From sales prospecting to cold calling and emailing, and qualifying leads to closing the sale, it’s a well-known fact that sales reps have their work cut out.

But did you know that, according to research by The Bridge Group, 1/3rd of salespeople fail to meet their sales quotas? Not just from time-to-time either, but on a permanent basis.

As somebody who’s at the helm of your sales team, it’s your duty to supply your colleagues with the right systems, processes, and tools. You must make sure your team succeeds.

For sales success – specifically, qualifying leads for the sales pipeline properly, getting higher close rates, meeting quotas, and dramatically boosting your bottom-line – use the MEDDIC methodology and process.

Never heard of MEDDIC before?

No sweat.

Read through the following sections in this Process Street post to get clued up:

• What is MEDDIC?
• Why is the MEDDIC sales methodology so useful?
• How to do the MEDDIC sales process properly
• Bolster your sales team’s efforts with Process Street!

Or, if you wanted to make use of our MEDDIC Sales Process Checklist Template straight away, grab it here:

Click here to get the MEDDIC Sales Process Checklist Template!

Let’s dive on in. 📈

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Who is Kanye West?

A musical genius? A passionate campaigner? Jesus? Or a spontaneous, unintelligible twitter ranter?

“I’m telling you, I am Warhol. I am the number one most impactful artist of our generation. I am Shakespeare, in the flesh. Walt Disney. Nike. Google…”

“A lot of people here felt like they lost. You know why? Because y’all been lied to. Google lied to you. Facebook lied to you. Radio lied to you”

“My greatest pain in life is that I will never be able to see myself perform live”

Kanye West is a brilliant example of how impulsive, unplanned communication can ruin a reputation.

But it’s not only famous celebrities that suffer the cost of off-the-cuff comms.

Unplanned communication is costing companies over $37 billion every year. This is no surprise when you consider that over 60% of companies don’t create or follow a communication plan.

It’s time to stop winging it and start planning it.

Read this Process Street post, grab our free communication plan template, and learn how to communicate properly, as we go through the following:

• The basics: What a communication plan is
• Three must-have communication plans
• Why having a communication plan is a no-brainer (with true stories)
• How to build a communication plan with Process Street

If you’re keen to start planning your communication right now, grab this free Communication Plan Template Checklist:

Click here to access the Communication Plan Template Checklist!

(Sign up for a free trial here, if you’re not yet a Process Street user)

Let’s start talking…
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If there’s one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has taught the world of business (apart from that remote work is the future), it’s this: We aren’t prepared for disruption.

Supply chains, in particular, suffered a massive shockwave, with supermarkets, shops, and services being unable to operate the way they did before the virus struck. In fact, more than 3,000 suppliers in China were driven to force majeure declarations in the first few months alone.

As the world moves toward a new normal, you’ll be thinking about disruption and risk a lot more than you had done previously.

For businesses using suppliers, it’s necessary – now more so than ever – to establish a stellar procurement process to ensure goods and/or services can always be secured, no matter if micro (small, every day) and macro (large, extraordinary) disruptions happen.

That’s why, in this post, I’ll be discussing what the procurement process is, the benefits a documented and solid process brings, what the flow of a robust procurement process looks like, and how Process Street can help.

Read through the below sections to get up-to-date:

• What is procurement and the procurement process?
• The benefits of the procurement process
• The procurement process flow (with a procurement process example)
• Use Process Street for procurement and all other business needs!

Or, if you just wanted to get your hands on a procurement process that you can default to in every day and extraordinary situations alike, grab it here:

Click here to get the Procurement Process Checklist Template!

Ready to become a pro at the procurement process? 📦
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This is a guest post by Jory MacKay. MacKay is a productivity obsessed writer and editor of the RescueTime blog. He loves to use data and storytelling to help people take back control of their time.

A recent survey of 850+ knowledge workers from around the world found that 92% of people regularly work on evenings and weekends. That’s a terrifying statistic. And while it’s easy to lay the blame on ballooning priorities and overwhelmed teammates, those are only a small part of a bigger problem.

Poor time management strategies seem to be the underlying issue, and in this Process Street article, we will explain how you can remedy this.

Our days have become cluttered with busywork, non-stop communication, and unclear priorities. We rarely have more than half an hour to focus on any one task at a time and so we end up taking our most important work home with us to make progress.

But as study after study has shown, we need to be able to disconnect from the workday to stay happy, healthy, and productive.

So how can you help your team take back control of their time, make meaningful progress on important work, and still punch out at the end of the day? It comes down to a combination of using the right data and adopting effective time management strategies.

