"BOA is a solid process to evaluate key business opportunities, improve closing rates, and determine the necessary steps to win each key piece of business."

Larry Cleve
Rockwell Automation

Business Opportunity Analysis

Printable Version

Business Opportunity Analysis (BOA) is a repeatable and reliable critical Sales Opportunity analysis process that captures the ‘Best Practices’ of top Sales and Management professionals.  It is presented in an easy-to-use format that provides immediate impact on Sales Team Productivity measured by:

  • Revenue Growth
  • Profit Margin Improvement
  • Critical Project Win Rate Increase
  • SG&A Cost Reduction
  • Forecast Accuracy Improvement

BOA and Your Company

The BOA Sales Process content and support materials are customized to your specific company’s unique needs, business issues, and culture. BOA customization, deliverables, and process reinforcements are completed by a highly-seasoned sales professional familiar with your company’s specific marketplace to maximize effectiveness and key concept retention.

Who Should Attend BOA?

The BOA Sales Process is recommended for use by any sales, marketing, proposal, engineering, project, and program management employees, plus their respective leadership, who are involved in closing complex original sales opportunities and amendments.

BOA Critical Value-Added Processes Include:

  1. Prioritizing Sales and Sales Support resources to maximize revenue and profit margins – Provide clear, concise action plans on your most critical pieces of business to insure that all Sales and Sales Support personnel are on the same page and understand what is needed to maximize effectiveness to win more orders at higher margins.
  2. Maximizing Selling Time Investment with effective customer account qualification and Decision Maker focus – Make sure your entire Sales Team is calling on all the real Decision Makers at the right accounts to achieve your sales objectives in less time. This includes a decision process to know when to Stop Sales Investment Time.
  3. Developing effective Critical Action Plans based upon each opportunity’s unique Sales Cycle Timeline – Emphasize investment represented in customer face-to-face selling time and be properly prepared to maximize sales call results based upon the project’s unique sales cycle timeline.
  4. Enhancing Contribution of Value differentiation based upon customer’s unique needs – Understand Business Benefit needs at each level of Decision Maker and properly position your product/services to achieve a positive Contribution of Value perception, which will result in higher Win Rates and higher profit margins.
  5. Solid Relationship Building with your most important customers – Develop lasting relationships and get out in front of the specification and RFQ, while it can still be influenced, instead of being just another low price bidder at another project auction.
  6. Forecasting Real Probability of closing critical Sales Opportunities – Determine the probability based upon measurable actions being completed, not gut feel.
  7. Effective Sales Performance measurement prior to the order being lost – Provides measurable performance criteria to easily understand when additional support or guidance is needed.

Key BOA “Take-Aways”

  • Provides common nomenclature to describe and relate sales activities to internal and external opportunity team members,
  • Delivers proven opportunity development and tracking methodology with customized tools,
  • Enables improved visibility and prioritization on the top sales opportunities per participant,
  • Develops specific strategies and action plans for at least two opportunities per participant,
  • Confirms forecast probability of closure for each piece of business,
  • Measures BOA sales process short-term and long-term effectiveness, and
  • Measures at least one aspect of sales personnel performance and/or channel management effectiveness objectively.

 

Sample Agenda (may be altered to your company’s specific needs)

 

8:00AM Introduction, Program Overview, Review of Pre-Workshop Assignments
Define Business Opportunity and Potential
Calculate Selling Time Investment
Define and Identify Decision Making Levels
9:00AM Define and Identify Decision Maker Power Values
Define and Identify Contribution of Value
Define and Identify Business Benefits
Define and Identify Perception of Value Impact
10:00AM Break
10:30AM Information Analysis for Sales Strategy
Qualification Process
Define and Identify Customer Value Characteristics
Selling Time Investment Stages and Sales Pipeline
12:00PM Lunch
1:00PM Long-Term Relationship Development Strategy
Key Elements of the BOA Worksheet
2:00PM Development of Additional Specific Opportunity Strategies
4:00PM Review of Strategies, Q&A, Common Challenges

 

Typical Return on BOA Investment

  • Revenue Increase > 30%
  • Profit Margin Improvement > 20%
  • Critical Project Win Rate Increase > 40%
  • Selling Time Investment Reduced > 20%
  • Forecast Accuracy Improvement

Industry Leaders Utilizing BOA

  • Delphi Corporation
  • Rockwell Automation
  • ConocoPhilips
  • FANUC Robotics
  • Lee Hecht Harrison
  • And more!