Executive Insight

The Route to Sales Excellence

The Route to Sales Excellence

For over 20 years PLAYER MAP has been the sales process of choice for thousands of salespeople and hundreds of companies worldwide.

But sales mastery takes more than a world class methodology. It takes sales professionals with the capability to build enduring client relationships, skillfully position products and services to advantage and out-compete rivals. Recognizing this, PLAYER MAP and Charlesmore Partners International have created a Sales Certification Process to provide a systematic and sustaining route to competitive sales excellence for sales professionals and sales teams.

Based upon the proven principles of PLAYER MAP and best practices of professional development and learning, sales professionals and sales teams engage in an intensive, experientially-rich development process that builds the 10 core competencies of sales excellence.

Sales excellence can be readily validated by the consistent achievement of stretch sales targets set by companies and consistently achieved by the best performers. But to reach this level of achievement and to sustain these results year-on-year takes more than effort, it takes a highly developed skill set.

Over the last two decades we have worked with and studied successful sales people in some of the world’s best and most prestigious companies.

Consistently the most successful sales professionals role model a series of discernible and definable core competencies:

• They excel at sales skills, sales strategy, sales process management, and customer relationship management
• They possess deep market knowledge, strong industry relationships and comprehensive product and/or service knowledge
• They are emotionally intelligent, serve as peer leaders within their own organization and with customers, possess outstanding communications skills and consistently hit their numbers

We’ve codified and distilled these capabilities into their core elements so that we can help sales professionals understand the DNA of sales excellence.  From this knowledge base, we have created an engaging, intensive and experientially-rich development process to help guide and catalyze accelerated progression to sales excellence.

PLAYER MAP certification can be earned at three professionally demanding and progressive levels. Each level requires developed and validated competencies in the 10 dimensions of sales excellence. It is a long-term professional journey of competency development and accreditation that is designed to help sales people excel and win more. We also offer a certification process for sales managers charged with orchestrating the development and performance of intact sales teams.

PLAYER MAP certification works for professionally-ambitious individuals, intact sales teams and at enterprise-level. Companies can private label the certification methodologies and embed into their core talent development practices. It can be self-guided, sales manager guided, trusted advisor-guided or PLAYER MAP coach guided and really depends on needs, circumstances and preferences. The intention is to provide a robust and practical development platform to help sales professionals significantly and more rapidly improve their competencies.

For more information contact Edward Ferris or Scott Leland.

Crisis Communication Workshop at NIRI Annual Conference 2012

Wed - Jun, 6 | 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Location: 6B (Convention Center 6th Level)

Category: Conference Workshop | Secondary Category: Communications

Join us for an interactive case study on crisis communication. The case study combines immersive participant engagement, effective simulation including media and analyst interface as well as subject-matter expert commentary. The setting: WidgeCo management is in a spin! We won't tell you why, but there's a crisis and they are ill-prepared. Using action-learning techniques, participants are plunged into the role of an investor relations officer on-point to advise on how to regain control of a rapidly escalating crisis. It is a roller coaster with plenty of twists and turns.

Moderator/Lead Speaker:
Edward Ferris, Managing Partner
Charlesmore Partners International

Panelist(s)/Co-Speaker(s):
Sydney Rosencranz Isaacs, Senior Vice President
The Abernathy MacGregor Group

James Lucas, Managing Director
The Abernathy MacGregor Group

John Palizza, Lecturer in Management & Consultant
Jones School of Business, Rice University & Three Part Advisors

Rachel Posner, Senior Managing Director & General Counsel
Georgeson

Andrea Rose, Managing Director
Joele Frank, Willkinson Brimmer Katcher

Taylor Thoen, CEO - Founder, Executive Producer
BTV Business Television

Scott Winters, Vice President Corporate Planning & Research
Plains Exploration & Production Co.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn how an IRO can and should respond during a crisis
• Learn what IROs can and cannot plan for in terms of a crisis
• Give IROs enough confidence and knowledge of the core principals to be active participants and leaders in their company's process in planning for and responding to crises
• Understand the differences in dealing with the various constituent audiences during a crisis --media, analysts, suppliers, employees and more

Why Now?

