The 5 Essential Activities Your Sales Team Needs to do and How to Track Them

If you Google what the 5 essential sales activities your team needs to be doing you’ll get this (or some derivative):

Prospecting:

Identifying potential customers through outreach methods like cold calling, email campaigns, networking events.?

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Qualifying leads:

Assessing whether a prospect has a genuine need for your product/service and fits your ideal customer profile.?

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Presenting solutions:

Demonstrating how your product/service addresses a prospect’s specific pain points and needs.?

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Closing deals:

Negotiating terms and securing a sale with a prospect.?

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Nurturing customer relationships:

Maintaining ongoing communication with existing clients to foster loyalty and potential repeat business.?

This is solid advice, but let’s be honest—it’s vague. It doesn’t give a young salesperson the roadmap they need to go from “I have no idea what I’m doing” to consistently meeting their quota.

So, how do you choose the right activities and hold your team accountable in a way that’s motivating and productive? Let’s break it down.

From Confusion to Quota: A Sales Leader’s Guide

Now that we’ve covered the basic activities, let’s get real: it’s not enough to just do these things and hope for the best.?

As a sales leader, your job isn’t just to tell your team to hit their numbers—it’s to show them how. That starts with turning broad activities into specific, measurable actions and helping your team stay on track.

Let’s hear from Andrew Marr, sales expert as well as Owner and CEO of Digital Storyteller.

1. First Things First, Get Your Ducks in a Row

Before your team can dive into sales calls and start reaching out to prospects,? they have to get your ducks in a row. And by “ducks,” we mean knowing exactly what your company does, how to talk about it, and understanding the numbers behind it all.

Equip them with:

• A Clear Value Proposition: What does your company do, and why does it matter to the customer?
• Key Selling Points: What sets your product or service apart?
• A Sales Cheat Sheet: This could be a one-pager or a playbook specific to their vertical that includes answers to common objections and key benefits.

Without this foundation, your team is just guessing—and guessing won’t close deals.

So, first step: get with marketing and create or refine these resources.

But here’s where things get interesting.

1. Walk Your Quote Backwards

Hitting quota starts with knowing the numbers. Help your team understand their goals by breaking them down step by step.

Let’s say the goal is to close 2 deals a month per person:

• Close Rate: Your team closes 40% of proposals.
• Proposal Rate: They propose on 30% of conversations.
• Conversation Rate: They convert 50% of outreach into conversations.

Now, work backward:

• To close 2 deals, they need to make 5 proposals.
• To make 5 proposals, they need 17 conversations.
• To get 17 conversations, they need to reach out to at least 34 leads each.

When you break your quota down like this, it becomes crystal clear. Your team has to be talking to people—lots of people—if you want to meet your goals.

3. Conducting Discovery Calls

What to Do:

Discovery calls are your team’s chance to uncover the real story behind a prospect’s challenges, goals, and pain points. These conversations aren’t about pitching—they’re about listening and understanding. Encourage your sales reps to ask open-ended questions, dig deeper into responses, and truly empathize with the client’s needs.

Key strategies include:

• Prepare Thoroughly: Equip your team with client research before the call—company background, industry trends, and known challenges.
• Structure the Call: Teach your team to guide the conversation without being robotic. A framework like the BANT method (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline) can help.
• Focus on Building Rapport: Discovery calls are as much about creating trust as gathering information. A comfortable prospect is more likely to share candid insights.

How to Track:

Sales leaders need to make sure their teams are optimizing discovery calls, and tracking is critical to that process:

• CRM Tracking: Log metrics such as the number of calls, call duration, and key outcomes (e.g., identified pain points, timelines, and decision-makers).
• Qualitative Data: Review call notes for depth—are reps uncovering actionable insights or staying surface-level?
• Call Recordings/Coaching: Listen to recordings or join calls periodically to coach reps on how to ask better questions or respond more effectively.

4. Creating Customized Proposals and Presentations

What to Do:

Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all sales proposals. Today’s buyers expect tailored solutions that demonstrate a deep understanding of their unique challenges. Encourage your team to craft proposals and presentations that align directly with the prospect’s goals and decision-making process.

Key strategies include:

• Highlight Relevant Benefits: Focus on the aspects of your product or service that address the specific pain points uncovered during discovery.
• Use Visuals: Make proposals more engaging with charts, images, and data visualizations that demonstrate the value you bring.
• Involve Stakeholders: Collaborate with technical experts, marketers, or other team members to ensure the proposal is comprehensive and compelling.

How to Track:

Customized proposals should be a key performance metric for your team:

• Proposal Metrics: Track how many proposals your team creates and how many result in next-step meetings or calls.
• Conversion Rates: Measure the proposal-to-deal conversion rate to identify areas for improvement.
• Feedback Loop: Gather input from prospects—why did they accept or reject a proposal? Use this to refine future proposals.

5. Follow-Up and Objection Handling

What to Do:

In sales, persistence pays off. Most deals aren’t closed on the first attempt, making consistent follow-up and skilled objection handling crucial. Teach your team to view objections as opportunities—not obstacles. A well-handled objection can strengthen a deal rather than derail it.

Key strategies include:

• Timely Follow-Ups: Prospects appreciate responsiveness. Set a standard for follow-up timelines (e.g., 24-48 hours after initial contact or proposal delivery).
• Address Objections Strategically: Train your team to probe for the real reason behind an objection and respond with evidence or success stories that build confidence.
• Personalize the Follow-Up: Generic follow-ups don’t work. Encourage your team to reference specific pain points or discussion points in their outreach.

How to Track:

Keeping tabs on follow-up and objection handling is key to maintaining momentum in the sales cycle:

• Follow-Up Metrics: Track how many follow-ups are made, the timing, and the response rate.
• Objection Logs: Use your CRM to document objections and how they were addressed—this creates a valuable database for training and future calls.
• Outcome Tracking: Monitor how many follow-ups convert into meetings or closed deals, identifying gaps in timing or messaging.

Any Questions? We Have Answers!

At Digital Storyteller, we’re all about making sure your sales team is equipped to hit those numbers and smash those goals. Ready to take your team’s sales performance to the next level? We’ve got answers, and we’ve got the expertise to help you succeed.

Read on to learn how we help our clients shorten their sales cycles.?