Conference 7.286::digital

3287.0. "Input from Sales" by SMURF::BLINN (Eat Italian food) Mon Aug 01 1994 15:07

        The following has been submitted by its author (with permission of
        the other creators of the content) for anonymous posting.
        
        Tom
        
"Input From Sales."

The following document was written by me and four other sales people.  
The reason I am choosing to have this submitted anonymously is because I 
believe the observations and recommendations are valid regardless of 
geography or local management.  And I am afraid of recrimination.

I was asked to be on a task force of sales people to "validate" the 
results of the employee survey and to make recommendations for 
improvement of the most critical areas.  The team I was part of saw this 
as a good opportunity to look beyond our district and make 
recommendations for the corporation as well.

We tried to write the document without emotion or inflammatory language, 
even when we heard it in our informal interviews.  We made a conscious
decision to include specific suggestions; many of these you have heard 
before.

We presented our paper to the management team in a 2 1/2 hour meeting.  
Sadly, it was observed that management was not aware of some of these
issues and on others was somewhat defensive.  (i.e., the comment was made 
that Digital will never pay top dollar for a sales compensation plan 
because with Digital you have a career, with job security.  Sure, just 
ask the sales people that survive tomorrow if they see a career path or 
feel secure.)

In my opinion, the points made are still valid, ten weeks since the data
was gathered and submitted to sales management.  Although we asked, I am 
not aware that this report has been forwarded beyond our district.  
Finally, I have not seen any changes, and thus the posting of this note,
with the hopes that "someone" will take heed.



Date:     19-May-1994 
TO: (deleted)
Subject: District Survey Feedback                                 


Here is our feedback received from folks in (our) District.  
Over 35 people (approximately 90%) were polled on their reaction to the 
results of the Corporate Employee Satisfaction Survey done in January.  
What follows is a summary of the more pressing issues of morale, 
productivity, and effectiveness.  

This document reflects both issues and suggestions forwarded by people 
in sales and sales support.

Response to the employee survey was mixed.  A significant number of 
people thought the results were surprisingly high (i.e., things are 
worse than the results showed), while some felt the results were 
accurate.

Top areas of concern:

1.  COMMUNICATION 

The communication from corporate is not clear and on many occasions 
appears filtered.  The corporation's vision and product strategy 
appears muddled or uncertain.  Customers are unclear what the "new" 
Digital will look like.

Better communication of plans, goals, assignments, and successes is 
needed, within each working group (branch, district, region, 
corporate). 

Better communication and appreciation of individual contributors' 
success is needed.

There are too many sources of product information, each one competing 
for readership, but lacking in complete information.  Too many times 
the information is late and inaccurate, leading to errors and low 
productivity.

The output of our quote system (AQS) is cryptic and virtually 
unreadable by the lay person.  Some customers refuse our quotes, 
requiring us to retype them in English.

Digital marketing and sales personnel abuse the English language with 
too many acronyms and slang terms ("DECspeak") leading to low 
productivity and inefficiencies.  Selling time is spent clarifying and 
interpreting, not selling.  

Many field people now communicate to customers via Internet.  Greater 
awareness of this powerful medium is needed to achieve field 
efficiencies.  

Sales Update has gotten worse, not better, and is unacceptable because 
of inconsistent writing.  This document is so bad it has been commented 
on by the Gartner Group.

SUGGESTION #1:  The corporation should set its vision and communicate 
it to the field and to customers via advertising and literature.  These 
vision statements should be visible in each office.  District 
strategies and vision should be set and communicated to employees.  
Establish district calendars.  Increase clarity and candidness of all 
communication regarding organizational changes.

SUGGESTION #2:  Clarify the new structure and role of sales support. 

SUGGESTION #3:  Eliminate the redundancy and competition of service 
organizations.  Establish one clear mode of engagement. 

SUGGESTION #4:  Abolish DECspeak in all communications to the field and 
to customers.  Write all field communications with the customer as the 
intended audience.

SUGGESTION #5:  Develop product literature that answers the customers' 
basic questions:  What does it do?  Why should I buy it?  How much does 
it cost?  Develop one page product briefs that includes descriptions, 
model numbers, and pricing.

