We need to improve sales. One of our sales guys has a habit of not following through with customers. He does a great job opening doors. But he’s terrible at going back to ask for repeat business or referrals. What can we do?
Thoughts of the Day: You can improve sales through teamwork. Understand the new normal for customers and appeal to that. Use a team approach to meet the total needs of the company. Lower the company’s risk by involving multiple players. Set goals for participants. Help individuals play to their strengths.
Improve sales through teamwork
The pace of business is constantly speeding up. 24/7/365 connectivity is the norm. Information is everywhere, and so are interruptions. Busy people are trying to get their jobs done. Make the most of the people on your team who can break through the clutter.
Expand the volume of what this salesperson is good at. Ask them to focus on making connections. Have others follow up. Opening doors to lots of prospects could be highly valuable to your company. Ensure that someone else follows up to move the sales process forward.
Recognize that different sales stages require different attitudes and behaviors as well as skills. Sometimes sales call for tough skin and fearlessness. Other times it requires empathetic listening and relationship development. On the backend, sales require writing skills, and negotiation and closing skills. Learn what each member of your sales team does well. Figure out who does best at each stage in the sales process. Build a complimentary sales team to improve sales.
Set up a team approach to sales. Have different people research target accounts, approach the targets, gather information about prospect needs, document the company’s offer in a proposal, and someone does the closing. Make sure there is someone to take over to negotiate the contract, to ensure implementation goes smoothly. Don’t forget to circle back to ensure customer satisfaction.
Reduce risk, promote teamwork in sales
One person owning an account, beginning to end, is risky for a company. If that person leaves, the client may leave, too. It’s better to have a network of relationships between the company and clients. Involve several people in the process. Streamline the processes to ensure prospects and clients are well managed at every stage.
People in the office can do research, answer questions, get out proposals, and provide customer and prospect support. People out on the road can meet face to face to gather insights on what the client environment is like, explain complex concepts to customers and prospects, and go eyeball to eyeball when it’s time to make a final decision. Consider inviting your customer to visit your office in order to show that your company has the ability to service long term needs.
Build a top team of performers by helping individuals play to their strengths in a complementary way. Set goals to meet the company’s overall needs for growth, retention, and profit. Figure out what that means in terms of new signings, renewals, referrals to folks who don’t yet know about your company, etc.
Improve productivity and performance
Make sure that your sales team is up for meeting the goals you set. Ask the team to work up the details of how they think they can best meet the overall goals. Ask the sales team to be forthright if they have concerns regarding hitting the goals you’ve set. Brainstorm solutions with the group, in order to build confidence that the goals are doable. Be clear about what the overall team has to accomplish. And what that means in terms of each team member’s responsibility.
Regularly evaluate each person’s contribution to hitting the total company goals. For example, opening doors is good, but only if those are the right leads for your company. Avoid missing the mark to improve sales. Nurturing prospects that won’t value what your company offers can be a waste of time for everyone.
If you’re going to build a team approach to selling, make sure your compensation plan rewards team goals. Have a bonus that rewards everyone for achieving the master goal. Or, distribute profits based on total company performance. Make it clear that superstars are only valuable if they can contribute to winning team performance.
Looking for a good book? Smart Sales Manager: The Ultimate Playbook for Building and Running a High-Performance Inside Sales Team, by Josiane Chriqui Feigon.
