Is Your Sales Team Making These Costly Mistakes?

After working with over 70 different companies (small, medium and large), most of the mistakes we see are common and predictable.  In other words, most companies that we work with are making the same mistakes, that are costing them top line revenue, and in most cases, profit.  The good news?  You can mend  these mistakes. The better news?  You can turn “sales process weakness” into market dominating strengths. 

 Here are some of those mistakes, and as you read this, you can assess your team to understand where you are:

• 1) You haven’t clearly defined your process, and actively train to that process.

  I was doing an audit interview of a new client this week, and I asked him about sales process and sales training.  His response was “Yea, I know that’s important, but I focus on hiring people with sales experience”.   Now, you are probably thinking, “Ok, so you are assuming that someone ELSE trained them at excellent levels?" – we all know that this is HIGHLY unlikely.   Great sales organizations have a well defined process, and they train to it regularly.  Skill development is a weekly MUST for them.  Excellence in the process is not a hope to have skill, it’s a mandatory skill.

• 2) You haven’t matched up your Step by Step sales process to trackable metrics.

  Many organizations are tracking revenue, but what about the step by step movement of deals within their sales cycle?  The knowledge and strength you gain by committing to this is huge.  Can you imagine the benefit of being able to know where each deal is in the sales process?  And more importantly, to be able to assess (and coach) your sales people on how they are moving deals through the pipeline?  Companies that instill this level of tracking with their sales people quickly are able to read through the BS and truly understand if deals are moving, or not.  The old “yep, we’re just waiting to hear from them” line from your sales teams fastly goes away.  They are either moving the deals through the pipe, or not.  Your top producers are laser focused on moving each deal one step further.  Your goal is to have EVERYONE (the other 90%) on your team doing that. Take away the guessing game – if you aren’t measuring it, your aren’t managing it.

• 3) You haven’t Mastered the ability to tell your story.

  If you are in a business that could be perceived as a commodity (ie:  you deal with constant quotes/bids/RFP’s, etc) then your team’s ability to persuasively communicate your story will make a huge difference.  It is rare that I interview a sales person who can truly communicate what makes your company different than the rest.  Why? Because it hasn’t been laid out, scripted, tested, and role played.  All of your sales people should easily be able to answer the following questions:
  1. What makes your company different?
  2. What difference does your difference make? (ie: what is the ultimate value you bring them as a client?)
  3. What business problems does your company solve?
  4. Who have you solved them with (these are your case studies, and your sales team should have your top 10 case studies memorized)
  5. What are common fears your buyers may be experiencing?  

 When I work with a company, and meet their sales reps for the first time (part of our audit process) – these are the core questions that I ask.  Why?  Because that’s what prospects are thinking.  And, if these salespeople meet with prospects day in and day out, they should be able to flawlessly answer those 5 questions, one would think. 

Again, you would think....  

Here’s the challenge:  I have yet to go into any situation where  members of a sales team could provide consistent and compelling answers to those questions. 

In fact, here is a challenge.  Pull in 3-4 sales team members and ask them those exact questions.  Listen for consistency, certainty and persuasiveness.  Listen as if you were a client meeting/talking to them for the first time.  If you don't  hear something that is highly persuasive (and you won't) - then imagine the sound of a toilet flushing.  That's revenue and profitability being flushed down the toilet.

And, rather than be disappointed, get excited, because I know that there is MASSIVE upside for you and your sales team.

So, here are some of the MAJOR KEYS to Sales Management Success: 

• Great sales organizations have a clearly defined sales process that everyone on the team and explain and demonstrate. They practice regularly to create and assure Mastery.
• Great sales organizations create trackable metrics. They know that what gets measured, gets managed.  What gets managed, gets done.    Stop shooting darts in the dark.  Get the help you need to get laser tracking metrics in place to help you create a culture of high performance.
• Great sales organizations have laid out, to the letter, their sales messages and their stories. Their sales people can clearly communicate what makes their company/product/service different.  They know what problems they solve for people.  They can easily and confidently tell stories (ie: Case Studies) of your top clients – why they chose you, what problem you solved for them, why they love you, and why they continue to buy from you.  Being able to “sell the story” is far more compelling than the features and benefits of your product.

 Taking action on JUST these 3 strategies will make a world of difference with your sales organization.   Is it easy? No. If it was, then everyone would be doing it.  But, with 100% certainty, I can tell you that it is worth it.  Either do it yourself, or hire an expert to come in and do it for you.  

As the leader of the business, taking every step possible to create this level of discipline and mastery in your selling process is truly one of the most PROFITABLE skill sets you can bring to the table. The beauty of this is that after you do the work to create your process, it lasts for a long long time.  But most fail to do the work up front to create.  Don't let yourself be in the "most" category. You can choose to dominate your market by having a superior selling machine.  

 Believe in being the best,

Gene