SUGGESTION #6:  Create an "Information Architecture" to communicate 
with the field.  Eliminate multiple sources of information.

SUGGESTION #7:  Streamline number of catalogs offered.  Include pricing 
in Systems and Option Catalog and Customer Updates.  Re-work the price 
books so they are more "user friendly."  Drastically re-work Sales 
Update so that it is more consistent, helpful, and direct.

SUGGESTION #8:  Re-work the quote system to generate a more readable 
document.  Implement consistent long descriptions, in English and 
without acronyms.

SUGGESTION #9:  Issue monthly memo regarding district performance, 
activities, wins, and losses.


2.  COMPENSATION PLAN FOR SALES

The corporation is on the right track with the compensation plan, but 
further revision is needed.  The plan is viewed by many as a salary 
take-away plan.  It is viewed as not being competitive within our 
industry.  It is viewed as being inequitable within Digital.  

The wide range of base salaries Digital pays leads to morale and 
motivation issues by creating a hierarchy of classes.  Some feel that 
women are underpaid at Digital.

There is discontentment and frustration because of the inability to 
ship product and accurately report sales credit, causing an immediate 
impact on income.

The plan is unnecessarily complicated and filled with acronyms.  (It 
took a two hour presentation to explain the new program.  The US 
Measurement Guidebook is 106 pages long; the Incentive Plan is 43 
pages.)  Most of our competitor's plans are simple enough to be 
explained - and understood - in less than 60 seconds.

The sales credit reports are difficult to read.  

To establish a world-class sales force Digital needs to modify the 
compensation plan or we will continue to lose good people who are tired 
of waiting.  We need to attract and retain the top sales people, the 
real "heavy-hitters."

It is felt that Digital is not prepared to pay the kind of money our 
competitors are paying for top performers.  The promise of "pay for 
performance" has not occurred.

SUGGESTION #1:  Simplify the compensation model.  Eliminate acronyms.

SUGGESTION #2:  Improve the sales credit reports to be more readable 
and accurate.

SUGGESTION #3:  Narrow the range of base salaries to eliminate the 
feeling of "second and third class" people.  Pay sales people on their 
performance, not on their seniority or sex.

SUGGESTION #4:  Consider revamping the payment plan to make a portion 
of the compensation payable at booking and the rest payable at 
shipment.

SUGGESTION #5:  Reward achievers, quarterly, with "special" payments, 
at local management's discretion, to keep motivation and moral up.

SUGGESTION #6:  Decrease the importance of the arbitrary and political 
budget-setting process by involving sales in budget negotiation or 
setting a minimum to sell before incentives are paid.

SUGGESTION #7:  Establish programs (e.g. non-recoverable draws) for 
certain periods to cover for corporate problems, such as accurate 
reporting and timely shipping. 

SUGGESTION #8:  Pay Digital top performers equitably with the top 
performers at our competition.


3.  DIGITAL CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT

Digital is not focused on the customer.  While there is much talk about 
it, the company's behavior does not demonstrate concern for the 
customer.  We are still very, very difficult to do business with.

Sales people spend the majority of their selling time "chasing" 
information, resources, and administrative details, leading to 
frustration and poor productivity.

The whole "supply chain" from receipt of order through fulfillment 
appears to be broken. 

There is a lack of trust in the company, and in management in 
particular.  Some people don't believe anything will be done with this 
survey and that it is a waste of time.  Some people believe management 
will only protect itself and that it wants a high turnover of people to 
reduce expenses.

Some people feel management does not appear to understand the real 
problems in the field, nor does it appear to have a plan to get better.  

Management is not close to our customers.  

Loyalty has nearly disappeared.  People are tired and scared.  Morale 
is extremely low.

Too many people take advantage of the Digital laisse faire culture and 
appear to not add any measurable value.  Some spend great energies 
tracking credit for a sale that someone else made.  This is allowed to 
happen because of the lack of accountability in Digital.  Not taking 
action on these people has a dramatic impact on employee morale.

