When was the final time your group evaluated your gross sales and operational processes? For those who aren’t positive or really feel like your processes want a tune-up, your workforce may gain advantage from worth stream mapping.

First, let’s get crystal clear on what worth stream mapping is.

→ Entry Now: 16 Timeline & Flowchart Templates [Free Tool]

On this article, you’ll discover:

It is very important observe that efficient worth stream mapping is a workforce effort. Purpose to have three to 10 folks working in your worth stream map to make sure your course of enchancment is thorough.

Worth stream mapping is without doubt one of the ideas of a administration observe referred to as Lean. Lean originated with the creation of the Toyota Manufacturing System within the Nineteen Fifties. Right now, gross sales and operations groups profit by making use of lean ideas to enhance their processes.

The 5 key ideas of Lean comply with.

1. Determine worth. Perceive what your buyer wants and the way your product serves them.
2. Map the worth stream. This train helps you guarantee worth flows all through your group and processes.
3. Create movement. Maximize efficiencies and cut back waste in your organizational processes.
4. Set up pull. Contemplating buyer consumption and the way it pertains to enterprise operations.
5. Search perfection. Concentrate on steady enchancment.

Right now, we’re going to deal with the second precept — mapping the worth stream — and the way it can profit your gross sales workforce.

• Defects. This includes offering incorrect, unclear, or outdated data to a prospect.
• Overproduction, or over-communicating with a prospect to repeatedly collect data or make clear requests.
• Ready. That is the time spent ready on solutions or data from different areas of your organization. This impacts your means to share data with prospects promptly.
• Below-utilized expertise, or the period of time gross sales reps spend on duties that aren’t associated to promoting and fascinating with prospects. This may embody manually working processes, creating proposals, and on the lookout for data.
• Transportation. Whereas gross sales doesn’t usually contain the transportation of elements, gross sales groups expertise an equal within the type of time wasted within the movement of data. Groups that don’t use a CRM to automate and prioritize communication usually take care of a substantial amount of transportation waste.
• Stock. As a gross sales rep, your deliverables to your prospects are thought-about your “stock.” This may embody offering quotes, pricing data, and negotiation deliverables on time.
• Movement. In Lean, movement waste happens when extra steps than vital are taken to satisfy a job or assertion of labor. On your gross sales course of, search for methods to expedite or automate duties to enhance movement, equivalent to establishing CRM integrations.
• Processing. One of these waste happens when the identical set of knowledge or data is processed a number of occasions.

5. Map out the longer term state of the method.

After getting recognized the areas of enchancment, doc the perfect future state, bettering the inefficiencies you outlined above.

As you probably did while you outlined your present state, point out how lengthy every motion will take utilizing the improved course of. This can assist your workforce quantify the period of time you’ve saved.

6. Create an motion plan for implementation.

Now that you’ve got your new course of mapped out, it’s time to implement it. Create a practical motion plan your workforce can deal with to make the brand new course of a actuality. It helps to have a challenge supervisor available to make sure implementation goes easily, and to maintain stakeholders accountable.

In all, right here’s what your ultimate worth stream map may seem like.

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Undecided methods to get began? Check out the next flowchart template that you should utilize to create a price stream map.

Obtain your free flowchart templates to create a price stream map.

At its core, worth stream mapping is identical as creating flowcharts — solely with distinctive VSM symbols, which we go over beneath.

HubSpot’s flowchart templates will show you how to get began creating a price stream map. The most effective half is you can begin with an easier, linear chart, then add extra complexity as you go alongside.

Worth stream maps have distinctive symbols. Chart maker instruments usually embody these symbols, however in the event you’re simply now studying to create a VSM, we advocate downloading image packs first and enjoying round.

Listed below are two icon packs:

Now, it’s necessary to familiarize your self with the symbols earlier than beginning to create a map. Let’s go over them beneath.

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That is an easy-to-read worth stream map with clear symbols for wait time, data movement, and communication switch. By amassing information, a clinic can simply see the place its bottlenecks are and enhance the movement of service.

Professional tip: Use a legend like this diagram does to make symbols simple to grasp.

Manufacturing

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This manufacturing worth stream map has arrows that clearly point out the cadence of each step of the worth chain. Metrics on every step of the worth stream are displayed in easy-to-read packing containers.

