SizeMix Process

This is not for everyone, but if you are comfortable with numbers and see the benefits of grabbing the reins of your company’s sales force sizing, structuring and resource allocation process… read on – this letter will be an eye-opener – let me explain why…

Dear Friend,

I’d like to introduce myself, I’m Steve Maughan, founder of Cozmix Inc. Back in 1990 I started my career with ZS Associates; helping ZS set-up their first European office in the UK. My last corporate job was as a Partner with Accenture, before setting up Cozmix in 2005. In my many roles I’ve always had a passion for sales force strategy and I’ve clocked up literally millions of air-miles, working in thirty different countries, forming deep client relationships. As a result Cozmix has no shortage of consulting work…

But there are only five of us (and one of me) – how can we expand? So in 2007 we decided to do things differently. We have seen time-and-time-again the value our consulting projects create for pharmaceutical companies – but deep down we knew that this type of response analytics and resource allocation shouldn’t be a one-off exercise, carried out by external consultants, every three years – it should be an internal capability, embedded into the standard planning process. (Note: Please don’t misunderstand me, I still think there is a valuable role for consultants to provide an objective external challenge to an organization – which is why we still do a boat load of consulting projects each year).

Bringing Sales Force Optimization In-House

As a result we invested in our technology; taking our software from functional tools only we can operate, to polished commercial applications anyone can use. However, having talked with clients we realize that sales force sizing and optimization is more than just cool technology, it’s a business process. So we’ve also created a complete suite of process support materials to guide the facilitator, by the hand, and take them step-by-step though the sales force sizing and optimizing process – the whole soup-to-nuts package is Cozmix’ SizeMix Process™.

The SizeMix Process™ is broken down into five phases. Each phase has a defined objective and a clear explanation of how to use our software technology (CallMix, DataMix and SizeMix – more about these below) to complete each task. We provide checklists, PowerPoint presentations and video tutorials to speed you along the way.

Why Should This Type of Process be In-House?

There’s no doubt some things should be outsourced. It makes sense for commodity services like computer support or payroll management to be outsourced so your people can focus on key business decisions. But Sales Force Sizing and Resource Allocation are not commodity services. In fact for a pharmaceutical company not many decisions are more important than getting the right sales force size, structured appropriately (to reach the right customers), so that each product receives the appropriate level of effort. If you succeed in this you’ll be well on the way to maximizing your company’s value – if you get it wrong you’ll struggle to grow sales and, more importantly profits. So don’t you think the pharmaceutical companies which will succeed over the next five to ten years will be those who have a strong grasp of sales force sizing and resource allocation issues? This should not be something that is outsourced – this should be a core competency for all pharmaceutical affiliates.

Once the SizeMix Process™ is in-house you have full control over your sales force strategy process. This normally means you can carry out a full analysis of the size and structure much quicker than if you were to hire an external consulting company – in our experience the time required is usually cut in half. The reason is, when you hire a consultant there is a significant waste of time associated with communicating the issues, getting a proposal, selecting the vendor and finalizing a contract (and that’s before they’ve started).

What Are The SizeMix Process’™ Deliverables?

Determine, with confidence, the optimal size for your sales force (simply dial-in the optimization criteria and SizeMix will show you exactly what the ideal headcount should be)
Create the team structures and detailing plans using CallMix (the drag and drop interface makes it a cinch to test the viability of alternative team structures)
Optimize the allocation of the selling effort across the product portfolio (SizeMix shows the optimal allocation of effort as well as the incremental impact on sales and profitability)
Use the SizeMix and CallMix software to export the charts and tables to PowerPoint and Excel. This enables you to quickly create high impact communication for senior management to secure authorization for any changes (making you the star of the process)

So here is a sample of some of things you’ll learn as part of the SizeMix Process™…

Understanding the Sales Force Structure, Customer Segmentation & Effort Allocation