The performance review and feedback system is flawed and should be 
changed.  For example, no formal mechanism exists to provide feedback 
on people we work with in other organizations (Support, Administration, 
Contracts, Base, Marketing, and yes, Management).  At other companies 
you are ranked every year by your peers (i.e., all programmers rank 
themselves).  The bottom 10% are disciplined or let go.  

SUGGESTION #1:  Discipline employees when warranted and required. 

SUGGESTION #2:  Eliminate positions and organizations that are not 
needed. 

SUGGESTION #3:  Improve training of Digital managers to cover 
motivation, employee relations, communication, and industry knowledge.

SUGGESTION #4:  Implement feedback loop on performance of management 
and other functions (administration, support, services, etc.)

SUGGESTION #5:  Focus on being responsive.  Implement a continuous 
improvement program to drive for customer satisfaction.  
                                     
SUGGESTION #6:  Hold meetings and con calls for sales people in the 
afternoon to avoid taking away valuable selling time.   Start meetings 
on time. 

SUGGESTION #7:  Eliminate conflicting goals and resources.  Drive 
behavior through team work.

SUGGESTION #8:  Hold CSC's accountable for order fulfillment process 
(quotations, tracking orders, delivery issues.)

SUGGESTION #9:  Establish clear, concise access models for resources.  

SUGGESTION #10:  Make processes simpler and clearer.  Provide more 
productivity tools and consistent training on how to use tools.

SUGGESTION #11:  Condense sales training to a concise, one day format.  
Hold training more regularly and before products are announced.


CONCLUSION 

There is a widely-held opinion that we are getting worse, not better.  
While there is great support for Bob Palmer and many sincerely want him 
to succeed, the promises he made have not come through:

    *  We now have more products to sell, not fewer.
    *  Training is slowly improving, but it less frequent since KO              
        left.
    *  Our product strategy is muddled.
    *  Our customers are confused and skeptical.	
    *  It will have taken nearly 24 months to reduce our population to
       85,000, and another 12 months to get to 65,000, contributing to
       fear and morale problems.
    *  There seems to be more confusion in who does what.

Sales management adds very little value in this company, other than 
calling meetings, forwarding e-mails, requiring reports, and doing an 
infrequent performance review.  Management at our competition, it is 
believed, know the customers and the industry, is involved in setting 
tactics and strategies, and adds real value to the sales process.

Our problems are not related to having poor products or outdated 
technology.  Our problems are related to people, systems, and culture.  
The Digital infrastructure needs to be revamped.

These issues need to be addressed before morale, sales, and 
productivity improve.  Good sales reps can not be expected to continue 
enduring this environment of uncertainty and negativism.

    Wow!  No wonder management didn't take heed of the preceding; it's too
    close for comfort.  Just about everything in that echoes what is being
    said and felt in my home district, and this notesfile.  
    
    I would add, however, that non-competitive pricing is still a problem 
    in many areas of Digital.  Our hardware may be moving toward commodity 
    pricing, but we lose too many MCS and DC deals to a lower price from 
    someone else.  And, obviously, hardware is not moving to that commodity 
    pricing fast enough, or BP wouldn't be worrying about "excessive 
    allowances" in Q4FY94.  I say, if we have to allowance 40% or more of 
    the time, the list price is too high, period.  
    
    Just eliminate the paperwork and admin hassle by pricing to sell, not
    to allowance.  And I absolutely agree that salary equity and
    competitive compensation at Digital today are a figment of someone's
    imagination.  And I say that from first hand experience! :)
    
    M.
    
    M.

    Well, you folks are doing it all wrong!
    
    Hire an outside firm to do a study that PROVES that you are grossly
    underpaid!  
    
    B/P did it and won 220 grand!
    Pay for performance my butt!  if we paid for performance the SLT would
    be GONE!
    
    p/t

    the recommendations in .0 are not new. many have been made over and
    over again. i personally made many of them same several time to various
    levels of management. none have ever been implemented. not even any
    feedback on the recommendations. in 1992 i stopped pushing for change.
    i can be sympathetic with .0's plight. but not surprised.

    	My reaction on reading 0. was "no kidding". 
    
    	Too bad management isn't subject to a 'vote of confidence'.
    	I suppose the attrition rate is one; isn't it?

.0 is right on target. Does anyone care?