Quarter end is around the corner, the business has missed the last 2 months targets, and the sales team do not seem to be energised and also lack direction. Does this sound familiar to you?
Here are 5 tips that I have learnt that will help you to energise the sales team and boost their performance as well as deliver sales growth for 2020.
1) Provide Clear Direction
• Focus on 3 key things the team should achieve in the next quarter and then break these down into monthly, weekly and daily tasks. This way the sales team knows exactly what they should be aiming for, essentially giving them a clear purpose and direction. If you require help with this utilise tools as such as A3 matrix.
2) Use Data
• Look at leading and lagging data. Identify exactly where in the sales process the issues appear to be.
• Set numerical goals based on your sales process. Example of this can be found from my previous blog.
• Create time frames (day/week/month/year) for the number, or type, of activities that need to be completed.
• Develop a visual board so that the numerical goals are transparent to the individuals/team and business.
• Focus on having daily or weekly stand up meetings around the visual board.
• Utilise CRM like tools such as public dashboards, to increase transparency and accountability throughout the organisation.
• Remember to include win reports on your visual board.
In effect, create excitement around the goals.
3) Rally the Organisation
• Make sure the entire company knows not to bother the sales team on non-revenue-generating meetings or activities. Rally the entire organisation around the fact that the sales team’s focus is on generating revenue and hitting the numbers on the visual board.
4) Rewards and Celebrate WINS
• Reward individuals and make them feel important by rejoicing in their little wins along with the big ones.
• Share the successes of individuals with the company. This can be done via the company newsletter, or a “Salesperson of the Month” blog or flyer, internal email, win report, etc.
• Create internal competitions, such as “most successful salesperson” on a specific product line/service etc.
• Share best practice: Encourage the top performers to share their tips for success with the rest of the team. This will motivate the team further due to the recognition they have gained.
• If on target bonuses are paid year end, you may want to try and break this up, by way of paying them monthly or quarterly
5) Create a Coaching Program.
• Meet with individuals on a one-to-one basis each week to run through numbers and talk in confidence around their pipeline.
By having a one-to-one meeting, you are making sure each sales person is fulfilling their role(s), reaching expectations, but more importantly, allowing for the opportunity for all of their questions to be answered. It also allows for any issues to be identified as early as possible.
In team meetings use role-play to work through scenarios for the activities in your sales process, such as lead generation, giving presentations/demos, handling objections, asking qualifying questions etc.
• Carry out joint visits to see how they are doing. This will force them to be more prepared since you, their manager, may be involved, as well as allow you to assess what they need help on, or what they could train their lower-performing counterparts on.
Re energising the sales team can be a difficult process, but making it successful should be fun. By examining your practices, your people and yourself, you can develop a team that performs and generates revenue for the company.
Finally, never stop focusing on your own improvement as well of your sales team – that’s how top-performing sales organisations train and keep their best people and maintain a competitive edge.
About Author
Rakesh Shah RVR Management has over 20 years’ experience of delivering sales growth in large corporate companies as well as SME companies, in UK/Europe, USA and Asia. He is technically, MBA and CIM qualified with a background of delivering growth within a range of B2B sectors.
Contact Rakesh Shah : 0778 555 8344