Lean for Sales and Marketing

In 2011 LERC launched a new course - Lean for Sales & Marketing - which is designed to help companies integrate their sales and marketing functions into their lean transformation programmes.

The Context

Since customer value is at the core of the lean philosophy, lean should have a very close relationship with the Sales and Marketing function in a business, which is traditionally the guardian of customer relationships and the conduit through which needs and wants are understood and fed into the production and service delivery processes.  Yet all too often the link between the two areas is weak and communication poor, with a ‘functional silo’ mentality dominating, leading to a disconnect between operations and the customer.

A common problem faced by many organisations who have embarked on their lean journeys is that they struggle to get the lean philosophy accepted and adopted in all business processes and functional areas. In particular, the Sales and Marketing function is often signled out as being particularly resistant to lean thinking, as its processes are considered 'different' and not suitable for lean techniques.

Furthermore, as additional capacity is created through the removal of waste elsewhere in the organisation, Sales and Marketing often need to be able to respond quickly.The course will aim to bridge the gap and make lean relevant to Sales and Marketing.

Areas of Focus

• How the philosophy and principles of lean relate to the Sales and Marketing environment
• Customer value - both from an external and internal perspective, how to measure what adds value and understanding the 'voice of the customer'
• The benefits Value Stream Management can offer Sales and Marketing teams in securing and strengthening partnerships with customers - looking at growth from a supply chain perspective, as opposed to a pure sales approach
• Sales strategy and the need for effective deployment to the team, including roles and responsibilities, appropriate measures and targets etc
• Customer segmentation and classification benefits
• Enabling participants to get closer to their customers to understand what they value, which in turn will lead to a more aligned strategy and increased sales & profitability
• Developing more effective sales processes to enable significant sales growth at no additional cost to their business
• Enabling commercial types to recognise the importance of value stream work in facilitating partnership discussion with customers, leading to increased sales and reduced costs
• Providing an opportunity to differentiate sales approaches from the competition by using lean tools and techniques to drive growth with key customer partners

Course Structure and Timetable

The course is 3 days in length and the maximum group will be around 15 participants.

Suitability

• Private sector businesses - medium to large
• Business to business sector, consumer
• Those in Sales Management, Business Development, Key Account Management, Marketing Management, Marketing Planning (e.g. Sales, Commercial, Marketing Directors)
• Operations Managers with Sales and Marketing linkage, interface or responsibility
• Lean Coaches, Lean Champions
• For those organisations already on a lean journey

Dates & Location

No dates available at this time.

Fee

£950 [note-this does not include any overnight accommodation costs]

For more information on the course, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .