Recent Experience in Sales Force/Service Optimization

Restructuring of sales training and branch sales management for the national field sales force of a large telecommunications provider: Hamilton was asked to evaluate and make recommendations for how this company should train its sales force using branch sales management and regional sales trainers. All levels of the sales force were interviewed and a large scale e-mail survey was undertaken. The Hamilton team also examined "best practices" of other leading technology and business services companies. The upshot of the project was a reorganizing of the roles and responsibilities for training on product, selling skills and administration among branch sales management and the regional sales trainers. Recommendations were also made on how to use the Internet for product training.

Design of sales force compensation for a carpentry and industrial tools manufacturer: Hamilton assisted in the re-design of the sales force compensation system. The previous system had been designed to reduce sales force turnover in a recessionary period when sales volume was dropping. In an "up" market, Hamilton redesigned the quota and commission structure in a way to stimulate aggressive expansion of new business. As an aid to design, Hamilton traveled with sales people to understand the selling task and created a detailed financial model to look at the impact of different compensation designs on the bottom line.

Redesign of the sales force for a provider of information services: Hamilton first conducted a comprehensive survey of key customer groups to determine how the company could expand sales. From the survey it was clear that new sales would have to come from competitors' customers. The good news was that adding to the sales force, and creating an aggressive compensation structure, would result in success for the company. As a result of the effort, the sales force was expanded by 25%, and the sales force for one of the markets was divided between highly paid "hunters" going after new business, and moderately paid "gatherers" who would serve existing business.

Sales force sizing for a telephone provider: Hamilton developed an analytical model to determine the optimal size of a public telephone sales force. The model was based on quantifiable inputs about customer characteristics and segment, sales effectiveness, and the competitive environment.

Development of an annual sales plan for a construction materials manufacturer: Hamilton developed the annual sales plan for a company in the construction materials industry. The plan involved development of strategic and tactical objectives, staffing projections, sales quotas, financial analysis and projections of competitive activity. Having completed the planning process, Hamilton staff assisted the client in communicating the plan to the internal sales force and external sales reps.

Sales channel reconfiguration for a large publishing company: Hamilton developed a comprehensive review of sales channel deployment. The project reviewed channel effectiveness and profitability, account allocation, sales support activities, management effectiveness and sales compensation. Channels studied included direct mail, telephone sales, and three types of field sales organizations.

Design of the distribution and sales strategy for a flooring products company: For a producer of a newly patented flooring product, Hamilton researched customers and distributors to determine why sales were not expanding more rapidly. The team determined that, in fact, the new product was well regarded by existing customers and knowledgeable architects, and was selling profitably in the two geographic markets where there was intense selling effort through specialized distribution channels. The company adopted Hamilton's recommendation to double the size of the sales force and focus on two primary market segments, using the specialized distributors instead of traditional floor products wholesalers. This has resulted in increased sales and prospect generation for the company, allowing the business to move more quickly to a break-even operation.

Optimization of sales force deployment for four products companies: For manufacturers in the boating, automotive parts, construction products, and industrial safety shoe industries, Hamilton performed an analysis of territory penetrations to determine where the companies had too few salespeople. By comparing share of market with market potential, the consulting team determined where sales could most easily be expanded by splitting territories and adding to the sales force.

Certification of independent sales representatives for Yellow Pages publishers: Hamilton developed and conducted a certification program to evaluate the operations, sales, and marketing capabilities of independent selling agents representing Yellow Pages publishers to national advertiser clients. The project involved auditing over 150 independent companies throughout the US and Canada.

Automated sales presentation system for a large publishing client: Hamilton developed detailed functional specifications for, and a working prototype of, an interactive sales support system. The system selects and delivers a customized set of sales aids and relevant market information to field sales reps based on the specific needs of the prospect as defined by the rep in real-time. Hamilton system specifications were driven by in-depth interviews with the sales force, sales force management, and marketing management, coupled with an understanding of database design and the practical constraints of today's client-server platforms.

Competitive analysis of sales organization structure for several major computer systems manufacturers: For a large systems manufacturer/integrator contemplating a reorganization of its sales force, Hamilton analyzed the sales organization structure of three similar firms that had recently reorganized. The Hamilton team benchmarked these firms' alternative approaches and provided insight into their relative advantages.

Restructuring of the sales and marketing approach and organization for a technical PC-based software publisher: After researching the changing needs of the client's customers and working with its chief scientist to redesign product offerings, Hamilton developed an account segmentation approach to clearly define and optimize the roles played by direct marketing, telephone sales, and field sales. The Hamilton team identified and helped implement changes in marketing and sales processes that were necessary to effectively sell the new products. In addition, the team advised senior management on the redefinition of sales territories and reorganization of the sales force.

Restructuring of the sales and marketing approach and organization for a value-added distributor of high-end storage subsystems: For a storage system vendor competing against larger firms on the basis of greater value-added, Hamilton revealed the "key leverage points" in the direct sales and marketing chain. To amplify the power of these leverage points, Hamilton recommended both reallocations in resources and changes in the sales organization/compensation plan to optimize their impact on profitability.