Seasoned IROs will have the opportunity to test their response skills and thinking processes against the decisions reached by the other teams. It will be an excellent starting point for individuals new to their roles to understand the core fundamentals around crisis communications planning. Knowing the key principals in crisis communication is also always a relevant topic.

Actionable Takeaway Documents

The WidgeCo case study and associated documents, including mock 'news' video reports

Are you prepared for a Crisis? Checklist.

Crisis Communications: four questions to start the planning process.

Crisis Communications Resources for today's IRO/Corporate Communications Professionals

Event URL

Total Realized CEO Pay Increases 15%

A new report on CEO pay by corporate governance firm GMI Ratings details a second straight year of double digit pay increases in the Russell 3000.  

The report, released today, examines pay changes in the Russell Index as well as the S&P Index. In addition, it provides a look at the ten highest paid CEOs of 2012 thus far and the details of the executive pay packages. Key findings of the preliminary survey include: 

• Second consecutive year of double digit total realized compensation increases at the median and average for the Russell 3000 
• Total realized compensation in the Russell 3000 saw a median increase of about 15 percent
• The highest paid CEO so far is Michael O. Johnson of Herbalife Ltd. at $89, 419,474
• Three of the ten highest paid CEOs thus far in 2012 are from the software Industry

Download the full report.

Source: GMI Ratings

The Next 10 Female CEOs

The ranks of female chief executives remain thin—with women in the top spot at just 35 Fortune 1000 companies.

In this article by Joann Lublin and Kelly Eggers, 10 female executives are profiled – women whose operational expertise and track record make them likely picks to lead a Fortune 1000 company within five years. The lineup was compiled from an informal Wall Street Journal poll of 15 U.S. search firms, executive coaches and women's organizations. Human Capital News, a newswire owned by market research firm HSZ Media, also surveyed 75 human-resources executives for the Journal.

In the video, Ms Eggers talks about the selections.

Source: Fins

Achieving and Sustaining the Strategic Logic of the Merger

Following a merger, management is under intense pressure to address challenges such as defining integration priorities and quickly identifying and capturing synergies. In addition, special attention has to be paid to addressing cultural change and controlling business risk in the new organization.

Key considerations include:

• What is the best way to most quickly realize the strategic objectives of the merger?
• What must be integrated quickly, and how to draw down on synergies?
• How to best integrate two different cultures and deal with conflicts between them?
• How to retain key talent during and beyond the integration process?
• How to keep employees focused on business and customers during the integration process?

It is widely known that roughly half of all mergers and acquisitions fail to create shareholder value and that about one-quarter actually destroy it. It is also no secret that there are tried and tested methodologies for successfully integrating companies. So why do so many deals—especially those that appear to offer substantial cost and revenue synergies—produce such disappointing results?

Read more...

The Gender Wage Gap by Occupation

Full-time working women in America earned only 82.2% of men's median weekly earnings last year, according to a new report by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, a think-tank in Washington, DC. Women earned less than men in almost all occupations. Only in the fields of "stock clerks and order fillers" and "bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks" did women make slightly more than their male counterparts. The gender wage gap (women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s) was most pronounced amongst CEOs and financial managers. Female chief executives earned only 69% as much as male bosses, reports The Economist who analyzed the findings.

The study reports that women’s median earnings are lower than men’s in nearly all occupations, whether they work in occupations predominantly done by women, occupations predominantly done by men, or occupations with a more even mix of men and women. During 2011, median weekly earnings for female full-time workers were $684, compared with $832 per week for men, a gender wage ratio of 82.2 percent. Added to the gender wage gap within occupations is the gender wage gap between occupations. Male-dominated occupations tend to pay more than female-dominated occupations at similar skill levels, particularly at higher levels of educational attainment. Tackling occupational segregation is an important part of tackling the gender wage gap, IWPR suggests:

“The gender wage gap and occupational segregation—men primarily working in occupations done by men, and women primarily working with other women—are persistent features of the U.S. labor market. Only four of the 20 most common occupations for men and the 20 most common occupations for women overlap. Four of ten women (39.5 percent) work in traditionally female occupations and between four and five of ten male workers (44.5 percent) work in traditionally male occupations; only 5.8 percent of women work in traditionally male occupations and only 4.6 percent of men in traditionally female occupations.”

