|
Several companies align their strategy and products to their organisational structures, and so do their sales functions. That is why most of the times they don't meet their targets. Sales structures must emerge from the sales strategy.
The key objective of a sales organisational structure is to create flexibility, accountability and, most importantly, focus. Hence the first level of reporting to CEO must be along customer segment.
Several organisations cut by geographies/products before customer segments, so you may end up with the high net worth segment sitting under several product heads and multiple salesmen targeting the same customer at uncontrolled frequencies.
Or we could have a geographically-divided sales organisation with area managers managing multiple products and segments like mini-CEOs, but with little segment or product level focus.
Product classes
The second level of division should be along product classes. For example retail banking can be split by cards, loans and liabilities.
These can be further cut by products: auto loans, mortgages and personal loans under loans. This kind of structuring also allows for more effective cross-sell of products within the same customer segment as they are all residing under one segment head.
Next, sales organisation can be broken by geography and channels. Branches should be tasked to focus on their catchment areas through direct sales teams, which should operate as extensions of branches.
Many times direct sales teams are separate units with no clear geographical focus, operating like unguided missiles while branches are unable to improve penetration in their areas and are confused whether they are a sales unit or service unit, and they end up being neither. The role of call centre in the sales process is important.
While call centre may not be integrated with sales as it requires operational/process related metrics to be tracked, they should have separate outbound teams who have a dotted reporting to sales.
The outbound telecallers should work closely with on-field sales execs as 'crack-teams', as it is difficult to close sales purely over the phone. Salesmen need leads to keep themselves busy which are provided by the callers. Allocating leads to a common pool leads to leakage.
Other sales related functions such as product management and marketing should be sales controlled especially in fleet footed retail organisations where market response time is almost negative. It can report to the segment/product class head.
The other function that should also report to business is credit admin, since they are responsible to customer sensitive parameters and must be accountable.
While they may not report to sales at lower levels like branch managers, a dotted reporting at business head level (who are responsible for profitability and portfolio as well) is ideal. There should also be a sales support function to interact with credit operations wherever credit admin is unable to fulfil this requirement.
Finally, the structure should not be created by putting boxes around people, it should be the other way round with people hired or moved to fit the boxes.
Sanjiv Anand, managing director, and Himanshu Bansal, senior engagement manager, Cedar Consulting International.
|
