What do you do if your sales team performance metrics are not influenced by strategic thinking?

Often times, firms make efforts to develop KPIs and Metrics in good faith to help drive the business; however, these goals are commonly not focused on the right metrics to encourage strategic thinking. For example, using a metric of number of outbound calls may push a salesperson to call as many cold leads as possible while focusing on turnover may influence a sales person to focus on hot and actionable leads. Ensuring that your metrics are aligned with your company goals and are performance oriented will aid in sales managers making strategic decisions.

First of all we should review and assess all the metrics and check if there are any misalignments. Make sure that you turn strategic goals into quantitative metrics which can be measured. Once again, I believe using CRM tools helps us monitoring the whole progress and gradually fix it.

To assess if a sales team is strategically thinking, a senior sales leader can: 1. Review sales strategy alignment with organizational goals. 2. Evaluate sales planning and goal setting. 3. Assess customer focus and value-added solutions. 4. Review market understanding and adaptation. 5. Monitor data-driven decision-making. 6. Encourage innovation and creativity. 7. Promote collaboration and communication. 8. Provide feedback and coaching for skill development. 9. Establish performance metrics aligned with strategic objectives. 10. Invest in training and development for continuous improvement. By focusing on these areas, the leader can gauge the team's strategic thinking and take steps to enhance their performance.

: Start by reviewing your current performance metrics and evaluating whether they truly reflect your organization's strategic objectives. Often, sales teams focus heavily on short-term metrics like monthly or quarterly quotas, which can lead to a myopic approach and discourage strategic thinking. Consider incorporating metrics that align with your long-term goals, such as customer lifetime value, market share, or customer satisfaction scores.

To address the issue of sales metrics not aligning with strategic objectives, start by thoroughly assessing current sales metrics. Look beyond simple hits and misses and analyze patterns or indicators of misalignment with strategic goals.

If sales team performance metrics are not influenced by strategic thinking, take action by providing training, aligning goals with strategic objectives, fostering collaboration, communicating strategic goals regularly, monitoring progress, and providing feedback and recognition.

Develop a formal strategic planning process that involves your sales team. This could include regular strategy meetings where the team analyzes market trends, competitive landscapes, and customer needs. Encourage them to identify potential opportunities and threats, and develop strategies to capitalize on or mitigate them. By involving your sales team in the strategic planning process, they will gain a better understanding of the company's overall direction and how their efforts contribute to achieving those goals.

Thorough training is essential to address the issue of sales metrics not being influenced by strategic thinking. Implement comprehensive training programs focused on strategic thinking and its relevance in sales. These programs should cover topics such as market analysis, competitive positioning, customer segmentation, and value proposition development. Encourage active participation and provide real-world examples to illustrate the importance of strategic thinking in driving sales success. Ensure ongoing training and support to reinforce strategic thinking skills among the sales team.

La formación es un aspecto fundamental, pues no solo sirve para dotar de aspectos técnicos, sino también para hacer equipo, cogerle el pulso a la organización, hacer equipo y motivar. La visión a largo plazo por parte el vendedor es muy importante, ya que es la que permite que se enfoque en crear y mantener relaciones duraderas con los clientes, con el consiguiente retorno a largo plazo.

Clearly define strategic objectives that the sales team should aim to achieve, such as penetrating new markets, increasing customer lifetime value, or expanding into specific industry segments. Ensure that these goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). Communicate these goals effectively to the sales team and provide regular updates on progress. Encourage buy-in from team members by involving them in the goal-setting process and highlighting how achieving these goals contributes to the overall success of the business. Regularly review and adjust goals as needed to ensure alignment with evolving strategic priorities.

In my opinion, the best way to link sales performance metrics to the strategy goes through setting clear goals in the following order: 1- Setting the dream goal (meaning, purpose of the business) 2- Setting the end goal (What your business needs to achieve to move towards the dream goal?) 3 - Setting performance goals (clear measurable indicators, KPIs) 4- Setting process goals (which concrete steps your team should follow to reach their performance goals?) And at the end, you can set clear learning goals for the team to make sure that they have necessary skills and understanding to start the journey.

No hay cosa que más ayude a poner foco, que unas metas claras y el conocimiento de porqué son así, qué pretenden y qué plan vamos a seguir para alcanzarlas. El vendedor no debe de ser un lobo solitario, sino que debe de actuar en equipo, apoyar a los demás y apalancarse en el mismo. Un buen vendedor debería de ser motivante para el resto de los compa?eros.

Implement systems to track key performance indicators (KPIs) related to strategic objectives, such as market share growth, Use data analytics tools to regularly assess performance against these metrics and identify areas for improvement. Provide feedback to the sales team on their progress towards strategic goals and celebrate successes along the way. Additionally, hold regular meetings to review performance metrics, discuss challenges, and brainstorm solutions to further align sales activities with strategic objectives. By continuously monitoring progress, you can identify trends, make informed decisions, and course-correct as needed to ensure that strategic thinking drives sales performance.

