We are often asked: “What is the best methodology for our company?” This is the wrong question. Any methodology, when consistently applied, can yield significant Sales Productivity benefits. The better question is:”How do we make our Sales Process useful to the reps and used uniformly across the team?” The challenge is the consistent application in a fashion in which the reps buy in.
One of the keys to improving Sales Productivity is the consistent use of a dynamic Sales Process. According to CSO Insights and others, companies that utilize Sales Process have significantly higher Sales Productivity than those that do not. When you implement Sales Process, you will be more effective in focusing on the highest potential opportunities.
This does not mean that every rep in your company should sell exactly the same way. However, you should: a) Have a consistent approach to measure where a deal is in the prospect’s buying cycle and b) Enable your Sales Leaders to provide coaching to your sales reps on best sales practices that apply to specific sales cycles in their individual pipelines.
When we ask clients about their sales process, they often respond that they have one, but that it is not consistently used across the sales force. We often find that problem is less with the Sales Process Design and more due to the lack of commitment to implementation. Why is this?
In our view, it is that VPs of Sales are often unwilling or unable to deliver culture change. The implementation of a Sales Process (where none existed) is severe culture change. Some of your best performers will resist. And the Sales VP is compensated to focus on the current quarter and half of the next quarter. To expect an executive who typically is in the job for a total of 18 months to take arrows in their back to drive a change that has long term benefits may not be reasonable unless he/she has the strong commitment of the CEO and executive staff. I don’t suggest that clients spend the resources on Sales Process design unless that commitment is evident.
If you need to improve Sales Productivity and/or forecast accuracy, consider our Sales Assessment service to identify the strengths and weaknesses in your approach to acquiring customers.