Read the report

Chart: The Economist

New Release: CEO Succession Practices Report

The Conference Board has just released the 2012 edition of CEO Succession Practices, its annual report documenting leadership turnover events at S&P 500 companies.

One of the most important strategic risks that a corporation must manage is the succession of its chief executive officer. This is true today, more than ever, due to the extraordinary challenges posed by the economic times we live in and the increased turnover of top business leaders. To make an informed decision, the board should understand not only the technical knowledge and experience necessary to effectively lead the company into the future, but also the context and practices of the succession planning process. 

The purpose of CEO Succession Practices is to provide such background information and serve as a practical tool to the corporation in the performance of this critical task. 

In its News Release, The Conference Board highlighted the following key findings:

CEO succession rate

In 2011, 55 CEOs in the S&P 500 left their post. The rate of CEO succession was 10.8 percent, consistent with the average number of annual succession announcements from 2000 through 2010.

Company performance and CEO age as determinants

The probability of CEO succession is higher following poor performance. In the 2000–2010 period, the succession rate of CEOs of poorly performing companies averaged 14.0 percent, ranging from a high of 21.2 percent to a low of 10.0 percent. In 2011, the succession rate of CEOs of poorly performing companies was consistent with the prior trend at 12.7 percent. The succession rate of CEOs of better performing companies varied from 6.5 percent to 11.6 percent during the 2000-2010 period, averaging, 9.7 percent. In 2011, the succession rate of CEOs of better performing companies was 10.3 percent.

The probability of CEO succession is also higher for CEOs who are at least 64 years of age. In the 2000–2011 period, the succession rate of CEOs who were at least 64 years old ranged from 29.0 percent to 9.4 percent (on average, 18.4 percent over the period), while the succession rate of younger CEOs ranged from 8.3 percent to 13.4 percent (on average, 10.1 percent over the period). The rate of CEO succession for younger CEOs is remarkably consistent across the sample.

CEO dismissal rates

CEO dismissal rates vary across the 2000–2011 period, ranging from a high of 40.0 percent in 2002 to a low of 16.2 percent in 2005 (on average, 28.2 percent for the period). Despite that variance, the rate of CEO dismissals for the 2000–2005 period, at 28.6 percent, is similar to the rate for the 2006–2011 period, at 27.9 percent. Since 2008, which roughly coincides with the beginning of the financial crisis, 28.6 percent of all succession events were associated with CEO dismissals.

Inside promotions and outside hires

Consistent with a continuing trend in the hiring of outsiders that has been recorded since the 1970s, 19.2 percent of successions in 2011 involved an outsider CEO appointment.

Joint election as board chairman

Only 19.2 percent of the 55 successions in 2011 involved the immediate joint appointment of an individual as CEO and chairman of the board of directors. Based on reviewed succession announcements, the majority of departing CEOs remained as board chairman for at least a brief transition period, typically until the next shareholder meeting.

The report is organized in four parts: 

Part I: CEO Succession Trends (2000-2011) illustrates year-by-year succession rates and examines specific aspects of the succession phenomenon, including the influence on firm performance on succession and the characteristics of departing and incoming CEOs. 

Part II: CEO Succession Practices (2011) details where boards assign responsibilities on leadership development, the role performed within the board by the retired CEO, and the extent of the disclosure to shareholders on these matters. For ease of reference, data is categorized based on industry groups, company size, and financial performance. 

Part III: Notable Cases of CEO Succession (2011) includes summaries of 10 episodes of CEO succession that made headlines in the past year that were carefully chosen to highlight key circumstances surrounding each transition. 

Part IV: Shareholder Activism on CEO Succession Planning (2011) reviews examples of responses by companies that have recently received shareholder proposals in this area. 

