Featured Partners

Productive Strategies, Inc.

Brief History:

Productive Strategies, Inc. is a management and marketing consulting company located in Northfield, Illinois. Founded in 1993 by Philip Krone, PSI works with owners and top management to create and implement strategies to help them reach realistic yet aggressive revenue and profit goals. We consider marketing anything that affects the client's ability to make a sale.

Productive Strategies helps clients plan as well as implement the strategies that we create together. When we propose strategy, we are prepared either to guide a company through its own implementation or to work as an extension of its management team on an outsource basis.

Clients use our services on a project, regular, or "as needed" basis. A typical project might include installing and conducting a lead generation program, developing a professional sales presentation, or locating trade partners in overseas markets. Some clients use our services on a recurring basis, bringing us in to perform an annual marketing audit, conduct regular sales and persuasion training meetings, or work with a client’s distributors one day per month. On an "as needed" basis, we are often called on to help close a major sales opportunity or help to create a strategy for a key target account.

How PSI Adds Value:

Sales Consulting Services
Organizational	Structuring of a new sales department (creating a sales process)	Establish policies and procedures for a profitable sales department, including the hiring of appropriate personnel, establishing proper channels of communication with the departments that interface with the sales department, establishing appropriate reporting.
.	Restructuring of a sales department	Review and adjustment of policies, procedures and practices to create a more effective and profitable sales department. If necessary make appropriate personal changes.
Analysis	Sales department evaluations	A review and analysis of the existing policies, procedures and practices to determine if they are promoting or inhibiting sales growth.
.	Sales presentation evaluations	A review and analysis of the presentation material and how the presentation is being used by the presenters.
VSM (Virtual sales manager)	Acting outside sales manager	Serve as sales manager until a full time person is appointed the position. Review sales activities and reports and report to management. Available by phone for decision making, strategizing and problem resolution. Available in person for meetings, sales calls, closing sales as requested.
.	Sales strategy planning	Assist in developing plans for dealing with a specific market, product or service, promotion with consideration for available human resources and budgets.
.	Conduct sales meetings	Create agendas, including performance evaluation, problem solving, call strategies, brain storming and motivation.
.	Competitive research	Discover how the competition is selling, how they are presenting, how they are comparing themselves to you and they're other competitors. uncover the strengths and weakness of your competition.
.	Creation of custom sales reporting	Creation of sales reports that are useful to both the sales people and management, designed to minimize reporting time on the part of the sales people and review time of management. Sales people are taught how to utilize the reports to self manage their time and efforts.
.	Sales call strategies	Work with sales person to develop a strategy and course of action to help bring a specific prospect to a rapid and favorable decision.
.	Presentation coaching	Preparation of executives and or sales people for special presentations.
.	Acting outside salesman	Act as a sales representative on strategic prospects for client until a sales person is available.
.	Sales coaching	Accompany sales people on sales calls. Review, critique, and make recommendations after each call.
Hiring	Hiring of sales people	Write an appropriate ad for print. Take calls. Conduct initial phone interviews and initial face to face interviews. Select candidates for second in-depth interview. Select finalists for interview with client participation.
.	Hiring of sales management	Same procedures as hiring of sales people.
Presentation creation	Create sales presentations	Research to determine the content, create the words and pictures that will motive a prospect to make a rapid and favorable decision, produce visuals for use in computers, flip charts or projection media, and train the sales people effectively give the presentation.

PSI: A Closer Look:

Lead Generation Services

Trade Show Support

Key Contributor: Phil Krone

Success Story: Helping a Manufacturing firm outsource it’s sales and marketing

Success Story: An experienced exporter leverages his time

Success Story : First time marketing Internationally successfully

Resources: Questions to consider in managing your channels, segments and planning