When you are looking for improvements for your business, the use of management tools is essential for the analysis, control, monitoring and improvement of processes. With these tools, decision making is clearer, more agile and assertive.
It is a constant exercise, after all, nobody wants your business to be stagnant or forgotten, right?
Continue reading this post to better understand how these tools can be useful to improve your sales management and get more out of your business!
Management tool: 5W2H
One of the tools that you can use is the 5W2H, a simple and very efficient action plan method to organize and direct the actions that must be implemented, in addition to identifying the responsibilities of those involved at the time of execution.
The method consists of answering 7 questions:
- que (what?), what action should be performed;
- quien (who?), The person responsible for carrying out the action;
- when (when?), Deadline for carrying out the action;
- where (where?), place of performance of the action;
- why (why?), Purpose of carrying out the action;
- How (how?), how the action will be carried out;
- how much (how much does it cost?), Cost of this action for the company.
By answering these questions, you will have a list of activities for all stages of a project and you will be able to direct them towards efficient execution.
If implemented properly, the 5W2H tool can save you time and resources, and questions can turn into productive and more strategic actions for your business.
5W2H in practice
In the first place, it is necessary not only to define the objectives and strategic actions, but also to monitor the because they will bring the necessary insights that will help you improve your strategy.
So, let’s go to the concrete application:
The method can be useful for various situations in sales, such as:
Look at the application of the tool in one of these cases:
Example: Juan wants to increase his customer base in the next six months.
Metric: Increase
Goal: Increase 20% compared to the last semester
5W2H:
- que (what?), check the ;
- quien (who?), Marketing and sales team;
- when (when?), from 04/01 to 04/10;
- where (where?), In the company;
- why (why?), To improve the performance of the page and, consequently, the ;
- How (how?), how the action will be carried out;
- Include all critical elements of a landing page (title and subtitle, image, offer description, form, and supporting elements);
- Collect only the data that is really necessary;
- Emphasize the value of the offer;
- Place social proof;
- Add sense of urgency;
- Encourage social sharing;
- how much (how much does it cost?), does not apply in this case.
Now, it’s just do the same with the other goals.
But remember that for the application of the tool, it is necessary to invest time in preparation and planning prior to its development, so that it is consistent with the objective of correcting deficiencies and meeting existing needs.
Management tool: PDCA
The PDCA is a widely spread and widely used method for the control and improvement of organizational processes.
With this tool, we seek to identify and analyze unsatisfactory results, new ideas to assist in solutions, in addition to monitoring production processes for continuous and gradual improvement.
PDCA in practice
The PDCA is divided into 4 stages: Plan (To plan); Do (Run); Check; Act (Act).
Here we explain a little more about these four stages:
Plan (Planning)
It is at this stage that you should discuss with your team all aspects of your business and the market it is in.
You can do this through a meeting of brainstorming with your team.
It is also interesting to use the tool to establish the strengths and weaknesses of your business, analyze the opportunities and threats of the market, and what are your differentials compared to the competition.
Next, define the objectives and goals of your PDCA cycle: What problem do you have to solve? Why is it necessary to solve this question?
- Analyze all aspects of your business;
- Define the making them clearer and more practical for everyone on the team;
- Define what will be done and by whom, in addition to choosing a deadline for the conclusion of the action (for this, you can use the 5W2H tool).
The planning phase is the one that requires more dedication and time, because the better the planning, the better the goals achieved.
Do (Execute)
After setting goals based on good planning, it’s time to put it into practice.
The execution of the plan must take into account each point defined in the previous stage, respecting the stipulated deadlines and those responsible.
- Distribute activities clearly and objectively;
- Define an owner for each goal;
- Give autonomy and support those responsible;
- It establishes some norms to direct the actions and the profile of the decisions;
- Define performance indicators for the team and the company.
It is important to write down all the cases of success and failure during the execution, and if it is not possible to do what was planned, you must go back to the previous step to review the planning and start the cycle again.
Check
At this stage, it is necessary to systematically monitor each activity defined in the action plan and analyze whether or not the results were achieved. It is necessary to compare the expected result with the performance achieved and identify the points that need improvement or readjustment.
An important point is to evaluate the work methodology used and, if necessary, change some processes and strategies to obtain greater efficiency during the course of the project.
After obtaining the results, the team will have a more transparent view of the business indicators and opportunities for new actions will arise.
- Have data and evidence as a reference;
- Correct errors immediately, acting on the causes;
- Guide the team to the new path by showing them exactly where you want to go;
- Motivates and seeks the development of the people involved in the project;
- Reassess the performance indicators of the company if you consider it necessary.
Act
If your plan was executed correctly and the goals were achieved, in this step, you can adopt the action plan used by default.
What if the goals were not achieved?
It is time to act again, taking corrective actions on the causes that did not allow the goal to be successfully achieved.
The objective is to eliminate faults, improve processes and restart the PDCA cycle.
If you rotate the PDCA cycle in the sales stage, you will be able to improve all your processes in a continuous and sustainable way, and be clearer and more agile in your decisions.
Do not always forget to write down the results, actions and methodologies used!
Invest in continuous improvements
If you are entering the Now, you must have noticed that the work is never done.
Remember that in the two methodologies presented in the text there is no exact goal, since it is always possible to improve.
With each completed cycle, a new cycle begins, based on everything that was done in the previous cycle and promoting more efficient processes and greater satisfaction in your customers.
We hope that this text has resolved your doubts about these sales management tools.
To learn more about the importance of process planning and improvement, read our .
Until next time!
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