What we love: Including a timeline on the backside of the worth stream map, like on this diagram, lets you see your complete lead time and value-added time at a look.

Logistics

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This logistics worth stream map simplifies a fancy workflow, with clear labels that designate every kind of communication and easy-to-read metrics at every step of the method.

Professional tip: Utilizing the Kaizen burst diagram lets you rapidly see key inefficiencies within the worth stream.

DevOps

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While you’re creating a price stream map, fancy diagramming software program is a nice-to-have, however not a need-to-have. Typically it’s higher to make use of the instruments your workforce already makes use of, like this user-friendly DevOps worth stream map that was in-built Miro.

Professional tip: Think about the way you’ll get your workforce to truly use your worth stream map and implement your findings.

Insurance coverage

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This insurance coverage declare map is laser-focused on their key buyer requirement: delivering declare checks in 5 days. Precise processing time (75 minutes) and typical lead time (26 to 39 days) are set in giant, simply readable packing containers.

Professional tip: To get outcomes, design your worth stream map round your key metrics.

When mapping out their present state, the enterprise gross sales workforce realized, on common, every buyer was being handed off to 3 completely different gross sales reps throughout their purchaser journey. Additionally they realized the handoff factors had been the place they noticed the best leaks of their gross sales funnel.

By handing prospects off from gross sales rep to gross sales rep with out sharing context or data every time, clients had been having to repeat data. Moreover, the workforce realized they didn’t have a central system in place for managing buyer information, so every rep was accountable for preserving their very own data of buyer interactions.

This led to inconsistencies of their reporting and the expertise of every prospect.

Future State VSM

Because the workforce mapped out their gross sales course of’ future state, they outlined a brand new construction involving the implementation of a CRM. This helped them handle their information and function a single supply of data for reps.

By implementing these enhancements, the enterprise gross sales workforce was capable of reduce their common conversion time in half, whereas growing their gross sales month over month. As a result of the enhancements had been well-documented, the corporate was capable of share greatest practices that might be simply carried out by mid-market gross sales groups.

1. Lucidchart

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With Lucidchart, you may create a digital worth stream map in minutes. Lucidchart integrates with HubSpot via Zapier, simplifying your course of and making information assortment simpler.

Plus, you should utilize drag-and-drop options to rearrange and enhance processes in minutes.

Pricing: Whereas free choices can be found, particular person plans price $7.95 a month. Staff entry prices $9 a person monthly.

2. Microsoft Visio

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Visio is a part of the Microsoft Workplace suite, and it is an awesome alternative for creating flowcharts and worth stream maps.

For those who use Workplace 365, the Visio net app is a extremely versatile software that allows anybody in your group to construct worth stream maps.

Pricing: Particular person plans price $5 a month. Staff plans price $5 per person a month.

3. SmartDraw

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SmartDraw is an easy-to-use drawing program that lets you create worth stream maps with minimal effort. With templates and pre-made diagrams, it is an awesome alternative to assist your workforce work via the worth stream mapping course of with ease.

Pricing: Single person plans price $9.95 monthly. A number of person plans price $5.95 per person a month.

4. Creately

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Creately offers a giant library of VSM templates, in addition to all the usual VSM icons. For those who’re trying to construct worth stream maps rapidly, these options make the method a breeze.

Creately additionally helps you to collaborate with others in your worth stream map. You can also make adjustments in real-time and even video convention with others to debate your diagram.

Pricing: Costs vary from $5 to $89 monthly. Free and enterprise plans are additionally accessible.

5. VisualParadigm On-line

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Visible Paradigm On-line is one other information visualization software with a variety of VSM options, together with a number of VSM templates to select from.

For instance, this template is beneficial for present state mapping, whereas this one is good for future state mapping.

Pricing:Worth vary from $4 per person a month to $15 per person a month. Free plans are additionally accessible.

Create a Worth Stream Map to Enhance Your Processes

While you’re trying to enhance effectivity and gross sales in your division, worth stream mapping is a perfect method to make use of. It lets you pinpoint areas for enchancment, cut back inefficiencies, and make sure that your division is working at peak profitability.