Salesforce Optimisation or Sales Optimisation
- Brainz Magazine
- Sep 1
- 2 min read
John Gelmini, aka John Alexander, is an international consultant, trainer, and interim transformation leader. He has completed 80 engagements since 1995, has helped raise £650 million, and jointly wrote Can You Handle the Truth.
Sales performance across global organisations has been in decline for years, but the solution lies in rethinking how teams and technology are managed. From restructuring salesforces into self-determined teams to refining incentive plans and leveraging customer engagement strategies, Salesforce optimisation offers a clear path forward. This article explores practical steps to boost efficiency today while preparing for the AI-driven future of sales.
Current reality on sales
In 2012, 63% of global salesforces and call centres were able to achieve their annual targets. By 2018, this had fallen to 49% and is still declining, according to Miller Heimann, a leading sales training company in America.
In mid-2018, it became apparent that to gain sales from websites, better results could be achieved by taking enquirers aside and then telephoning them, rather than relying on the website alone. This shift occurred as a result of people's attention spans being split between smartphones and the screens they are watching (computers and TVs). Salesforce utilisation, even with Salesforce automation, has risen to a maximum of 44% for field salesforces but is being eroded to a more realistic 35% by traffic and, where applicable, regulation. Not all interactions can be handled over Zoom, Teams, or BlueJeans.
For call centres, remote working and offshoring are possible, but choosing the right partners, productivity software, and incentive pay plans are not jobs for amateurs or costly Big4 management consultants.
The creation of flat “self-determined work teams” makes it possible to eliminate the need for layered sales structures and, in some cases, the need for sales directors and call centre directors.
In the future, long-term AI will facilitate better-matched targeting and salesperson selection for external salesforces, call centres, and customer service operations.
In the short term, better incentive pay plans, time/diary management, better shift patterns, and an understanding of outsourced/offshored sales are essential, along with international experience.
Read more from John A. Gelmini
John A. Gelmini, Mgt Consultant, Interim Leader & Business Mentor
John Gelmini, aka John Alexander, is an expert at optimising productivity, profitability, and sales in culturally diverse and monochrome environments. As an ex-GE Capital troubleshooter, John understands how to effect transformation in challenging environments in the corporate, public, NGO, and foreign government sectors with strategic insight and speed. He is the founder of TRANSFORMATION and believes in "mission completion" to time, budget, and accelerated roadmaps to benefits realisation.
