The current market scenario is highly competitive. There are direct competitors for customers to choose what kind of product they want to consume. In this sense, being aware of how to increase sales with Lean Development can make all the difference to a company’s success.

Lean Development is an operational philosophy that the main goal is to increase the value on the customer and eliminate everything that is not a value, and therefore, is a waste.

Many B2B sales professionals feel that the industry is failing to get their sales teams to effectively connect with customers to close new deals.

In this article, you will find how you can increase sales inside your team’s productivity using Lean Development in your company.

How can Lean Development help increase sales?

Lean development can help increase your company’s sales in many ways. Also, its application will make the operation more efficient and less susceptible to errors.

Essentially, this will occur through the improvement of commercial, productive, and administrative processes. In other words, mostly all areas of a company can contribute to the customer’s perception of greater value delivery. Therefore, there are some values to help increase sales with Lean Development:

Agility in order entry

Whenever you receive a new order, there is a series of administrative processes which carry out in some areas. This is true for new customers, but also for customers who are already part of the company’s portfolio.

The agility with these activities addresses each department directly to influence the delivery period of the product or service. Thus, a value stream mapping activity in administrative areas can make efficient and agile processes to be designed.

And the opposite is also true. There are slow, inefficient, and wasteful processes that can cause delays even before it reaches operation.

Right specification for new products

Whenever a company specifies a new product, there is an urgency to modify the development process.

Likewise, agility is needed for this to be done. Furthermore, if the development process is not robust enough and is subject to a lot of errors, it is unlikely that the customer will receive what he needs in a reasonable time.

As for order entry, the application of the value stream mapping tool can define a good new product development process, so that the customer receives what they want when they need it.

Great flexibility and reliable delivery

Flexibility, agility, and reliability are aspects that involve a deadline and whether it is being met. In some cases, the delivery period offered directly influences the purchase decision, given the need for the good or service, even if the price is higher than the options offered by competitors.

This is because the reduction in setup times allows the operation to produce small batches competitively, and also to produce a greater mix of products in the same period. This helps to improve service, reduce inventories and delivery times.

Likewise, Pull Systems can manage inventories strategically positioned throughout the process, improving internal logistics, to ensure a fast and reliable supply to customers and, sometimes, prompt delivery.

Improvement in product quality

It is quite evident that improving product quality will always please any type of customer.

Robust and more stable processes will be able to deliver products with a higher level of customer compliance. This is achievable by successive activities of cause analysis, troubleshooting, use of fail-safe devices, etc. The absence of problems and customer complaints will give your company an excellent reputation.

As well as scored about the delivery time, superior quality influences the purchase decision that would be based simply on lower cost.

Product cost reduction

The same stable processes which are capable of delivering high-quality products can also help to reduce production costs. It can reject rates and material losses are reduced.

Likewise, processes that use machines and equipment with high availability and performance can deliver productivity gains. Also, it contributes to the reduction of production costs.

Whenever your company sets on machines and equipment with low availability, the recommendation is that one of the Lean Development tools is ready to go,  such as Total Productive Maintenance or TPM.

It is worth remembering that, in a highly competitive market, cost increases do not always end up being passed on to customers as price increases.

If your company does not carry out a systematic cost reduction, it may be forced to operate with low margins and be less profitable. In this sense, the Lean Development application provides many solutions to promote cost reduction.

Understand how increasing sales is not so difficult if you use Lean Development efficiently? A satisfied customer does not easily switch to the competition, and this decision influences the efficiency of your company’s internal processes.

Lean  Development for Selling

This process is about the application in sales of the principles and practices of the Lean methodology.  It looks for refinement over time by manufacturing and service companies.

The Lean Sales method allows you to optimize the sales process to align it with the customers’ purchase journey.

This combines with the application of techniques such as Design Thinking and Innovation Games so that customers are more clear about the process and know how to ask for exactly what they need.

By approaching the client with a visual and cognitive methodology, you break the barrier between you and him, and you can plan how to specifically address the problem presented.

The 3 Pillars of Lean Development Sales

1. Generate interest through digital marketing

You need to have a very refined structure and be oriented to a very particular problem.

2. Change the way you relate to customers

You must stop being where customers can get in touch with and become true consultants. We cannot be afraid to delve into the problem.

3. Relying more on method and less on sales contacts

The sales process’s definition determines its flow. However, you can say that the main ones are Prospecting, Opening, Negotiation, Closing, and After-Sales.

How to develop a Lean Sales process

To manage sales processes, you can use Kanban Board, a visual methodology to divide a project into stages and guide the decision-making transition criteria. This experience allowed his company to significantly shorten the closing process.

Furthermore, you can emphasize that Kanban teaches us not to skip steps and effectively conduct the visit and proposal phases.

Finally, to successfully implement the entire process, you may keep attention to some details that will be important to your productivity.

Recognize the specific value

Recognize the value perceived by the customer before making a proposal or offering a solution.

Identify the value process

Avoid sending long proposals to the client. Try to be brief and take the time to ask the customer what they are looking for or need.

Optimize proposal flow

Do not send generic proposals via email, especially for more complex projects. Communicate directly with the customer and create proposals with their help.

Identify the solution that meets customer demand

Your proposals must be in line with the customer’s requirements, values, ​​and requests. Avoid visits and cold calls.

Always try to improve

Review your processes and results and assess what you can change for the better

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