As I pointed out in a recent article, we’re going to need fewer, smarter B2B sales people. But that’s not all: we’re going to need to support them in a much smarter, less prescriptive sales environment - at least that’s the position put forward in the latest edition of the Harvard Business Review.

I admit it: I used to be a process evangelist, but I’ve become increasingly wary of the perceived benefits of implementing a rigid, prescriptive sales process in which every sales person is expected to follow a set of narrowly defined “best practices” - and to waste a deal of their time documenting the fact they have followed each step in their CRM system.

Unleash your sales people's creativity

Homayoun Hatami of McKinsey is one of the co-authors of the widely acclaimed “Sales Growth - Five Proven Strategies from the World’s Sales Leaders”. I shared some of the key findings from the book in one of my latest blog articles - and recently enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with Homayoun and learn more about his experience of using micro-segmentation to uncover market hotspots.

Twitter is a runaway success, with more than half-a-billion registered users, and a community that spans both business and consumer interests. But what makes a “great tweet”? The May 2012 edition of the Harvard Business Review highlighted some fascinating research into user perceptions from a survey covering over 1,400 users people who were particularly technology-focused and news-centric - so more likely to represent a B2B audience than the average Twitter profile.

Everything suggests that 2012 is going to be a very difficult year. Economies around the world are slashing growth projections, unemployment is rising and buyers are behaving in an ever more risk-averse fashion. Against this challenging climate, can you afford to be wasting a single ounce of sales or marketing effort?

It’s November already - less than two months to go before the end of the year. I’m sure that your sales team is very focused on closing as much business as they can in 2011 - but how is 2012 looking? It may be shaping up as an Olympic Year for the UK - but is your organisation's sales performance going to be in the running for a gold medal next year?

What are the factors that separate many of today’s top-performing B2B sales and marketing organisations from the rest? Having outstanding products and services that are truly relevant to a well-defined target audience is clearly important. But when you look at the factors that truly separate the fastest growing vendors from the rest, it’s often their ability to execute that really impresses. They have the ability to align their entire sales and marketing organisation around a common set of winning strategies and tactics.

Is your sales process characterised by lengthy buying cycles with the involvement of multiple decision makers? Are buying decisions frequently delayed or postponed? Are you finding that you are losing to a decision to “do nothing” as often as you lose to a conventional competitor? Then you’re not alone...

You’ve probably heard the frog in boiling water anecdote. So the theory goes, a frog that is placed in cold water and gently heated will be slowly cooked to death, whereas one that is dropped into boiling water will leap to safety. Is it possible that your prospects behave in the same way?

What are the key factors that determine whether your organisation is going to be able to realise its full potential? The quality of your people and of your product offerings is clearly critical. But if you have a B2B focus and are competing in high-value, complex sales environments with lengthy decision making cycles, I’d like to suggest 10 questions you should be asking of your organisation...