A four-step guide to get your sales team firing. By Jason Howes

THE ACCIDENTAL SALESPERSON

For most of us, the path to a career in sales is less of a conscious choice and more of a “lucky accident.” It’s a field often populated by individuals with industry experience, and many don’t have formal qualifications. Recruitment is often driven by a “gut feel” or the necessity of filling a role quickly rather than a careful selection process.

We all know the perks of working in sales —competitive salaries, company cars, fuel allowances, and incentives. But sales can also be a hard grind, that requires “grit” to survive in today’s fast-moving economies.

Currently, the pressure on sales teams is intensifying as companies need to scale up to cover rising costs. Salespeople are now expected to step outside their comfort zone, but can they? The ideal time to grow your market share is when the market is quiet, but is your team motivated and committed to doing what it takes to succeed? A window of opportunity can close quickly, so procrastination will destroy you.

Let me show you four key steps to energise your sales team and turn challenges into opportunities, including winning new clients, selling new products and not avoiding prospecting.

59% of sales leaders don’t understand how to motivate their sales team, Gartner.

1 EVALUATE PEOPLE, SYSTEMS, AND PROCESSES**

**Our first step in revitalising your sales efforts is an objective evaluation of your current setup— your people, systems, and processes. This assessment benchmarks your practices against global best standards. Enter Objective Management Group (OMG).

Business and sales leaders understand their business success depends on having the right people in key roles and retaining to talent. However, many clients only realise this after salespeople have left, are being managed out, or moved to a better-suited position.

A recent review by our partner, Objective Management Group (OMG), of more than 100 sales teams identified that 64% of companies have more than half of their salespeople in the wrong role, and they are not capable of executing your long-term strategies.

2 DEVELOP A DETAILED PLAN TO DRIVE SALES GROWTH**

Effective pipeline management is critical, as it helps qualify prospects early and directs focus.

Opportunities. In times of economic downturn, it’s essential to streamline activities and eliminate distractions. Get your team involved.

Your plan should include daily activities that focus on what you are doing and not doing and start to finish time blocks to focus on new business development and leading activities that contribute to your required outcomes.

If your sales team is bogged down with customer service tasks, reassess their roles and ensure they align with the company’s strategic goals. The key to growth is encouraging your team to engage in uncomfortable but necessary activities. **Remember! If it’s uncomfortable, then you’re growing.
**Even during tough times, an organised and focused sales strategy can make a difference. This is where the “elite” sales professionals shine, not order-takers.

Like in the Battleships board game: point, aim, and fire.

3 ALIGN SALES PROCESSES WITH TECHNOLOGY**

Incorporating technology into your sales process can enhance efficiency and effectiveness. A well-defined sales process with clear milestones and scorecards helps guide salespeople and ensure consistency. It helps identify the best prospects, understand their needs, and create a sense of urgency that moves deals forward.

Sales technology, when aligned with your processes, can boost sales by up to 30%. Most companies don’t have a sales process or are not aligned with technology and automation to improve effectiveness. Average score for sales process is 58%, leaving a huge opportunity for improvement.

Too much information is in people’s heads or in spreadsheets you can’t find. Implementing a technology-driven sales process ensures that your team has the tools they need to succeed, and it facilitates better onboarding and training for new hires.

Stat: 95% of new products fail because of the above shortfalls. Harvard Business Review

4 EXECUTE AND REINFORCE LEARNING ON THE JOB**

Finally, execution is where your plans and processes come to life. Real-time coaching reinforces learning and ensures salespeople apply new skills effectively. Regular one-on-one coaching sessions focused on reviewing activity and pipeline management can help your team stay on track and continuously improve.

Leadership teams are crucial in setting the bar high and holding the team accountable. Utilising technology and automation can streamline these processes, making it easier to track progress, lead activities, and achieve outcomes. However, this requires a commitment to change, allocation of time, and a willingness to embrace new methods.

Membrain, our CRM and sales enablement partner coaching platform, allows leaders to build professional development plans to maximise performance.**

ACROSS OMG 21 CORE COMPETENCIES, HERE ARE THREE YOU CAN START WITH

Consultative selling

The most powerful skill where a salesperson listens attentively, asks open-ended questions, the right questions and guides the conversation towards mutually beneficial outcomes. Salespeople, to be successful, must be “in the moment” so they can identify compelling reasons to change to be a partner that provides solutions and value. They own this part, always outcome focused.

Recent data from OMG, the average score for consultative selling is 42%, which means that over half of the 2.8m salespeople evaluated are in the bottom half!

Qualifying

It’s also vital to identify your ideal client profile. Who’s your target? What do they look like? What problems do they have that your products and services can improve? Statistics show that nearly half of salespeople chase opportunities that aren’t a good fit for their products or services. By clearly defining your target audience and using scorecards, your team can qualify prospects more effectively, saving time and increasing success rates. Not just a scattergun approach, focused and execution.

Sales messaging

Crafting sharp, compelling sales messages is crucial. This helps to open doors. A well-defined message can significantly enhance your team’s ability to convey value, secure meetings with potential clients, get you in front of decision-makers and set you apart from your competition.

At Arrow, we believe that successful sales organisations invest in continuous professional development, understanding that an engaged and well-trained team is a critical asset. We have helped clients reduce the number of salespeople by maximising team effectiveness and providing tools to be more efficient, saving them thousands!

Closing the deal

In today’s market, the role of the salesperson is evolving. They must maintain and grow existing clients and win new logos. Quite possibly, the salesperson you hired in the past potentially doesn’t meet your current day requirements or requires extensive professional training and development to upskill. That’s our specialty.

With salespeople’s tenure at an all-time low of 17 months, recruiting, onboarding, and training means you may only get 3 months of top performance.

If you’re serious about building a high- performance sales culture, take action now. Reach out for a consultation or explore resources to help you transform your sales team into a driving force for growth.