At In the Funnel – Toronto Sales Consulting, our mission is to help Canadian Small businesses sell better.
The intent of our blog is to provide advice that you can apply to your approach to sales execution TODAY.
As we move closer to the mid-point of the year, you need to find time in the next 30 days to objectively review sales execution for the first half of the year. Specifically:
Sales Results
What have you sold year to date?How does this compare to your objective / goal?How does this compare to last year?How do you explain the delta(s)?
Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)
What was the source of the deal that we bid on?How many “deals” did we bid on?How many did we win (%)Why did we win?Why did we lose?Try to “stick to the facts” here vs. opinion (yes – very hard to do).
Go Forward – Sales Funnel
What does my sales pipeline look like for the back half of the year?What is my target pipeline to quota?
Sales Team
Who is and is not performing well (vs. quota or expectations)?Why?Where do they need help from the company to succeed?Training?Strategy?Process?Tools?
What if your sales results are NOT meeting expectations?
If your sales results are not meeting expectations, you will need a method to diagnose and resolve the issue(s).
Step 1 is to determine the magnitude of the performance problem and ensure your response is proportional (if you are 15% off your sales goal, don’t rip and replace your strategy and execution plan, just tweak it).
Also, resist the knee jerk reaction to blame the sales team themselves. Sales Rep performance is rarely the only reason that a sales team is underperforming.
We suggest, revisiting your sales strategy along the following topics:
Value PropositionTarget MarketAwareness CampaignsDemand GenerationSales MethodologyApproach to managing the sales team
Prior to the end of Q1, the first half of 2014, we will share our thoughts on what and how to diagnose each stage of your sales strategy so that you are in a position to properly re-calibrate your go-to-market approach. This will apply whether you need a complete overhaul of your sales execution or a simple re-calibration.
Feedback is the “breakfast of champions” – please share yours on how we are doing.