CallMix is the technology we use to “look-under-the-hood” and analyze size and structure of a sales force. This is the same tool we use in our consulting work. Here are some of the sales force design secrets you’ll discover:

Use CallMix to analyze even the most complex sales force and customer segmentation structures (e.g. pods) – there is no limit to the number of teams, customers, cycles or product positions
Three tell-tale signs indicating the customer segmentation may be poor (note: the SizeMix Process™ touches on many aspects of the sales force effectiveness mix, including customer segmentation – in many cases the process a general review of the sales force strategy)
Using CallMix’ import and export synchronization capabilities to distribute the data collection tasks to anyone with access to Excel. This means the data collection is a distributed task – further speeding up the process
Utilize the concept of “Minimum-Acceptable-Call-Frequency” to set the reach and frequency for lower priority customer segments (this ensures effort is not wasted by spreading the selling effort too thinly)
How to make sure the call plan is realistic and can be implemented by the sales teams
Two tests you can apply to determine if you need to start another sales team (we take the “simpler-is-usually-better” approach to designing team structures)
The reason why there should always be a definite #1 product in the detailing plan
How to use CallMix as an “Activity-Based-Costing” tool to create true product P&Ls which incorporate the sales activity in the profitability calculation. This one feature forces management to stop looking at the sales force as a fixed cost (which needs to be minimized) and start to view sales team as an investment (which needs to be optimized)
Who to involve (and who not to involve) at each stage of the SizeMix Process™ – (this guidance alone can make the difference between success and failure)
How the sales force detailing plan can be used as the contract between sales and marketing (CallMix makes managing the detailing plan as simple as drag-and-drop)

Use SizeMix to Crunch The Numbers

SizeMix is a truly unique technology. It contains powerful analytical capabilities; but what really sets it apart is the ease of use (Note: ask for a demonstration). Here are some of the capabilities:

A simple method you can use to detect when a product manager is “sandbagging” their sales forecast
Two techniques to quickly, and easily, illustrate why many people underestimate a product’s sales carryover
Use SizeMix to instantly see which products need more, or less, selling effort; and the incremental impact on sales and profitability
Multi-year optimization and sizing means you can see the changes to the recommended size and allocation from year-to-year as the portfolio and markets evolve
The big mistakes people often make when using historical data models (and how you can avoid them)
The single most important question that must be answered when analyzing the upside potential of a product (many rookies trip up on this one, but if you get it right the implementation will be plain sailing)
Optimize sales or profitability based on the long-term or short term (this analysis shows you how to allocate your sales force when you need more profit and how this allocation changes when you simply need more top-line sales)
SizeMix’ domain specific optimization technology can cope with even the most complex “s-shaped” response curves (this means there are no artificial restrictions on the response curves and you can model your product responsiveness more accurately)

SizeMix Process™ is NOT a Black Box Solution

In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Over the years Cozmix has found it is essential for all stakeholders involved in the process to understand the rationale for all recommendations and changes to the sales force size, structure or resource allocation. This means the technology and process cannot be a Black Box that just spits out an answer. The process must prove the solution is both sensible and robust. We’ve worked hard to ensure this is the case and it is quite unique:

SizeMix automatically performs sensitivity analysis so you can see the impact of the sizing when the underlying assumptions change (we have seen many cases where this one feature has convinced senior management to take action and approve a team size change)
Create Excel-based multi-year dynamic simulations of your business so anyone can create their own scenarios in a spreadsheet (BTW this is a great way to communicate the results of your work)
We show you when and how you should allocate “strategic effort” to products and let SizeMix optimize the allocation of the remaining effort across the product portfolio

Find out More…

It’s impossible to convey all of the benefits and features of the SizeMix Process™ in a four page text document, so please come and see us at our booth at SFE Europe and we’ll give you a full demonstration of the SizeMix Process™ and technology. You can also contact me to set up a web demonstration – my direct line is +1-407-915-4852.

Yours sincerely,

Steve Maughan