Triangulate Your Sales Team
After my last posting I definitely received some positive feedback that there are in fact many people ready to get out and make the most of this year. I talked to a few sales managers and one sales VP and they surprisingly had a set of questions that concentrated on the same issue...optimizing performance.
The first manager I spoke to said that he currently is somewhat happy with the setup of his CRM solution but he has a sneaky suspicion that there is something else that he can do to get better results out of his team. He called to ask my opinion so we ran through some questions to try and get to the heart of his suspicions.
THE TEAM
Although I don't typically like to get into sports analogies or metaphors sometimes they are just too hard to ignore. I liken a sales team to an athlete playing an individual or team sport. If it's an individual sport (sole account manager on an account) I want to know about the skills of that person, their preparation, and how they execute on the field. If it is a team sport (team selling) I want to know two more things. I want to know the playbook (strategy or plan) and I want to know how execution is evaluated.
THE TRAINING
The next thing I want to look at is the profile of a successful sales person in a particular field and how that person achieves their goals on a consistent basis. Again, if this is a team, I want to know how a team reaches their consistency on a team basis. When you profile what your best performers or teams have as common traits then you also have to look to see how to best bridge the gap in the rest of your sales team.
THE TOOLS
The last thing to look at is the CRM system and how it is implemented. If there isn't one that is a big problem. Assuming most sales teams have one then you need to look at not just the structure but also an evaluation of how people use the system and profile their daily activities to see if there is a better way to provide access or information in a way that can help their performance. The last thing I like to evaluate is whether or not there is a productivity plan in place to help work as a guide to help sales people hit their numbers.
So what in the world is "triangulation"? It is the combination of assessing the team, their training plan, and the tools they use to get the job done. As much as I would like to think a good CRM system will make the difference I don't think it's possible to optimize performance without looking at how you balance the three key elements of sales performance.
When I ran through these same questions with the other sales manager and the vice president of my other customers several issues came to the surface as they did when I analyzed the first person I met with. In all three cases the teams had an adequate system but their sales people spent significant time in the field. By offering the suggestion to extend the CRM capabilities through a mobile platform their people would have easier access to information and make better use of their time to create and log more activities. Activity equals the opportunity for good things to happen.
The next suggestion I offered is to implement a weekly plan in the CRM system and reporting to be able both create a management tool for measuring those activities and also to lay out a set of expectations for sales people on the level of activities it will take to reach their goals. In a simple pyramid leads are the bottom level and that creates the opportunity for a level activities which lead to certain number of opportunities (sales cycles). Therefore, if you have an adequate number of sales cycles a percentage of those will become proposals and ultimately a number of those close and become revenue.
The last bit of advice I gave my customers related to the approach to training. One of the things that I reminded them of is the need for consistent and planned training activities. Whether it is product training, competitive analysis, or sales training, sales people respond well to consistent and planned training activities. If times are slower this year it is especially better to help your teams from this perspective so that they will be better empowered to perform and increase their win ratios.
I know there is no perfect science here but if you take an inventory of your sales teams now there is still plenty of time to reach your goals for the year. If you do the same thing this year that you did last year count on the same or very possibly worse results.
The first manager I spoke to said that he currently is somewhat happy with the setup of his CRM solution but he has a sneaky suspicion that there is something else that he can do to get better results out of his team. He called to ask my opinion so we ran through some questions to try and get to the heart of his suspicions.
THE TEAM
Although I don't typically like to get into sports analogies or metaphors sometimes they are just too hard to ignore. I liken a sales team to an athlete playing an individual or team sport. If it's an individual sport (sole account manager on an account) I want to know about the skills of that person, their preparation, and how they execute on the field. If it is a team sport (team selling) I want to know two more things. I want to know the playbook (strategy or plan) and I want to know how execution is evaluated.
THE TRAINING
The next thing I want to look at is the profile of a successful sales person in a particular field and how that person achieves their goals on a consistent basis. Again, if this is a team, I want to know how a team reaches their consistency on a team basis. When you profile what your best performers or teams have as common traits then you also have to look to see how to best bridge the gap in the rest of your sales team.
THE TOOLS
The last thing to look at is the CRM system and how it is implemented. If there isn't one that is a big problem. Assuming most sales teams have one then you need to look at not just the structure but also an evaluation of how people use the system and profile their daily activities to see if there is a better way to provide access or information in a way that can help their performance. The last thing I like to evaluate is whether or not there is a productivity plan in place to help work as a guide to help sales people hit their numbers.
So what in the world is "triangulation"? It is the combination of assessing the team, their training plan, and the tools they use to get the job done. As much as I would like to think a good CRM system will make the difference I don't think it's possible to optimize performance without looking at how you balance the three key elements of sales performance.
When I ran through these same questions with the other sales manager and the vice president of my other customers several issues came to the surface as they did when I analyzed the first person I met with. In all three cases the teams had an adequate system but their sales people spent significant time in the field. By offering the suggestion to extend the CRM capabilities through a mobile platform their people would have easier access to information and make better use of their time to create and log more activities. Activity equals the opportunity for good things to happen.
The next suggestion I offered is to implement a weekly plan in the CRM system and reporting to be able both create a management tool for measuring those activities and also to lay out a set of expectations for sales people on the level of activities it will take to reach their goals. In a simple pyramid leads are the bottom level and that creates the opportunity for a level activities which lead to certain number of opportunities (sales cycles). Therefore, if you have an adequate number of sales cycles a percentage of those will become proposals and ultimately a number of those close and become revenue.
The last bit of advice I gave my customers related to the approach to training. One of the things that I reminded them of is the need for consistent and planned training activities. Whether it is product training, competitive analysis, or sales training, sales people respond well to consistent and planned training activities. If times are slower this year it is especially better to help your teams from this perspective so that they will be better empowered to perform and increase their win ratios.
I know there is no perfect science here but if you take an inventory of your sales teams now there is still plenty of time to reach your goals for the year. If you do the same thing this year that you did last year count on the same or very possibly worse results.
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