5 Areas Sales Teams Should Focus On for Results: Part Two

In part one , we dove into the importance of a company's value proposition and documenting your sales process. Today, we will discuss how concentrating on goal definitions, onboarding programs, and performance metrics allows sales teams to effectively address their weaknesses, enhance their strengths, and flourish in their industry.

Set Goals to Establish Clear Expectations

According to our data, 57% of small and medium-sized businesses don’t have sales resources, roles, or responsibilities defined in writing.?Much like the sales process itself, your expectations of your sales team should be written down and signed by your salespeople every year. Each time, make sure to clearly detail their goals and?associated compensation , making sure to focus on how it all benefits them.

Additionally, it’s important not to forget that goals are rarely effective when set in a vacuum. Consult with salespeople to establish both realistic and “stretch” goals. Make sure also to discuss pathways for success. All members of the sales team should know how to achieve their goals and access the resources they need to obtain the best results.

Most importantly, you should always invest in training your sales team so they can reach their goals. Strong sales rely on strong sales teams, so it’s critical to ensure that any gaps in knowledge are filled and that the entire sales team has the opportunity to keep their skills and knowledge current. Unfortunately, 92% of the businesses we surveyed are not addressing gaps in sales competencies when discovered.

Providing the necessary direction

A formal training program is a good start. Other areas that should also be explored include the following:

• Mentorship programs.?A mentorship program can be invaluable for new hires, allowing them to learn the ropes from seasoned professionals and gain much-needed insights into the prospects they’ll be calling on.
• Customization.?Individualized learning is often more engaging. It also ensures that you address gaps in?knowledge and skills ?while also providing salespeople the chance to grow at their own pace.
• Assessments.?Sales organizations sometimes forget that modeling the best sales techniques and strategies can serve as the building blocks for success. Take the time to dissect the anatomy of a successful sale, identifying what worked and why.

Together with clearly defined goals and expectations, a well-developed training process can help transform sales teams into conversion machines. Trained sales teams know what success looks like and how to get there.

Initiate Onboarding Programs Immediately

Attracting and retaining talent with the necessary skills is becoming increasingly difficult, making the?onboarding process more crucial . Fewer people than ever before want to go into sales, and schools no longer have programs that encourage students to enter sales careers, according to a?2021 article from The Wall Street Journal .

While the reasons for this are varied, it often starts with how new hires perceive their organizations. Good onboarding programs increase job satisfaction, so much so that?research from the Brandon Hall Group ?found that it can improve new hire retention by as much as 82%. Salespeople run into fewer questions about the how, why, and when of the sales process, as well as their sales leaders’ expectations of them.

This research also indicates that strong onboarding processes result in productivity gains by as much as 70%. This illustrates, again, the importance of understanding the how, why, and when of the sales process. Effective onboarding improves hires’ understanding of company cultures, team dynamics, and organizational visions. This encourages greater employee engagement from day one. According to a?2023 Gallup report , this reduces the likelihood of employee turnover and absenteeism, improves customer loyalty, and increases profitability.

Getting off on the right foot

Effective onboarding for sales teams entails a preboarding process. This way, you minimize many of the mundane administrative tasks that new salespeople generally experience on their first days of employment.

Consider creating a checklist of paperwork to complete prior to the first day they walk through your doors. Do the same for any other tasks. Better yet, provide new hires with detailed day-one instructions to set expectations. You could even assign each of them a “buddy” on the sales team who can answer their questions.

Ultimately, this is designed to make the experience less stressful.

Focus Sales Performance Metrics on Leading Indicators

Sales Xceleration data shows that companies consistently fail to define, track, and update their metrics to enable performance insights. While this doesn’t mean that they operate without information, it does mean that they likely rely on processes whose success in the present may not continue into the future, whether that be in a month or a year.

To gain the advantage over the competition and truly understand where your business stands in the market, it’s essential to use leading indicators and ensure you are building a Modern Sales Operating System. These indicators vary from one organization to the next, but there are a few that are often overlooked by leadership teams:

• Willingness to refer.?Customers’ willingness to refer your business can serve as an indicator of how much they value your products or services. It starts with asking.
• Customer sentiment.?Customer sentiment may sound like a vanity metric, but their opinion of your brand can help you predict future behavior. This allows sales teams to better meet customers where they are. Make sure you are sending a survey. A good place to start is with a Net Promoter Score.
• Customer feedback.?According to a?2023 Khoros survey , responding and resolving complaints improves customer loyalty. While this is beneficial in itself, customer input can also help reveal why people use your products or services, which can tell you a lot about the effectiveness of your sales team.
• Annual churn.?Churn is a hard number to look at, especially when it begins to climb. Still, this sales performance metric can point you to areas where sales might be lacking in either the nurturing of existing relationships or the hand-off to other teams in the company.
• Average-size order growth.?It’s no secret that?existing customers spend more ?than new customers. For this reason, it’s advisable to make average-size order growth one of the most important leading indicators of your sales performance.

Sales will always be the main source of your revenue, and sales team members all play vital roles in your growth. It’s important to?review your sales team’s performance , understand what your organization is doing to provide support, and ensure you have built a Modern Sales Operating System.

Ready to take the next step?

There is much to consider when establishing or refining your Sales Operating System. Knowing what an effective system entails and what questions to ask can give you a leg up when it is time to navigate the path toward a better, more modern, Sales Operating System.

To help you understand areas for change, take our 10-question?Sales Agility Assessment . This free tool can establish a baseline where operational areas are scored so subsequent changes can be measured.

Want to get started on your path toward a better Modern Sales Operating System and sustainable sales growth? Connect with a Sales Xceleration?Advisor ?today, or contact us at?844.874.7253.