Time for a Sales Team Review?

It’s always good just to spend a little time to review and look to the future.?Business, margin and profitability prospects looking rosy??Confident that you have everything in place for on-going sales success??Like an effective sales team.

?Six Cylinder Selling

Think of your sales team as a well-tuned engine (or not!).?If all six cylinders are firing, all is well.?However, if one cylinder isn’t, it starts to run a bit lumpy and performance suffers.?If two are misfiring things start to get a good deal more uncomfortable – and everyone else must work harder just to keep things moving forward. Like your results.

Is it Time for a Sales Team Engine Diagnostic?

What about your sales process??Research has clearly indicated that those sales teams that follow a clearly defined sales process are more successful than those that adopt an ad hoc approach.?If you do have one, is it followed or is it seen as an optional extra??Having a process doesn’t mean having a team of robots.?It means having something in place that you can continually review and finesse. Constantly making sure that your sales process meets the demands of an ever changing business environment.

?And what about your sales pipeline??

Far too many sales pipelines are filled with wishful thinking rather than realistic opportunities.?They give the impression of activity but deliver very little.?

Given all the pipeline promises, how many come true??

Go through the sales pipeline – yours or your sales teams – and for every so-called opportunity with no clearly defined next action (ideally a diarised next meeting) against it, take it out.?There will be the occasional howl of protest, but if there is no agreed next step (agreed next step!), then it’s going nowhere.

?And how are you winning business??

Do you and the team win business by discounting (because your competitors do, or because the customer demands it) or do you sell on the value your customers receive as a result of doing business with you??Discounting to win may seem a necessity, but experience confirms that understanding customer value drivers – and addressing them – is the real route to fame and prosperity!?

When was the last time you reviewed your sales team competency definitions – the standards that will help you to objectively recognise good performance when you see it??

Are they up-to-date and do they reflect the skills the team need to prosper in todays’ marketplace? Do you have any?

?If you do, do you really use them in your coaching and development conversations with your team?

?And do you coach??If you are a sales manager are you out in the field with each of your team on a regular basis??Your sales team are your priority – your success is dependent on their success.?If you are a seller, are you demanding that your sales manager gets out with you to help you hone your skills and capabilities??Coaching is a two-way street.?Make sure you’re both travelling it.

Feel free to give me a call and let’s get a date in the diary for a 30-minute chat about where you are right now and where you’d like to go in the rest of the year.?Can we help you on the journey?

#salestraining #salescoaching #valueselling ##b2b

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