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We invited Laurent Martel, sales director of the Sarbacane group - a software publisher - to explain his commercial strategy to us. After 12 years in the Digital sector, Laurent supports his sales team to exceed their goals.
3 breakdowns in sales that have upset commercial organizations
There are of course several types of commercial organizations depending on your customer target and your level of development. Many companies collaborate with Akimbo to boost the organization of their sales team, whether on issues of guidance, outsourcing Or of Coaching.
A historical example with Benjamin Franklin
A bit of history to start: Benjamin Franklin set up the first insurance company in the United States: The Union Fire Company. At that time, the salesmen were at the same time Hunter and Farmer. So they spent their time prospecting, Hunt prospects, but also to collect payments from their customers. This organization was a problem: great salespeople spent as much time collecting payments as they did prospecting. Since the activity was too scattered, this limited the development of businesses.
Benjamin Franklin was the first to put an end to this in dividing the roles within the organization of his business, and by determining who would be Hunter And who would be Farmer. In the same department, we saw some Sales taking over (the equivalent of Business Developers and Account Executives today), while the others were in charge of collecting (the Account Managers in 2022).
At the time, this work was often done by newcomers who were seen as the Second knives of the commercial organization until 1920.
It was only from 1930, and in particular with Dale Carnegie and his expertise, that the Sales began to theorize for good their practice.
The arrival of the SaaS model with Marc Benioff
The SaaS model has existed since the 1960s. But the SaaS model, as we know it today, has only really existed since Marc Benioff and Salesforce.
This model sprayed the shopping barrier #1 thanks to the possibility of paying a monthly subscription, and its ease of installation and use.
The monthly subscription resulted In fine a reduction in price, and allowed customers to have more control over the purchase decision. Effect accentuated by the possibility of taking out a subscription freemium. So to do some free trials (Trials).
Likewise, access to information on the various possible SaaS solutions made it possible to pre-mash Sales staff's work: decision-makers already have an idea of the solution they would like to have and have already selected those that interested them.
The end of an organizational model
The arrival of SaaS put an end to the model Hunters vs. Farmers created by Benjamin Franklin. Three major models now have their place.
- The island.
This horizontal model is still widely used today: the sales manager is surrounded by a team of 360° salespeople who takes care of the entire sales cycle: from prospecting to closing, and retention. It is very simple to set up but creates a very big competition between Sales. It promotes emulation between salespeople, but this is not always the case.
This model also has the disadvantage of not specializing salespeople, while maintaining the attractiveness of the role through the diversity of tasks to be performed. Indeed, the disparity of tasks to be performed limits the degree of training on the different scopes of the job. How do you decide if this organization is the best? We'll talk about it later.
2. The pod.
It is a fairly scalable model that works in squads of 4 to 5 people divided by roles that we will be able to specialize in specific market segments or on verticals.
For the Sales & Business Development lexicon, go to hither.
3. The Assembly Line.
The most represented model today is The Assembly Line. This model makes it possible to specialize sales teams according to the customer journey. So we have the marketing team that supports Inside Sales on incoming leads. The SDRs will manage the incoming leads, the BDRs the hunting part (Outbound), Account Executives focus on demos, etc.
Each team benefits from different resources and tools to specialize. It works on distinct goals, based on different indicators.
When and why should an Assembly line be set up?
The island vs the Assembly Line
The island model has several advantages: it allows you to deal with a single interlocutor and to better manage the information that is centralized. In addition, it is a model where each Sales is not dependent on the performance of another. Each aiming at closing objectives relating to their own actions.
However, when the average basket exceeds 3,000 to 5,000 euros, it is interesting to start switching to a model where everyone is more specialized: that of The assembly line.
The model Full Stack (of the island) is a model that is not very scalable and above all, it poses the problem of dependence on an individual. If a Sales person performs particularly well and decides to leave, the overall performance of the company will be affected. This happens less often when the model is that of the Assembly line: this time the performance is divided, and therefore not dependent on a particular individual.
However, the traditional island model lacks relevance and efficiency: when all Sales start prospecting at the same time, and when they seek to close several leads, this inevitably leads to a low in the pipe a few weeks later.
The Assembly line model also facilitates hiring by making it possible to recruit a particular specialization (an Account Executive for example). The initial offer may then be perceived as more attractive since the development plan and internal resources may seem more ambitious.
On the company side, Sales are better trained and the model is more easily scalable: the junior SDR can then become a BDR and then can evolve into an Account Executive if the need arises.
Working in silos also makes it possible to work on specific indicators by specialization and therefore to better control them.
On the other hand, working in a silo leads to a loss of relationships since a person often signs for the salesperson and for the established relationship. Payroll is also increasing, as is its cost, which is why it is important to have a well-constructed onboarding process (at least 1 month) to ensure that the salesperson will be effective immediately.
The aim? Challenge the new Sales team on various topics to make it grow in power over time. And this while setting up specific KPIs to monitor its evolution (which may lead to an increase or a change of position internally later).
The 5 stages of assembly line development
When creating a startup, there are 5 steps:
- The founder is Sales on the first 20 to 30 transactions. When this stage exceeds an MRR (monthly recurring income) of €50,000 per month, the founder can start hiring.
- After a good recruitment session, the first Sales is hired. It is an Account Executive who will do inbound and outbound. Above all, it will take over from the founder who will be able to devote himself to more strategic subjects. The MRR reached €100,000. We can then seek more specialization with an SDR (which supports the account executive) and a CSM which, at this phase, will mainly solve technical problems and ensure that the customer journey goes well.
- We accelerate by hiring a growth hacking team and by aligning marketing and sales, in terms of actions as objectives. The ARR (annual recurring income) is then between 2 and 3 million euros. The various silos are set up.
- The fourth and final step is the Full specialization. We are increasing the payroll by silo. We break the CSM part. Account Managers are set up whose mission is to onboard the tool. The CSMs will then make sure to have satisfied customers.
- We are working on new verticals or on international development...
How to distribute and manage the distribution of territories between sales representatives?
Geographical distribution
Geographic distribution is inexpensive, fast, and easily scalable.
However, the potential by sector is difficult to assess, and as decision-making is centralized, the rest of the teams are dependent on decision centers. For example, if decisions are taken in Paris and you are in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, it is no longer difficult to access decisions. The distribution may also be less equitable.
Breakdown by product
This distribution allows each Sales to demonstrate their expertise on the product, the value provided is greater and management is easier to implement.
On the other hand, if a lot of products are on sale, each Sales will therefore be a mono-product and the sale will be less customer-oriented. The goal will be to sell your product even if it means eating up the sales of your colleagues on other products. The payroll is necessarily higher, resulting in a greater cost. The interlocutors are multiple and we step on each other's feet more.
The distribution by size of businesses
The business model will be adapted according to the typology of the sectors to which we are addressing and allows very high speed in the business generation part. This distribution is particularly scalable.
On the other hand, the cost is higher because the payroll is greater. It is logical to complement this distribution with a geographical distribution.
Breakdown by vertical/Firms
This distribution allows for excellent expertise and an excellent understanding of pain points on the vertical. It makes it possible to draw value and reputation.
On the other hand, it is not very scalable, requires a lot of marketing and human investments and is relatively long to develop.
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