Subscribe to the SymVolli Newsletter

Do you like getting wet, feeling cold? I expect the answer is NO. So you rely on the weather forecast to help you decide what to wear and whether to take an umbrella. In the main you know that the weather forecast is going to be reliable because a great deal of experience combined with technology is used in getting it as accurately as possible.

So why do you accept all the stress that an unpredictable sales forecast brings?

Is it because you believe that this is how sales is done and nothing can change it?

Do something about it! Bring some order and discipline into the way your sales team works so that you can start trusting the sales forecast.

With your sales experience and with SymVolli, our sales qualification and forecasting system, you can start to trust your sales forecast.

We will be more than happy to have a brief chat to establish whether this is an issue.

Why not give us a call on 01276 683449

PS. Download the highly acclaimed article ‘Sales Performance: Part 1 - Sales Forecasts: Sales Fact or Sales Fiction?'

Following on from Hugh Stafford-Smith’s article about People and Talent, I believe that the sales person is a very visible target and therefore in the absence of other information he is the first person to come under the microscope when things are not going according to the sales plan.

I have two issues with this approach: firstly, that the sales person is the one of the most expensive resources within any organisation and to get rid of him should be done with due care and attention;, and secondly the sales person is the key component in the overall activity of how a company goes to market.

In an ideal world the sales person would be trained fully on the solutions and products he is selling; the markets into which they are being sold; the problems that are being addressed; and the benefits they bring to the purchasing company. So it could be that it is not the right product for the right market at the right price. Add to this that the message by marketing might not be one that is resonating with the people that should be influenced in at least looking at the product. Please, before everybody jumps on my back about the relationship of marketing and sales, I am one that believes that the two work together with the specific aim of achieving the business goals that are set. What I have described is an over simplification of many situations, but it serves as an example that sales is a multi-dimensional challenge.

We have developed SymVolli based on the fact that selling is not only about the sales person but about all the different factors that influence the sale. So, to be able to review and refine any parameter within the sale you must collect historic data in the most efficient and painless manner possible. SymVolli collects that data as the sales person does his job in managing each of the sales. That data is turned into meaningful information for management to make decisions via the use of the business intelligence functionality within SymVolli. You could say that we are able to track the behaviour of not only the sales person but of the products, markets, customers, etc. with very little effort.

So next time the finger is pointed at the sales person for not making his or her targets, just ask one question, are there any other factors that should be considered before the magic words are uttered, ‘You’re Fired’.

In the last newsletter we sent out to our subscribers we alluded to a number of announcements on some of the new elements and features that will be shipping with SymVolli 7.5 which will be released in January 2010.

In the first announcement of our newest version of SymVolli we decided to focus on 'Business Intelligence' in line with the new Business Intelligence functionality that SymVolli 7.5 has. I have written a short article discussing the issues that companies face in using Business Intelligence and how we deal with BI in SymVolli 7.5. 

Business Intelligence should be affordable and accessible to large and small companies alike. Download our article and take a look at how we think Business Intelligence should be tackled.

As we are tackling the business critical issue of sales performance improvement we need to develop our business partner channel based on people who have the expertise in this field and who are comfortable in dealing with senior management. Graham Whittle is a professional that has the experience both in sales performance improvement and in dealing with senior management. We at Nomis Limited and SymVolli look forward to a long and prosperous partnership with Going4Growth.

"As a Sales & Marketing Professional, I am always looking for ways in which I can add further value to my clients." said Graham Whittle, Managing Director of Going4Growth. "A recurring theme I hear from business owners is the challenge of how to manage a company working with sales forecasts they can’t trust. Typically, this is because they offer low predictability being based on the ‘gut feel’ of sales people and often times stuffed with low quality leads. Symvolli uniquely addresses this challenge head on: it enables business owners to see the future more clearly and to make investment decisions with confidence."

Graham Whittle is an experienced Sales & Marketing Professional with a successful track record working with both SMEs and larger international corporations. During his career, Graham has devised and implemented sales & marketing growth strategies for industry leaders in manufacturing, distribution and services across a wide range of industry sectors in the UK and overseas. He has managed marketing programmes in Europe, the Middle East, USA, SE Asia and Australia. Graham established Going4Growth in January 2005.

Going4Growth works with the owners and directors of ambitious companies that are not winning as much business as they deserve, and who have taken the decision to make a fundamental change to their sales & marketing activities. Typically, these companies have hit a sales 'glass ceiling' and are frustrated in their efforts to break through by winning many more new clients to achieve their growth objectives. This is often despite having spent a lot of money, time and effort on various sales & marketing initiatives and 'good ideas'. Going4Growth helps them to develop and implement effective sales & marketing programmes that deliver £000s of profitable new business and realise their growth ambitions.”

In a world of change, it may be forgiven for thinking that public sector and large corporate industry giants are organisations that frequently need catching up with the ever moving world that we live in. As agents of creating "new and effective" organisations, Cameron Consulting are at the forefront of the movement to introduce critical new ways of thinking to make such organisations better, more efficient, more effective and more importantly - more profitable.

Cameron Consulting is a management consultancy firm founded in 2003 by Neil Thody primarily helping public sector and construction industry firms. Today the expansion of the business boasts an impressive portfolio of professional services clients and an extensive network of partners within their business channel. It was with this business partner channel in mind that we were first consulted with the idea of creating an improved facility to manage the partner channel through their ‘partner portal’.

Through the flexibility of SymVolli, a partner portal with all the functionality required of a partner portal was created but as the implementation of the system has progressed the full magnitude of the power that SymVolli can offer to a business was seen. Not only does SymVolli manage the functionality of business partner activities such as registering interest in public sector tenders, collaborate and view all opportunities etc. but SymVolli will be used to measure effectiveness so that channel performance can be improved.

Neil Thody, managing director of Cameron Consulting said "As an SME business, we wanted to explore the use of web-based technology to bring our network of associates closer together and to operate more as a ‘partner network’ than the traditional ‘associate’ model. We wanted to create a kind of social network for our partners to collaborate on projects and to utilise the combined forces of highly qualified professionals to enable us to compete with larger organisations. In using SymVolli, our original objective has been achieved. However, as our learning of the capabilities of it increases, we see far greater potential internally as a management tool in managing projects, performance monitoring and e-commerce. Our journey towards greater efficiency has just begun!"

George Petri said "the implementation of SymVolli within the Cameron Consulting working environment has been an exciting challenge in pushing the boundaries of how organisations go to market. Cameron Consulting have been a strong ally in the development of SymVolli from an internal sales performance tool to a means of managing and monitoring projects no matter whether the channel that is dealing with it is internal or external. We in turn have shown how using SymVolli as a sales performance management system will help Cameron manage the business more effectively. We are now looking to push the boundaries even further working with Cameron."

In the ‘7 habits of the new and effective organisation’ by Craimer, that exemplifies the Cameron Consulting ethos – "Utilising Technology as an effective resource" is one of the contributing factors to how they help other companies improve their businesses. Recognising the benefits of technology such as SymVolli shows by example the commitment they have in helping not only their clients but also their own business in an ever changing world.

Cameron Consulting – www.cameron-consulting.co.uk