When Matthew Bowman came to Sire Technologies in late 2005, the company’s sales were riding a roller coaster.
“Some quarters were great; others were horrific,” Bowman recently told BusinessWeek SmallBiz.
Sire Technologies, based in Salt Lake City, sells software to government agencies that have notoriously long approval cycles. As director of sales and marketing, Bowman’s task is to ensure long-term growth and to make the sales process—which can last up to eighteen months—more predictable.
As a Marriott School alumnus with a BS in business administration and an emphasis in information systems, he knew that having the right information would be essential.
“Whenever you’re in a position of leadership, the more relevant, actionable information you have in your hands, the better decisions you’re going to make,” Bowman says. “As a manager, you get inundated with a lot of data. The challenge becomes identifying the right data amidst all the peripheral information.”
Through analyzing every step of the selling process, Bowman found that salespeople tended to pursue a single group of prospects. As those prospects matured, there would be one good sales month, followed by a “drought.” Bowman implemented a process where salespeople divide their efforts among the right numbers of leads at each stage of development. They also use customized sales presentations to move clients through the process.
The result: significantly more and larger sales and better consistency. “My job is to help people reach their potential,” Bowman says. “Doing that translates into sustainable returns and growth for the company.”
His efforts caught the attention of BusinessWeek SmallBiz, which featured the success story at Sire along with suggestions for how similar techniques could help other businesses with long sales cycles. A graduate from the Marriott School in 1992, Bowman says his education taught him principles that are especially valuable in today’s world. “The information you learn gets outdated pretty quickly, but the principles endure for a lifetime,” he says.
Bowman and his wife, LaDawn, live in Draper, Utah, and have three children: three-year-old twins and a newborn. In his spare time he is involved with a Utah corporation that helps parents prepare to defend their children against drugs. He also enjoys mountain biking and skiing.
As Bowman has pursued his career and learned from mentors, he says one thing has stood out: “Those who achieve and maintain success are those who remain teachable.”