In this article, we will cover:

• Time management strategies and how to prioritize your time with Process Street
• Team time management: The perfect storm of busy work and bias that eats up your team’s time
• How to improve personal productivity and track where your time goes
• 5 time management techniques: Ways to give your team more time each day

Let’s jump straight to it!
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After the Second World War, Japan was faced with tremendous infrastructural damage and needed to begin the long, difficult process of repairing pretty much everything. During this time, Allied forces occupied Japan and oversaw the process of reparation – many American experts were enlisted to aid in the efforts to rebuild Japan’s economy and infrastructure, while at the same time ensuring no military force was re-established.

Among those enlisted was W. Edwards Deming (of the Deming Cycle and PDCA fame). One of the early goals was to begin production of new radios; the problem was, new management was unskilled, production facilities and raw materials were in short supply, and quality management was a big issue.

Long story short, Deming helped to spearhead the establishment of quality control initiatives focusing on top-level management taking responsibility for clearly defining quality policy and procedures. This kind of quality control framework came to be known as Hoshin Kanri, and it eventually proliferated beyond Japan and over to America and the rest of the globe.

A 2020 report by the IPMA Organisational Competence Baseline (IPMA OCB) explained that to execute business vision, mission, and strategy, implementation of the Hoshin Kanri approach – also referred to as Hoshin planning – is vital for lean and strategic management, and for future-proofing a business.

In this Process Street article, you will learn: What Hoshin Kanri is and its history, why you need to implement Hoshin Kanri in your business or line of work, and how you can do this using our free Hoshin Planning: Hoshin Kanri Policy Deployment Process Checklist.

You can navigate to the most relevant section for you using our quick links below. Alternatively, read on for a gentle introduction to the fundamentals of Hoshin Kanri.

• What is Hoshin Kanri and where did it come from?
• Hoshin planning and key concepts
• Main benefits of Hoshin Kanri planning
• Hoshin planning: Using Process Street to implement the Hoshin Kanri process

Let’s go explore the concept of Hoshin Kanri!
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When was the last time you actively went shopping? More to the point, when was the last time you bought something without checking it out online first?

Exactly.

Welcome to the retail apocalypse.

Or, in less dramatic terms, the demise of brick-and-mortar shops as the world shifts to buying online.

Where opportunities lie, entrepreneurs will pounce. That’s why at least part of ecommerce’s success can be attributed to people quickly learning how to start an online boutique, grocery delivery service, and so on.

Let’s take a look at some figures.

• By 2040, around 95% of all purchases are expected to be via ecommerce.
• In 2018, retail ecommerce sales grew 23.3% over the previous year.
• The total value of global retail ecommerce sales will reach $4.13 trillion in 2020.

Evidently, it is true. The retail apocalypse is upon us. Fortunately, we at Process Street are here to provide you with the tools to build your doomsday bunker. We have created 9 superpowered checklists that will ensure that you are equipped and ready to ride the wave of retail Armageddon.

If you’re just here for a checklist to use when learning how to start an online boutique, check out our free Business Plan checklist below!

Feel free to jump to a specific section of this post by clicking on the relevant subheader below. Or, just keep on scrolling.

• What is an online boutique?
• What to know before launching your online boutique
• How to start an online boutique: 9 free checklists
• How to establish & run a stellar boutique with Process Street

Alternatively, if you are already clued up on online boutiques and are ready to get stuck in, sign in to Process Street and start creating within Process Street.

(Sign up for a free trial here, if you’re not yet a Process Street user)

The links below will direct you to the section of this post that contains your desired checklist:

• Business Plan Checklist
• Brand Strategy Template Checklist
• Amazon Trends Analysis Checklist
• Monthly Cash Flow Plan Checklist
• Social Media Report Template Checklist
• Ecommerce SEO Checklist
• Neil Patel’s: Website Funnel Analysis Checklist
• PPC Report Template Checklist
• Quarterly Strategic Marketing Process

Now, it’s time to start building your doomsday bunker.

Let’s get started!
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I have a proposal for you.

I can build you a house, complete with walls, windows, doors, and a roof for $350,000.

Do we have a deal?

No. I didn’t think so!

To make a decision like this, you need cold hard facts. You need details, clarity, and proof! You need budgets, breakdowns, and solid guarantees.

That’s exactly how a project stakeholder feels when they receive your project proposal, and explains exactly why companies only win 15% of the proposals they submit.

Project stakeholders will, on average, receive around 50 proposals a week. To choose you out of this huge pile, they need clarity, details, specifics, lateral thinking, and a whole heap of persuasion.

You need to learn the art of how to write a project proposal, to stand any chance of winning their investment, and increasing your proposal success rate.

