returning, welcome back.

We Can't Teach... A Passion For Success!

Please note... if you are new to this blog, please go to the first entry and read from there. If you are returning, welcome back.
Over the years I have been very impressed with the top performers in each company with which I have been lucky enough to work. I always wondered what made them tick, and how could I clone them? At some point, I realized that a key function of a manager is to understand the answers to this question, and that our success would depend on finding the right answer(s).

In my opinion, it is critical for the top sales manager to clearly have a handle on what will make his team successful in the field territories. It is at the individual performer level one can get that handle, and the only way to grasp it is to get into the field and observe the successful sales people as s/he works... just observe, take the time to profile several individuals, and note the traits and skills that they are relying on to gain successes.

Throughout these profiles, there likely will be threads that describe the key ingredients... organization and administration commitment; communication and selling skills; technical knowledge; values and ethical commitments; and no doubt, a passion for the company, product and personal success. It is important to be able to clearly communicate to the sales organization what is learned, and what is expected from the sales people who will be on the team. Human Resource Management and recruiters need this information with priorities attached, in order to search for and present appropriate candidates for the development of a new team.

This is a situation where the "PROVERBIAL FLY ON THE WALL" concept should take precedence. On several occasions when I took over sales teams needing a major overhaul, I actually had the sales people I was profiling introduce me to customers as an observer, or consultant. This was so that I could observe the selling skills of the rep, and not involve myself in the sale. As these sales situations unfolded, I took mental notes and converted them shortly after to organized notes. At the end of the session, I sometimes requested from the customer, information about what they were looking for in a sales person. I also asked how the incumbent is doing. I often I got valuable information that allowed me to learn more quickly what the company needed and about how to coach the sales person.
Once the key ingredients are known, it is not a difficult exercise to organize these traits and skills into a hierarchy from critical (must have) down to needed for success. In the medical industry many of these are the same as in any business segment. I found that it was clinical experience, technical skills and a passion for success that invariably separated the 95% performers and above, from those who consistently performed at lower levels. Once I understood this, it became much easier to decide how to develop a team from the ground up... by choosing high potential performers based on their differentiating skills, experience and passion for success. Most of the other critical skills can be learned through training provided by the company or through outside consultants.

Of course, most of us start with a team and have to develop from within. It is important to let the team know what the keys to success are, and let everyone decide whether they will strive to achieve those traits... and demonstrate them consistently. When interviewing incumbent and potential new sales people, my most critical questions are around passion for success. Will the success come through achievements with the products our company offers? When well trained, competent sales people have a passion for success... it is a short step to that very success.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Sales People Get Better Just After Sales Management Gets Better

What do I mean... just after sales managers get better..?

There are fundamental selling functions that should be a part of the routine of sales people on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis. Add to those functions, which we can discuss in another posting, techniques that should become part of the essence of the sales person. The issue however is that while we know the things that make us more successful as sales people, we either don't learn and practice them, or we forget them. And when that happens, sales suffer!

The core function of a sales manager is to ensure that his/her sales people are performing the fundamentals of selling and achieving their potential. If the sales manager ensures that sales people's skills are at the highest level, all the other management functions will become routine... and things like end of quarter rants will not be necessary. Sales people will be hitting booking, revenue and margin targets; maintaining key account relationships; forecasting accurately; attaining product mix plans; communicating through management key market feedback and information... and doing so with a minimum of personal, family or company stress.

So, if sales are suffering and corporate executives have assured them selves that other issues are not the cause (product problems; new competition; marketing miscues, manufacturing delays and such) its time to look at sales management. What are the managers doing? Perhaps, it is just as important to look at what they are not doing!

Very few if any sales managers have had formal sales management training, and they are not prepared for the position they are promoted into, simply because they are very good sales people. Unfortunately, the skills that make them 'very good sales people' are not the same that will make them successful as a manager. It will take years to learn them on their own... there are few sales management training books, seminars, CDs and so on. It is a problem for companies, particularly those without significant training means, that has no quick solutions.

When a sales person is promoted to a sales management position, or a new hire into the position starts working, it is critical to communicate expectations to the new manager. This should come in the form of a job description, and written performance expectations relating to the job. The new manager should also have a designated coach which may be a second or higher level sales manager... or in small companies, the owner/president. There should be non-financial goals and target dates set as a part of the expectations... for example, travel with and assessment of each subordinate sales person; internal training on administrative processes such as forecasting; and so on. These will give a gifted manager an opportunity to get started on the right foot.

In most situations, I also recommend formal training for new managers. Companies should consider investing in their new sales managers by having them trained. One way to accomplish this is though intensive one week university courses. For example, the University of Michigan (among others) has their Effective Sales Management (ESM) course in their Stephen M. Ross School of Business. Its highlights are as follow, from their website...

http://execed.bus.umich.edu/CentersOfExcellence/Products/Search_Programs.aspx

Create a job description defining the role and behaviors necessary to function as a sales executive and leader

Gain tools to create and lead an effective and efficient sales team

Receive audit materials to pinpoint the performance gaps in the sales team

Acquire coaching and training materials to enable the development of the skill set in sales leaders

Within these highlights are the keys to the function of sales management in my opinion. First, sales management needs a formal job description because it is not an intuitive process. There are things that should be done routinely, and when they are not, the performance of the sales people suffer. I have attended other courses at the U of Michigan, and can attest to the quality of their faculty and the materials. I recommend that anyone wanting a career path that goes through sales management, attend this course. It will put things in perspective, and teach the management tools critical to success.

It should be recognized that these courses teach what I call 'vanilla' sales management. There are certain fundamentals of sales management that should be the core training and core to every sales manager's administrative processes. There are also skills that are specific to the type of market and products that the sales team are focused on... these are not taught in books or courses like the ones in universities. It is important for companies to communicate effectively what those specific sales person skills and management processes happen to be, so the manger can ensure that they are internalized.

The initial position taken in this post is that once sales managers understand their job description better, and start acting the part, sales people respond to appropriate management by increasing productivity... and that should beget performance improvement. Supposing that the manager has had training and a good job description... what needs to happen next?