A Sales Process Worth Following

Chuck Yeager’s claim to fame is breaking the sound barrier. He’s the ultimate early adopter having served courageously as a test pilot. Think of how many Yeager-like early adopters you have in the sales force.  Not many.  Is your sales process not buyer focused and therefore too risky for sales reps to strap on without going down in flames?

Last year at the beginning of Q2 your pipeline was healthy.  You were on pace to hit your goals. Somehow the pipeline collapsed. By the end of the year 40% of your reps hadn’t made quota. So how were your forecasts so far off and can you trust your pipeline this year? It’s difficult to grow revenue faster than your industry’s growth rate and faster than your competitors. Leverage the How to Make Your Number in 2018  to access a revenue growth methodology to hit your number quarter after quarter, and year after year.

Chances are, poor adoption of your sales process played. Last year, companies made significant investments in training. The trend looks to continue this year. During onboarding, new hires were walked through the sales process. They all received a copy of the sales playbook. Now, that playbook is collecting dust on the rep’s shelf. Download the Guide for Creating an Adoptable Sales Process. It is intended to create a relevant sales process.  One that will be seen as valuable. 

Why does this matter?  Standard one-size-fits-all sales methodologies no longer work. Competitors can license the same sales methodologies from the same vendors you can, so there is no competitive advantage to be had by adopting the latest sales methodology from the sales training industry.

The problem with a typical Sales Process is it is not buyer focused.  In these cases, organizations focus on the activities of their reps.  It’s a math equation.  If they make this many calls and set that many appointments, they’ll win. This has been the method of top sales forces for decades.  It has worked.  Until recently.  The process no longer helps your reps.  It’s obsolete and no longer is driving revenue.   Here’s a great example:

Sales Process Objectives: “Enter 10 new opportunities in the CRM every month.  Have a pipeline with 5X your quota.  Advance 5 opportunities to the quoting stage.  Close 30% of your opportunities. 

Sales Rep Activities: “Enter the last 10 calls you’ve made, regardless of the contact’s buying authority.  Overestimate potential deal size to grow your pipeline.   Generate enough quotes to keep the boss off my back.  Rely on my killer instinct to close business.  If I miss, call in a few favors with my customers.  Get a few change orders and hit my number.”

This typical scenario brings 3 results:

1. Lower win rate on new opportunities
2. Longer sales cycle on new opportunities as the focus shifts to easy wins
3. Smaller average deal size as reps focus on smaller opportunities

    

This is a recipe for forecast inaccuracy.  If the process is not followed, it cannot be properly analyzed.  How can you create a system that your team will actually follow?

• Create a buying centered sales process: Customer surveys and interviews are helpful here.  Find out what parts of the sales process they find valuable.  Identify how they prefer to communicate.  Ask where they go for information and who helps them make the decisions.      
• Align the sales process to the buying process.  Rework the Sales Process.  Take out the steps the customer doesn’t find valuable.  Add in the tools that help them make a buying decision.
• Automate the sales process:  Make the sales tools and process are mobile friendly.  Reps need to be able to pull them up quickly in the field.  The process must be able to move as quickly as the reps and buyers.

   

An adopted sales process is a relevant sales process.  An adopted sales process leads to forecast accuracy.  An adopted sales process allows a sales team to focus on its challenges.  Ensure that your sales organization has a sales process worth following. Download the Guide for Creating an Adoptable Sales Process. If you would like to have an introductory meeting with me, we can spend our time evaluating your sales process.

Come see me at The Studio, SBI’s multimillion dollar, one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art executive briefing center. In advance of the meeting we can secret shop your sales force and sit down with emerging best practices and review the gaps together. The Studio is a safe haven for learning and after just a few days clients leave with confidence and clarity on what they need to do to grow revenue and how to do it.

Photo Source:

Chuck Yeager next to experimental aircraft Bell X-1 #1 Glamorous Glennis U.S. Air Force.  Capt. Charles E. Yeager shown standing next to the Air Force’s Bell-built X-1 supersonic research aircraft, became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound in level flight on October 14, 1947.