May 4th, 2012
You’re probably using Dealmaker in a variety of ways. Working a deal on your computer in the office; projecting your Dealmaker opportunity or account plan onto a meeting room screen to share with your audience; showing your forecast or account plan to people remotely via the web.
Whatever your situation, you and your audience will get more out of Dealmaker when your browser screen is maxmized.
To maximize your browser screen, click the F11 button on your keyboard (PC users only). This is a ‘toggle on-toggle off’ feature which will remove or reinstate the browser borders, enhacing usability for all.
Hit F11 to Maxmize Your View of Dealmaker
Tags: Screen, view
Posted in General | No Comments »
April 27th, 2012
The reporting screens in Dealmaker present you with a wealth of filtering options to slice and dice your data. When you select Forecast Analysis or some of the Performance Coach screens, you will see that the default reporting period is always the same and this may not suit your purposes.
The default reporting period is set within Dealmaker Administration by your Administrator. He or she can select the starting month, the report duration, or opt get Dealmaker to follow your CRM system settings.
Of course, you can select any valid reporting period you like by typing in the dates in the correct format or using the graphical calendar tool, but when you log back in to Dealmaker your reporting screens will show the default period.
Do you Understand the Default Reporting Period?
Setting the Default Reporting Period in Dealmaker Administration
Tags: Default, Reporting
Posted in Forecast Analysis, General, Management, Opportunity Management, Performance Coach, Sales Process | No Comments »
April 20th, 2012
When you’ve only got your CRM system to rely on for sales process and forecast, your team are inputting their own subjective estimates of sales stage, closure probability, and a close date which is geared around your organization, not the customer, and who’s the one doing the buying?
Forecasting does not have to feel like roulette. The sales process science in Dealmaker takes the guesswork out of forecasting. Dealmaker removes the subjectivity that naturally permeates sales people’s assessments of where they are in the sales cycle, replacing it with objective in-depth analysis of your team’s actual performance and knowledge of what it takes to close deals. The result is a more accurate forecast with early warnings about problem areas for better coaching sooner.
Besides, when did you ever win a certain percentage of a deal? It’s 100% or nothing. A weighted average or expected revenue figure, which is just closure probability multiplied by pipeline, can be way under or way over what you should close, as in the exampe below. Make sure your team understands and trusts the Dealmaker projected figure. Your forecast will be more accurate and you’ll be happier as a result.
Does Your Team Understand the Dealmaker Projected Figure?
Tags: Forecast, Forecast Analysis, Projected
Posted in Forecast Analysis, General, Management, Opportunity Management, Sales Process | No Comments »
April 13th, 2012
Any healthy pipeline has the right balance of deals in terms of size, and you want to see this balance in your team’s sales forecast. If you want to fill a barrel with rocks and maximize the usage of the capacity of the barrel, you have to fill the gaps between the rocks with stones or pebbles. It’s the same with your pipeline. The right balance means you’re not on the one hand hoping a couple of elephants are going to drop, and on the other hand, you’re not chasing your tail trying to close too many insignificant deals.
Be sure to explain the importance of balance to your sales team and also where the numbers come from. Dealmaker can be configured according to your business, so you determine what constitutes a rock and a pebble given your typical deal sizes. This is done in the Administration component of Dealmaker.
A green tick-mark represents a good balance of deals, as it relates to Jane’s specific organization. A red ball reflects a small number of very large deals, and a yellow pebble pyramid a large number of very small deals. The last two instances betray a deal mix which presents a risk to your forecast. A couple of large deals, they could make or break your quarter. A bunch of small deals, you may not have the bandwidth to bring them all in in time.
Does Your Team Understand Rocks, Stones and Pebbles?
Pipeline and Forecast Mix Settings in Dealmaker Administration
Tags: Forecast, Forecast Analysis, Mix, Pipeline, Pipeline Analysis
Posted in Forecast Analysis, Management, Opportunity Management, Pipeline Analysis, Sales Process | No Comments »
April 6th, 2012
If you’re a sales leader looking at your team’s forecast, the red flag system allows you pinpoint the problem in a specific deal and focus your coaching immediately. But do some of your people use the red flag at the slightest kink in the road, while others use it only as a last resort when the deal is almost lost?