The report ends with an Appendix featuring The Conference Board Roadmap to CEO Succession Planning—a series of practical steps to make it all happen. 

Click here to access the report 

Source: The Conference Board

Inside the Foxconn iPad Factory

An interesting and balanced report from American Public Media reporter, Rob Schmitz:

Read Schmitz’s notebook from his visit.

More about Apple in China and Foxconn from American Public Media’s special project portal The Apple Economy, including the debunking of Mike Daisey’s account of Chinese factory conditions that initially caused such a furor.

Breakthrough-Thinking Revolutionizes the Sales Training Industry

This is a story of business disruption and an executive brave enough to cannibalize a successful business because he felt there was a better way to serve clients.

Just two years ago PLAYER MAP – a sales performance advisory firm – was celebrating two decades of helping sales organizations improve their win rates on large, complex sales projects on a worldwide basis. Clients included large high technology and engineering firms employing hundreds of field sales personnel in over 60 countries. Client sales personnel were responsible for many millions of dollars of revenue generation in highly competitive industry sectors.

Over the years PLAYER MAP had continued to refine its approach and methodologies, but essentially it taught sales people how to compete for and win high value projects. It had a loyal client base and a large, active user base for its methodologies. Mostly, salespeople liked how PLAYER MAP distanced itself from the process complexities of other competitive/consultative selling offerings and kept it all simple and pragmatic. And it worked, with one large global client reporting 30% improvements in win-rates and doubling of average project profitability.

Yet PLAYER MAP still delivered its methodology in high-impact (generally) two-day workshop settings – as is the industry norm. Participants left with new tools, insights and considerable enthusiasm. Clients shelled out relatively large facilitation fees. Sustaining momentum though was hard - as it is with all training type of interventions. Frequently PLAYER MAP was called in to provide refreshers or to coach on particularly important project pursuits.

Believing there had to a better way, PLAYER MAP president, Scott Leland set about reinventing the business. Today, the essence of the PLAYER MAP methodology has been distilled into a $3 a month computer app. Clients are signing up in droves. Large companies are enrolling hundreds of field sales personnel and process adoption seems to be sticking and working. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) industry leader Salesforce™ has just approved PLAYER MAP to be embedded into its AppExchange offerings.

So what do you get for $3 a month?

Access to a web-based portal and application where you can build a “map” of the “players” vital to the success of each of your project pursuits. Graphical keys readily label the players and visually show the positives and negatives of the situation – what is looking good and what needs to be worked on. Sales managers and colleagues can weigh in and the “Player Map” becomes a tool for project communication and collaboration. A series of legends reminds users of the competitive strategies they need to consider to advance and intensify the project pursuit. The portal is full of handy tips and reminders that guide the utilization of the tool.

Most importantly, the application becomes the sales and communication tool that users work with each and every day. It sure beats all of those complex proformas that typically characterizes large account methodologies.

Certainly users need help to get started and the company offers free webinars to new subscribers. Expert process coaching is also available to users and sales managers to enhance process utilization or to provide guidance on specific project pursuits. But it’s certainly a disruptive business model that reinvents the sales training marketplace, and clients are loving it. PLAYER MAP has a mantra, “Sell more sooner when you Player Map it” and this is playing out in practice.

For more information on PLAYER MAP, please visit www.playermap.com or call 414-921-2550.

In addition PLAYER MAP has also recently launched a professional certification process for its users. Based upon the proven principles of PLAYER MAP and best practices of professional development, the certification process provides users and user companies with a systematic and sustaining route to competitive sales mastery.

Charlesmore Partners has a strategic alliance with PLAYER MAP, is certified to provide PLAYER MAP user coaching and is the co-developer of PLAYER MAP’s new Certification Process.

Download .pdf

 

A New Capabilities Presentation From Charlesmore Partners International

Consultants in Organizational Strategy

• Why organizational strategy matters
• What organizational strategy is
• Selected clients and projects
• How we work
• How to reach us

View more presentations from Charlesmore Partners International