What do world class organisations do?

When you cut through all the bull, and there's plenty of it, as the new business responsible fool in your firm, it'd be nice to have a benchmark of what makes the difference between the sharpest operators in the field, and the 'bottom-feeders' wouldn't it?

Here's a really simple chcklist for you to use to think about your business. The question is, the only question is, how do you compare?

I know where we sit, and knowing that really helps to get me to be hard and clear about what we need to keep and what (who) we need to lose. Great sales businesses are very clear about-

VALUE....

• They clearly understand what they do and exhibit focus and discipline
• They understand the value of what they do
• They communicate the value to clients unequivocally, without excuses, without arrogance.
  

PROCESS... HARD SKILLS

• They set measurable farming goals, marketing and profile raising
• They ingrain a culture of continuous farming (sowing the seeds of future growth)
• They have transparent incentive programs that are continuously monitored
  

MORE PROCESS... SOFTER SKILLS

• They prepare for meetings carefully
• They write strong proposals that communicate value (and they follow up)
• They deliver strong pitches
• They maintain clients through strong project delivery
• They always follow up and project review with the client