The Luks Prisma Sales Profile model provides a structured framework for matching sales talent with a company’s revenue strategies. This model uses six dimensions: type, style, intensity, community, role, and drive. Each dimension plays a crucial role in ensuring that the right sales profile is selected for each level of the revenue strategy.
Dimensions Agnostic to All Levels: Intensity and Role
Two dimensions, intensity and role, are agnostic to all levels in the revenue strategy.
Intensity:
- Sprinters: These salespeople are very effective where responsiveness is essential, and sales cycles are short. They are quick, efficient, and thrive in fast-paced environments.
- Marathoners: These salespeople are more effective with complex and long-cycle sales. They are patient and persistent and excel in situations requiring long-term planning and sustained effort.
Role:
- The salesperson’s position within the team primarily defines the role dimension, such as closers, prospectors, or account managers. The specific needs of the role will dictate how the salesperson should approach their responsibilities.
Level 1: Maintaining Revenue from Current Customers
Maintaining revenue from existing customers requires building long-term relationships and prioritizing customer satisfaction over immediate deals.
Profile Characteristics:
- Type: Farmer
- Drive: Promoter
- Style: Methodical
- Community: Group
Type (Farmer): Farmers are dedicated to nurturing long-term customer relationships. They focus on understanding customer needs and maintaining satisfaction.
Drive (Promoter): Promoters are driven by the goal of building and maintaining positive relationships. They are patient and dedicated to ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Style (Methodical): A methodical approach ensures that all aspects of the customer relationship are managed systematically and thoroughly.
Community (Group): Leaning towards a group orientation is essential, as maintaining revenue from existing customers requires collaboration across different teams within the organization.
Level 2: Adding Revenue from Current Customers
Adding revenue from current customers involves upselling and cross-selling, requiring a more aggressive approach than maintaining revenue.
Profile Characteristics:
- Type: Farmer
- Drive: Closer
- Style: Methodical
- Community: Group
Type (Farmer): As with Level 1, a Farmer type effectively manages existing accounts and understands customer needs.
Drive (Closer): A Closer drive brings the necessary aggressiveness to seek and close additional deals with current customers.
Style (Methodical): Systematic follow-up and engagement are critical to increasing sales from existing customers. A methodical style ensures consistent and effective communication.
Community (Group): Collaboration with the delivery team and other departments is essential to support increased sales efforts and ensure customer satisfaction.
Level 3: Adding Revenue from New Customers with Current Products and Markets
This level involves acquiring new customers for existing products and markets, requiring a more aggressive and proactive approach.
Profile Characteristics:
- Type: Hunter
- Drive: Closer
- Style: Balanced (Empirical-Methodical)
- Community: Individual
Type (Hunter): Hunters excel at finding and acquiring new customers. They are proactive, driven, and enjoy the challenge of new sales opportunities.
Drive (Closer): Closers are essential for converting leads into customers and achieving sales targets.
Style (Balanced): A balanced empirical-methodical style ensures that the salesperson can adapt their approach based on the situation, combining intuition and systematic processes.
Community (Individual): An individual orientation allows the salesperson to work independently and make quick decisions, often necessary in aggressive sales environments.
Level 4: Adding Revenue from Current Customers with New Products and Markets
This level requires introducing new products or entering new markets with existing customers, leveraging established relationships to mitigate risks.
Profile Characteristics:
- Type: Balanced (Hunter-Farmer)
- Drive: Promoter
- Style: Empirical
- Community: Group
Type (Balanced): A balanced hunter-farmer profile combines the ability to introduce new products and markets while maintaining strong customer relationships.
Drive (Promoter): Promoters are patient and focused on building trust, which is crucial when asking customers to take risks with new products.
Style (Empirical): An empirical approach allows the salesperson to navigate the uncertainty of new products and markets, using intuition and experience to make decisions.
Community (Group): Collaboration with the broader team is essential to developing and refining new products and ensuring successful market entry.
Level 5: Adding Revenue from New Customers with New Products and Markets
This level is the most complex, requiring the salesperson to navigate dual learning curves of new customers and new products or markets.
Profile Characteristics:
- Type: Balanced (Hunter-Farmer)
- Drive: Promoter
- Style: Empirical
- Community: Group
Type (Balanced): Similar to Level 4, a balanced hunter-farmer profile is necessary to target new customers while developing new relationships and products.
Drive (Promoter): Patience and trust-building are crucial when working with unproven scenarios and new customers.
Style (Empirical): Adapting to uncertainty and using intuition is essential for navigating new markets and products.
Community (Group): Full engagement and collaboration with the development team are critical to successfully introducing new products and market entry.
Practical Implications
Case Study: Financial Services Company
A financial services company wants to implement a comprehensive revenue strategy that aligns with the five levels.
Level 1: They need account managers (Farmers) who are methodical and focused on long-term relationships to maintain revenue from current customers. These individuals should work collaboratively with the service and support teams to ensure customer satisfaction.
Level 2: To add revenue from current customers, the company needs salespeople who can upsell and cross-sell (Farmers with a Closer drive). These salespeople should be methodical and work closely with the delivery team to ensure seamless service.
Level 3: The company requires aggressive hunters who are closers to acquire new customers. These individuals should be able to work independently and make quick decisions, focusing on converting leads into clients.
Level 4: When introducing new financial products to existing customers, the company needs balanced hunter-farmers who can leverage existing relationships while introducing new offerings. These individuals should have an empirical approach to navigating the uncertainties of new products.
Level 5: The company needs balanced hunter-farmers with a promoter drive to enter new markets with new products. These individuals should be empirical and collaborate extensively with the development team to ensure successful market entry.
Conclusion
Matching the five levels of the revenue strategy with the six dimensions of the Luks Prisma Sales Profile ensures that the right sales talent is aligned with the company’s specific needs at each stage of revenue generation. By understanding and applying these dimensions, companies can build a sales team equipped to maintain and grow revenue effectively, ensuring long-term success. While agnostic to all levels, the intensity and role dimensions play a crucial part in tailoring the approach to the specific sales cycle and team dynamics.