So, join me in this Process Street post where we will take the following lessons in how to write a project proposal:

• Lesson #1: What a project proposal is
• Lesson #2: What a project proposal reviewer is really looking for
• Lesson #3: The surefire way to succeed with your project proposal
• Lesson #4: The 4 types of project proposal & how to create them (with tips & templates)
• Lesson #5: A little more about Process Street and how it can help your project proposals

If you’re in a hurry, grab this Project Proposal Template Checklist, and catch up with the class later:

Click here to access the Project Proposal Template Checklist!

Now, butts on seats, no talking, and let the class begin!
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This is a guest post by Rimma Sytnik – a Senior Digital Marketer at Reply with 4+ years of experience with email & messenger marketing, on-page SEO, and link building.

Did you know that a nurtured lead can make, on average, a 47% larger purchase than a non-nurtured lead? Did you also know that perceived indifference can cost you 68% of potential customers?

Buyer journeys are becoming more and more complex, not to mention competitive. To stay afloat, you should maximize every interaction you make with each potential customer. You need to focus on building meaningful relationships with your prospects through consistent personal interactions.

That is exactly what sales engagement is and, coincidentally, what this Process Street post is all about.

In this article, we’ll talk about the importance of sales engagement and give you some tips on how to get started. This is a brief overview of what’s to come:

• What sales engagement means (and why you should care)
• Getting started with sales engagement in three easy steps
• Best practices for effective sales engagement
• How to use Process Street to make your sales engagement work

So, let’s dive in!
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I once lost $45,000.

What makes it worse (or perhaps better?!) is that it wasn’t my money.

It was my previous employer’s.

I was managing a website build for a big client and was under huge pressure to meet a tight deadline. So, as many do, I decided to start the project before the Statement of Work (SoW) was signed by the client.

This was a big, expensive, mistake to make.

It cost an additional $45,000 to re-work parts of the build that the client had verbally approved, but hadn’t legally signed off.

Ouch.

(Despite what you might think, this isn’t the reason I don’t work there anymore!)

According to research, 37% of projects fail due to a lack of defined and approved project goals and objectives, which come with a Statement of Work (SoW). This causes around 80% of organizations to spend at least half their time on expensive rework.

“Not using a Statement of Work – SOW during the project initiation is a major cause of project failure” – 4PM, Statement of Work – SOW

But what is a Statement of Work (SoW) and how do you create one?

All will be revealed in this Process Street post, as we go through:

• What a Statement of Work (SoW) is
• Why bother with a Statement of Work (SoW)
• How to create a Statement of Work (SoW)

If you’re in a hurry, grab this free Statement of Work Process Template now, and catch up with the rest of the post when you can:

Click here to access the Statement of Work (SoW) Process Template!

Otherwise, keep reading and we’ll go through this template, in a little more detail, later.

Let’s get into it!

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Tom: “I need a new warm, down jacket for my next trip.”

Me: “Great, I would opt for Patagonia or Arcteryx.”

Why did I recommend these brands to Tom and these brands only?

It is due to brand trust. I know these brands deliver exactly what I want consistently.

As consumers, Tom and I are Patagonia and Arcteryx stakeholders. We have expectations these two outdoor brands need to satisfy to retain our custom. These expectations translate into requirements. In this scenario, our requirements were:

• Value for money
• Robust, long-lasting products
• Functional products
• Products that deliver on their intention

Patagonia and Arcteryx meet the business requirements for their products, satisfying stakeholder and business needs. And so the brands thrive with a good reputation, brand identity, leading to a healthy bottom-line and company success.

Defining the business requirements of a new product, project, system, service, or software is vital. Without defined requirements, there is an absence of clear goals, focus, and progression measures. This doesn’t bode well for success.

For instance, a study by Pulse of the Profession reported 37% of software projects failed due to poorly defined requirements.

Because we don’t want you to fail, in this Process Street article we explain exactly what business requirements are and how you can identify them for your business or line of work. We explain the benefits that come from correctly defining business requirements. We then clarify how you can document business requirements in a Business Requirements Document using Process Street’s Business Requirements Template.

Sounds like the article you need to read to succeed…right? 😉

As such, let’s jump to it. Click on the relevant subheaders below to hop-across to that section. Alternatively, scroll down to read all we have to say:

• Business Requirements Template
• What are business requirements, and why you should care
• How to create a Business Requirements Document
• Manage change appropriately via a change management model
• New to Process Street? A quick tour to help you get started

Correctly defining the business requirements for your organization or line of work starts here. Keep reading and learn how to consistently meet the needs of your stakeholders.

Ready?
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