Applying the Theory of Constraints to Communications

I recently finished the book "Velocity: Combining Lean, Six Sigma and the Theory of Constraints to Achieve Breakthrough Performance - A Business Novel" by Dee Jacob. As you may know, I work for a manufacturing company that has successfully implemented lean initiatives. Reading the story I started to make connections from the manufacturing process to the production of marketing communications.

To compare Manufacturing to Marketing Communications:

Order = Request

Scheduling = Prioritizing

Raw Materials = Market research, strategy & positioning

Production = Creative, design and composition

Quality = Edit & approve

Shipping = Distribution

If we choose the Quality/ Edit step as the "Constraint" and this is arguably the most critical stage, how can marketing communications apply lean principals to speed up the process to and from the constraint to maximize throughput?

Six Fields to Manage Your Business

WebEx's Stu Schmidt goes on to boldly state in the book Sales 2.0, you only need six fields in your CRM to manage your business. They are:

1. Sales rep's name
2. Account name
3. Opportunity name
4. Deal value
5. Expected close date
6. Sales process stage

He maintains that "the innovation here is tracking the sales process stage. That's the only one that's going to change on a regular basis."

What is the minimal amount of data you need to manage your business?

Product vs. Solution Buyer

In profiling WebEx, the authors of Sales 2.0 discuss the distinction in additional buyer types.

"If a customer knows how to solve his problem, he is a product buyer. If he is open to direction, he is a solution buyer. You have to sell to them differently."

How many buyer types has your company identified?

Customers Don't Buy Solutions

My new favorite quote from Sales 2.0:

The book quotes WebEx's Stu Schmidt saying

"Customers don't buy solutions in and of themselves, they buy business results."

Schmidt goes on to suggest Sales should be talking less about solutions and more about the customer's quantifiable, financially viable business results.

Are your Sales Reps thinking like the targets executives to create value for their company's shareholders? If they did, would they be asking different questions?

Wisdom of Crowds

As the authors continue to discuss the Oracle profile on page 130, they talk about technology implementation. I was most intrigued in Oracle's technical service wiki/blog.

"The blog allows sales reps to feed in their questions...The blog is actively managed by a set of knowledge workers that ping sales consultants around the world...when a question comes up that's related to their expertise and skills."

The author emphatically states that one person's knowledge pales in comparison to a community of experts.

How do you make your experts available to your sales force and your customers?

The Right Skill Set

In Chapter 12, the authors profile Oracle. In looking at the origins of Sales 2.0 they emphasize the importance of having managers with the right skill set. They recognized that the "skills required to manage an inside operation - with its technology-friendly orientation, high volume of sales calls, and focus on metrics and processes - were often very different from those of the average Oracle field sales manager."

Can you identify people in your company with the right skill set to manage an Inside Sales Team?

The Value of Predictability

The book Sales 2.0 discusses the importance of measurement at each stage of the sales cycle. In Chapter 9, they stress

"...by measuring the development and outcome of this continual pipleline of sales opportunities [prospecting, qualifying & nurturing] through the sales process, your quarterly revenue will become more consistent and predictable"

My question, what is the value of this predictability to you?