End-of-Year Sales Department Health Checklist

“It's only those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose.”

― Joseph Conrad

As a business owner, CEO or sales leader generating new business is a fundamental element of your company's success. However, going through the sales process can be challenging and tricky, if you don’t have the right strategy in place.? Converting a prospect into a client requires adequate knowledge, skill sets, tools, and quality. That's the obvious part. But how to know if you have those, especially when being too close narrows Your perspective, and allows biases to come in play.

Here’s where a sales health checklist proves helpful. A checklist, that enables you to streamline your sales approach and ensure you’re not missing any important steps on the rocky road toward new business onboarding.?

Here are 99 questions that will help You get an eagle-eye view of Your Process, followed up with a questionnaire that will visualize where You need to improve.

GROUNDWORK

Firstly let’s look at the fundamentals. This set of questions should provide perspective on how well-prepared you are for running sales and if You have a backbone supporting the growth of your company.

1. Have You identified the value Your company brings to the table?
2. Does the entire team understand this value and mission?
3. How much time during a week are you investing in generating new business?
4. Do You have the sales process written down?
5. When was the last time You reviewed Your ICP and BP?
6. Are You making new clients or relying only on a couple of whales already onboard?
7. Which product/service do you sell most of and why?
8. Which product/service has the best margins?
9. Do You depend on the frequency or volume of sales?
10. Who is responsible for generating new clients in Your company?
11. Does everyone in the company understand how they are influencing sales?
12. Which department keeps the company profitable?
13. Is the company profitable?
14. Are You solving problems for Your clients or creating new ones?
15. Does Your reputation positively or negatively affect Your actions?
16. Do You expect growth in the upcoming year?
17. How are You upskilling Your sales department and how do You do it?

LEAD GENERATION

The next step in a sales cycle is lead generation. This is the part responsible for finding potential customers who are interested in your product or service. These questions should help You get an understanding of Your potential.

1. Do You know who Your prospects are and where to find them?
2. Which channel brings in more leads inbound or outbound??
3. To which channel do You allocate more resources?
4. Is Your company educating the market?
5. How many leads came in via client referrals?
6. How many new customers did you do business with last year??
7. What was the value of that new business?
8. What was your % win rate last year?
9. How many live opportunities do You have at the moment?
10. Do You have a working partnership program?
11. Are You happy with the branding strategy?
12. Are You listed and visible on online business directories?
13. Where do Your best leads come from?
14. Where do Your worst leads come from?
15. What is Your cost per lead?
16. Did You get more or fewer leads in the past 12 months than the previous year?
17. Are You utilizing all the best channels for lead generation in our sector?

QUALITY AND QUALIFICATION

Once you have generated leads, the next step is to qualify them. This means determining which leads are the most promising and which ones are unlikely to convert. These questions should help You figure out if Your time is well allocated.

1. Are You Using a CRM?
2. How often do You review the statistics?
3. How do You qualify leads?
4. Which channel generates the best leads?
5. Which channel generates the most leads?
6. What is the percentage rate of leads qualified as potential clients?
7. Where do the unqualified leads come from?
8. At which stage of their lifecycle do the clients contact your company?
9. Do You track the movement of our leads within the CRM?
10. Do You have a system for servicing leads and follow-ups?
11. Name the Top 10 leads from the last 12 months.
12. How did those differ from the previous year?
13. How many of those did You successfully close?
14. How often do You feel You misqualified a lead?
15. Are sales and marketing in Your company separate departments?

PRESENTATION

Once you have qualified a lead, the next step is to present your value proposition. This is where you explain how your product or service can solve the client's pain points and meet their needs.?

1. How good do You feel You are in presenting Your value?
2. How well do You communicate in the client's language?
3. Who talks more on calls, You or Your clients?
4. How well do You analyze Your clients' requirements?
5. Do You make assumptions or seek direct information during estimates?
6. How good are Your support materials (presentations, estimates, brochures, case studies)?
7. Do You tailor case studies to each prospect?
8. How do You present the estimates?
9. How do You present offers?
10. Do the sales materials reflect Your professionalism?
11. Is Your pricing and business model clear to the buyer?
12. Do You run an NPC scorecard for prospects that reach the estimate stage?
13. How much time do You spend on sales calls and meetings?
14. Is the delivery team active during the sales process?
15. How strong are Your relationship-building skills at this stage?

NEGOTIATION

After presenting your value proposition, potential customers may have objections or concerns that need to be addressed. Your sales reps should be prepared to address these objections and provide solutions to any concerns.

1. Do You keep a list of common client objections?
2. Do you have an objection response script?
3. Would You Consider Your team skilled in negotiation?
4. Would You Consider Your team skilled in running tough discussions?
5. Would You say Your team is active or reactive during a negotiation process?
6. How would You rate Your team's skills to handle objections?
7. How does the team deal with rejections?
8. How does the team deal with ghosting?
9. Do You (as a supervisor) provide enough support at this stage?
10. With what type of clients are You willing to negotiate?
11. Do You remember to approach any negotiation with a BATNA?

CLOSING

Here is where you finalize the sale and turn a prospect into a loyal customer. This is where You find out how effective your process is.

1. What are the current conversion rates?
2. How do You handle the paperwork?
3. Do You remember to ask clients why They chose Your offer and who the competition was?
4. Do You keep score of post-decision feedback from the deals lost?
5. What do the lost deals mention as the deciding factor?
6. How fast have You identified the true decision maker?
7. Would You say that the buyers trust your sales reps?
8. How long does it take to close the best deals?
9. Can You categorize your clients by business sector?
10. Do You have a dominant client sector?
11. What is your average order value of won deals?
12. What was the value of opportunities lost at this stage last year?
13. Do You track NPC at the end of the process?

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

Once you have closed the deal, the next step is to retain the customers and encourage them to make repeat purchases or become ambassadors of Your Brand?

1. Who takes care of account management?
2. Does sales follow up and check in with the clients during the entire lifespan?
3. Do clients feel that the sales representative is “there for them” at all times?
4. Do You always ask for referrals?
5. How many of Your past clients became ambassadors?
6. How often do you miss the estimates?
7. In what % of clients did You have to “put down fires”?
8. What percentage of clients are truly satisfied with the result?
9. What percentage of clients had paid invoices irregularly?
10. Do You have an upsell offer ready for each client?
11. How do you gather letters of recommendation?