Monitorizar todos lo pasos por los que transcurre la venta a lo largo del embudo, además de darnos información sobre la predictibilidad del resultado, nos va a permitir evaluar el desempe?o en cada uno de los pasos, lo que nos ayuda a diagnosticar situaciones de mejora. Es muy importante ense?ar a manejar y comprender estas herramientas a todo el equipo comercial, ya que a menudo lo ven como un elemento de control más que como una ayuda para identificar oportunidades y problemas.

Monitor the internal progess see what is going wrong, then adjust the goals to realistic oppertunities and monitor again and again, don't loose track on goals

Promote teamwork within your team and with other departments. Sales shouldn't be isolated; insights from marketing, product development, and customer service can help shape a smarter sales strategy. Collaboration allows your team to grasp the full customer experience and devise strategies that address all aspects of customer interaction.

Foster collaboration between your sales team and other departments, such as marketing, product development, and customer service. This cross-functional collaboration can provide valuable insights and perspectives that can inform strategic thinking within the sales team. It also helps align the sales team's efforts with the broader organizational strategy.

Fostering collaboration is key to ensuring that sales team performance metrics are influenced by strategic thinking. Encourage cross-functional collaboration between the sales team and other departments such as marketing, product development, and finance. By working together, teams can gain valuable insights into market trends, customer needs, and competitive positioning, which can inform strategic decision-making.

Faz todo sentido promover a vis?o holística do processo para todos os envolvidos. Quanto mais pessoas analisando estrategicamente e pensando em que pode contribuir, mais chances de êxito como um todo.

El éxito del comercial, se da cuando se ha dise?ado una buena estrategia de marketing y se ha compartido, ayudando a su puesta en marcha. He visto fracasar muchas ventas por una clara desconexión de marketing con el cliente y con la realidad del vendedor, por ello han de crearse y seguirse de forma conjunta, participando y colaborando ambos departamentos.

If the sales team performance metrics are not being influenced by strategic thinking regarding "innovate constantly," it's crucial to reassess the alignment between the team's goals and the organization's innovation strategy. This might involve revisiting the metrics themselves to ensure they reflect the desired innovative behaviors and outcomes. Additionally, fostering a culture of innovation within the sales team through training, incentivization, and providing resources for experimentation can help integrate strategic thinking into their performance metrics effectively.

If it’s not being influenced by strategic thinking then, in my opinion the team isn’t being empowered. Collaboration is crucial and allowing innovative ideas without fear of failure is critical. Strategy is essential to balance with innovation to stay competitive in markets.

Si las métricas del Equipo de Venta (EV) no están alineadas con el pensamiento estratégico,algunas recmendaciones -Revisa qué funcionalidad da la Empresa a EV ? meramente táctico o realmente Estratégico? -Incrementar su funcionalidad estratégica exige emplear métricas que se relacionen con su posicionamiento dentro del Cliente y a su vez que la acción del EV mejore el posicionamiento del propio Cliente en sus Mercados Métricas sobre : *conocimiento de los Procesos del Cliente *cómo eliminar de los mismos elementos obsoletos, optimizar existentes y/o introducir innovacione de los mismos *identificación de los Compradores dentro del Cliente que deciden y cómo valoran a a la Empresa y la acción de su EV *generación de nuevos Clientes -etc

In my humble opinion. Metrics are everything. If my team aren’t hitting their numbers, and it’s due to a failure in “strategic thinking”. Then I need to take a look in the mirror, and take responsibility for the situation. It’s up to the leader to lead ! Strategic thinking amongst your team , should be built into the foundation. And therefore I need to step up and show them.

In my experience, if your sales team performance metrics are not influenced by strategic thinking, it indicates a gap in alignment between strategic objectives and day-to-day sales activities. Here are steps you can take to address this issue: - Assess current strategic alignment - Define strategic objectives for sales - Align metrics with strategic goals - Educate and train sales team - Incorporate strategic thinking into sales planning - Foster collaboration between sales and other departments - Encourage cross-functional teams to work together to develop and execute strategic initiatives. - Provide tools and resources - Regularly review and adjust metrics - Recognize and reward strategic thinking - ...and of course, LEAD by EXAMPLE!!!

Sales teams usually operate on goals, and as sales leaders, it is our responsibility to align the sales goals with business strategy. Yes, we can train strategy in our sales teams, and this type of effort will produce some results. But in my experience, it is best to review the overall strategy with each sales team member and/or manager and show how their goals align with the strategy. Set the KPIs to align with the goals and review often.