Makis Marmaridis

Founder & CEO @Thanexa | Managing Director at IMTG | Work Management & Collaboration Expert

Talks about #crm, #saas, #productivity, #growth and #collaboration

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

The fix is rarely a new tool. It's deciding who owns what, and what happens when it slips.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

If execution depends on heroics, the system is broken.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

Heroics feel like commitment. They're a sign nothing was designed to catch the work before it fell.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

That isn't a sales problem. It's a follow-up problem, and it's fixable.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

Most quotes don't get lost. They go quiet.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

Nobody says no. Nobody says yes. The customer orders somewhere else, and you find out weeks later.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

The covering note, the alternatives, the discount call: the rep.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

My rule for proposals: if two reps would type it the same way, the system should type it.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

Pricing, stock, product sheets, terms, the follow-up schedule: templated.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

Most skip the third. Without it, the date is a hope.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

The meeting went well. Everyone agreed.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

An agreement someone can act on needs one name, a date someone will check, and what happens if that date passes.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

It didn't lose on price. It lost on time.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

Monday, a customer asks for a quote. Should take twenty minutes.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

It goes out Tuesday afternoon. They ordered elsewhere Tuesday morning.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

If you tick three or more, message me "quotes" and I'll walk one of yours through with you.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

Most quotes don't get lost. They go quiet.

Nobody says no. Nobody says yes.
The customer orders somewhere else, and you find out weeks later. If you find out at all.

I put together a one-page checklist of the signs I see most often in distributors' sales teams.

[Makis Marmaridis @makis]

Seven of them. Tick the ones that are true for your team today.

Three or more, and it isn't a sales problem. It's a follow-up problem, and it's fixable, usually on the systems you already have.