You are the master of how you want Dealmaker to benefit the organization, so you should set policy for your teams and give them guidelines on the circumstances under which everyone should use the red flag. Only when you have standardization across Dealmaker usage will you maximize your benefits. Your guidelines shouldn’t be confined to red flag use. Here are some other areas where you can encourage consistency:
- your ‘SLA’ for when you will get back to them by when they raise a flag, and your policy on ‘un-setting’ the flag once the issue is resolved
- when to use the comment boxes, and for what information
- when to set a qualifier to amber
- what the escalation process should be when your recommended competitive strategy conflicts with your opportunity assessment
- what is the acceptable number of decision criteria you should prioritize on an opportunity
- what the process is for chasing overdue PRIME actions
Set Guidelines for Waving the Red Flag
Tags: coaching, red flag
Posted in Forecast Analysis, General, Opportunity Management, Qualifier Assessment | No Comments »
March 30th, 2012
If you’re working on an opportunity and you need help, wave the red flag in Dealmaker. The switch on/switch off red flag facility allows you to draw attention to an issue.
Your manager can see the red flag against your name in the forecast summary and also against the opportunity in the forecast detail section. He or she can then drill straight into the opportunity at the correct sales stage and focus his or her coaching accordingly.
Dealmaker is designed to make you as successful as possible. Success comes from the most productive use of your valuable selling time.
Wave the Red Flag for Manager Help
Tags: coaching, red flag
Posted in General, Management, Opportunity Management, Qualifier Assessment, Sales Process | No Comments »
March 23rd, 2012
When you’re working an opportunity, you want to be able to figure out where you are in the opportunity as soon as possible. You might be revisiting the opportunity after some time, or you might be coming back to it right after a great call or meeting to update it.
As well as the sales methodology (how am I doing in this opportunity relative to the competition?), Dealmaker also automates the ‘where am I in this opportunity?’ in the Sales Process screen.
Dealmaker brings you straight into the correct stage in the opportunity, so you don’t have to work through notes and stages from the beginning to figure out where you are.
The top left section of Sales Process summarizes the key information pulled from your CRM system. The top right section summarizes your pipeline qualification status. Dealmaker remembers which sales process your opportunity is connected to (enterprise, mid-tier, transactional, plus perhaps many others unique to your business). The mid-left section gives you an immediate Dealmaker summary on your opportunity:
- what sales stage you’re at
- the objectively calculated close date
- the objectively calculated closure probability
- how many days until the opportunity should close
- what sales process the opportunity belongs to (which dictates the number of sales stages and the qualifiers per stage)
- a pause until date if you have paused the opportunity
All you need at a glance, rather than having to trawl through countless notes.
Dealmaker is built around saving you time and guiding you through your opportunities.
Where Am I In My Opportunity?
Tags: Sales Process
Posted in Opportunity Management, Qualifier Assessment, Sales Process | No Comments »
March 16th, 2012
When you’re working an opportunity and thinking about what to do next, ideas come to you about things you need to accomplish, help you need to enlist, and people you need to see. You don’t want to forget these great thoughts – after all they help strengthen your position in your deal.
Use the Add Action button to get them in the system right away. You bring up an easy-to-fill-in pop-up without having to go to the PRIME Actions screen and when you click Save you’re still where you were.
There are Add Action buttons throughout Dealmaker Smart Opportunity Manager and in the Objectives, Strategies and Actions part of Dealmaker Smart Account Manager.
Dealmaker is designed to maximize your sales productivity and selling time.
Quickly Add An Action While Working Your Deal
Tags: Actions, PRIME
Posted in General, Opportunity Management, Qualifier Assessment, Sales Process | No Comments »
March 9th, 2012
Dealmaker is designed to guide you and be intuitive. If in doubt, check your on-screen prompts, there’s a wealth of information to help you out:
- wherever you see an asterisk or an information icon you can mouse-over it to get more detail on what it is and how you can use Dealmaker
- if that doesn’t help you, you can access the Dealmaker online help and navigate to your topic
Help is just a mouse-over or a click away.
Use the On-screen Prompts!
Tags: coaching, online help, prompt, support, tool tip, tooltip
Posted in General, Opportunity Management | No Comments »
March 2nd, 2012
Flexibility is the name of the game with Dealmaker. The Administration area of Dealmaker allows your organization to customize your selling processes exactly to your requirements. This includes setting the qualification thresholds for each sales stage. Some of your qualifiers will be deemed essential, which you must satisfy in order to progress. Some will not, and this means you can bypass a qualifier and progress to the next stage if you have met the essential criteria and passed the threshold.
Don’t forget that if you do bypass a qualifier, this may well throw up a warning sign in your opportunity assessment
Dealmaker is designed to combine the rigor of following best practice with the flexibility for getting the deal done.
Do I have To Complete All Qualifiers to Progress My Deal?
Tags: opportunity, Qualifier
Posted in Opportunity Management, Qualifier Assessment | No Comments »
