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Blood and having clearly defined sales process (DSP). Almost every sales team I work with struggling lacks a clear definition of what is known as a successful sales cycle. While they may know them cold call or prospect to generate lead and then call that lead to the back and close the sale, what is missing is the precise standards (best practices) determines every step. Without this clarity, it is difficult to know how to representatives consistently close sales (which is why it does not half the time).
The absence of such standards - and that not being able to identify, verify and teach each step successfully - leads to many problems inside sales teams have. If you were not taken the time to determine your DSP, then this is the No.1 work for you.
The absence of a training program teaches your sales representatives exactly how to succeed in selling situations they face day after day. I think for one moment about20% higher for salespeople. Is not true that they seem to know intuitively what to say and what to do to close sales faster and more efficient than the other80% of your team?
Many sales teams work with may be structured training program in place (and I say "may" because some do not), but most of them do not have a sales training program teaches salespeople exactly what to say and what to do in each case the sale to be successful (think Manuscripts here). In other works, and best practices of DSP is not the focus of sales training, and this is the reason why their teams struggle to win sales.
#2 work for you is the scenario of best practices and make sure each member of your team has a basic selling skills necessary to succeed in selling situations they face every day.
Measuring the wrong metrics of your sales team. While most managers and business owners can tell me how much their representatives make calls, how many opportunities you get, what their rates are close, etc., can not you tell me what really matters is: What do you say to them representatives during their calls. Do not get me wrong, and those of the other measurements important to know and keep track of, but they do not pay sales! How representatives to qualify prospects, how to deal with objections and what they are doing and saying to move forward is to sell what drives sales. This brings me to number four:
Not recording calls. This is perhaps the most important thing a sales manager can do - record all sales calls and listen to both sides of the conversation. Know exactly what is happening during the call is the only way to find out what is wrong and figure out how to fix it. This is the first thing I ask from a company hires me to help them. If you do not record your calls, then you have to start today. Trust me, you'll learn more in an hour of listening to the calls than you will in a year of trying to learn it without doing this.
Do not hire the right sales representatives to begin with. Not everyone is cut out for internal sales, which includes representatives from experienced internal sales. You have ever had by the standards which will help to identify those who are likely to succeed in your sales environment. Includes profiling your top producers, but it also includes the assessment of the level of selling skills and recruit candidates have.
Also, one of the biggest determinants of sales performance in the future is the past sales performance. This is why it is often the option to be the best representatives to hire without experience and put them in a structured program (see items one through four above-mentioned) and the training of these new representatives to succeed in your environment. Also, get in the habit of hiring slow and firing fast - most companies do just the opposite!
By avoiding the five mistakes above, you can save hundreds of hours of frustration and hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost sales and unnecessary expenses.
