Why Lean in Sales?

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

Why indeed? Isn’t Lean a factory thing?

Well, no…Lean is a business system comprising the entire enterprise.

The Toyota Business System, for example, addresses the three critical “loops”:

1. Design
2. Make
3. Sell

Guess which one is considered most important? Sell – because it’s closest to the customer.

Sales are about information. What features does the customer want? At what price point? What promotions does he respond to? How does she want to receive her products or service?

How was our last promotion perceived? And so on...

Production (Operations), usually our most valuable & expensive asset, runs on information. We only make what our information tells us to make.

If our information is wonky, our most valuable asset is unlikely to operate in its sweet spot. Result: overproduction, inventory and all the associated ills.

So how do we introduce Lean in Sales?

Here are some questions to get you started:

1. What is value in Sales? (Who are our internal & external customers and what do they need from us?)

2. What is waste?

3. What are some core mental models in our Sales department?

4. What are our current processes for delivering this value?
5. How aligned are they to delivering the value our customers expect?

6. How do we improve them?

Lean is harder outside the factory – because our product & processes are typically invisible.

If you make scrap in a factory, everyone can see it. “Hey, we made a whole pile of junk yesterday…”

In business processes, by contrast, you can’t see the scrap. A good forecast & a bad forecast look identical…

On the plus side, sales folks are usually smart & creative. If you introduce the fundamentals with finesse, they run with them.

All for now.

Pascal

PS For more, check out The Remedy – Bringing Lean Out of the Factory to Transform the Entire Organization.




In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look…

Back to Basics - What is Value?
You Want to Get More Done? Do Less…
Strategy Deployment & Language
Where Lean Has Gone Wrong & What to Do About It, Part 2

Why Lean in Sales?

By Pascal Dennis

Why indeed? Isn’t Lean a factory thing?

Well, no…Lean is a business system comprising the entire enterprise.

The Toyota Business System, for example, addresses the three critical “loops”:

1. Design


2. Make


3. Sell

Guess which one is considered most important? Sell – because it’s closest to the customer.

Sales are about information. What features does the customer want? At what price point? What promotions does he respond to? How does she want to receive her products or service?

How was our last promotion perceived? And so on...

Production (Operations), usually our most valuable & expensive asset, runs on information. We only make what our information tells us to make.

If our information is wonky, our most valuable asset is unlikely to operate in its sweet spot. Result: overproduction, inventory and all the associated ills.

So how do we introduce Lean in Sales?

Here are some questions to get you started:

1. What is value in Sales? (Who are our internal & external customers and what do they need from us?)



2. What is waste?



3. What are some core mental models in our Sales department?



4. What are our current processes for delivering this value?


5. How aligned are they to delivering the value our customers expect?



6. How do we improve them?

Lean is harder outside the factory – because our product & processes are typically invisible.

If you make scrap in a factory, everyone can see it. “Hey, we made a whole pile of junk yesterday…”

In business processes, by contrast, you can’t see the scrap. A good forecast & a bad forecast look identical…

On the plus side, sales folks are usually smart & creative. If you introduce the fundamentals with finesse, they run with them.

All for now.

Pascal

PS For more, check out The Remedy – Bringing Lean Out of the Factory to Transform the Entire Organization.

Pascal Dennis Bio

Reprise: In Chess (& Small Business) Lies & Hypocrisy Do Not Last Long

By Pascal Dennis

I paraphrase the great Emmanuel Lasker, philosopher, mathematician, and world chess champ from 1894 to 1920.

One of the great charms of chess is its binary nature.

You win or lose based on

• The strength of your ideas, and
• Your skill & courage in implementing them

(Note: nowadays you can download grandmaster level chess programs on to your iPad!)

Is Lasker's maxim true in business?

In small business, I'd say Yes.

Our success or failure depends on the depth of our strategic understanding, and the energy & intelligence with which we execute.

(Luck plays a part too, of course, as always & everywhere.)

How about BIG business?

Based on my experience, I'd say Yes - with important reservations.

Monopoly, oligopoly, and market rigging (e.g. to keep competition out) are all too common.

(The countermeasure is intelligent regulation in accord with the "Less is More" principle)

Another exception is large companies suffering from Big Company Disease, the villain in my last book, The Remedy

Perhaps the greatest power of the Toyota Business System (aka "Lean") is its ability to make problems visible.

Lasker might add, "thereby, we expose lies & hypocrisy."

Good Lean companies are thus, a meritocracy.

The best & brightest prosper, and bozos are exposed.

Best,

Pascal

Pascal Dennis Bio

Reprise -The Paradox of Standards

By Pascal Dennis

The Toyota Business system is full of paradox -- one of the many things that make it unique.

Standards are one its most paradoxical elements.

Standardized work (STW), for example, the best way we currently know to do a given task.

Our Lean Brain Booster pocket cards each that we need "simple, visual standards for all important things."

I was taught that STW comprises:

1. Work content,
2. Sequence
3. Timing, and
4. Expected outcome

Pretty ‘rigid’, no?

You'd think, therefore, that STW would be restricting...

But STW frees you up -- for learning and improvement!

My wife, Pamela, teaches kindergarten. Her class includes a number of youngsters with special needs (autism, learning disabilities etc.)

Children have difficulty with basic activities like tying their shoe laces, washing their hands, and going to the bathroom.

The latter, in particular, is rife with anxiety for many kids.

So, Pamela developed simple, visual standards for each of these activities.

Result: no accidents, anxiety or humiliation.

Effect: kids have more energy for learning. I'm very happy to report that Pamela's kids are thriving.

Lesson: Standards set you free.

Cheers,

Pascal

Pascal Dennis Bio

In Chess (& Small Business) Lies & Hypocrisy Do Not Last Long

By Pascal Dennis

I paraphrase the great Emmanuel Lasker, philosopher, mathematician, and world chess champ from 1894 to 1920.

One of the great charms of chess is its binary nature.

You win or lose based on

• The strength of your ideas, and
• Your skill & courage in implementing them

(Note: nowadays you can download grandmaster level chess programs on to your Pad!)

Is Lasker's maxim true in business?

In small business, I'd say Yes.

Our success or failure depends on the depth of our strategic understanding, and the energy & intelligence with which we execute.

(Luck plays a part too, of course, as always & everywhere.)

How about BIG business?

Based on my experience, I'd say Yes - with important reservations.

Monopoly, oligopoly, and market rigging (e.g. to keep competition out) are all too common.

(The countermeasure is intelligent regulation in accord with the "Less is More" principle)

Another exception is large companies suffering from Big Company Disease, the villain in my last book, The Remedy

Perhaps the greatest power of the Toyota Business System (aka "Lean") is its ability to make problems visible.

Lasker might add, "thereby, we expose lies & hypocrisy."

Good Lean companies are thus, a meritocracy.

The best & brightest prosper, and bozos are exposed.

Best,

Pascal