SPECIAL GUEST BLOG By Fiona Flynn, Sales and Marketing Mentor, Mentors.ie
Fiona Flynn, Mentors.ie and Chair of Irish Sales Champion Awards, says that most sales teams have remarkably similar issues. There is a tendency to focus on existing customers, as habitually as a rabbit run, performing the same ritual tasks, buried in administration and not clustering meetings.
The ultimate challenge for sales managers is how to get the team focused on new business opportunities.
The answer is to conduct an indepth analysis in conjunction with sales people, to examine where and how exactly they are spending their time. The results can be eye-opening for the entire team, at the very least and can save thousands of euro in wasted resources.
The reality is that this is a process welcomed by executives and their sales staff. Sales people complain that they would prefer to devote their time to sales rather than administration. The organisation has to be specifically structured to help them to achieve greater efficiencies, otherwise the burden of administration and processing continues to fall their way.
It is important when managing a sales team to find a balance between micro-management and allowing the good people to achieve their sales targets. Continually focus on and measure prospecting, sales meetings, and the level of administration that your sales people are engaged in.
When you know that your sales team could achieve more, how do you achieve that productivity boost? Here are five keys to optimising your sales team:
Identify training requirements.
Make sure that your sales people are trained to the highest standards and that they are familiar with the best ways to sell. Selling is an art and a science. Your team need to be familiar with the intricacies of prospecting, generating warm leads and acquiring strong business referrals, for example
Consider centralising lead generation.
A number of companies now use business analysts or high quality call centres to work with sales teams on lead generation and even to make appointments for sales staff. Lead generation absorbs a considerable amount of sales time, as does the necessary research into qualifying the lead, and this research must be thorough. Centralising lead generation allows sales people to focus on what they were hired for – customer interaction.
Increase Core Selling Time.
Most sales people complain that the administrative burden placed on them significantly decreased their time for sales. This burden can take up as much as 50% of their time, on average.
- Provide administrative support so that sales people are free to sell
- Allocate dedicated resources for CRM system updates and lead generation
- Eliminate duplication of CRM systems and other reporting structures
- Route customer complaints through a dedicated resource
Empower the sales team.
Relationship building and team connectivity is core to strong sales. Use intelligent performance management, feedback and sales support to ensure that sales people remain motivated. Connectivity through technology has also proven useful in reducing staff turnover. This may include remote email, internet and access to SalesForce.
Support the sales team with great back-up service.
Sales people very often complain that they put effort into recruiting a customer, and that the delivery side of the business puts equal effort into losing them again. Make sure that your back-up service teams, customer sign-up processes and delivery capability is as professional as the people who are selling for you. Marketing also has an important part to play. When the marketing and sales teams work closely together on initiatives to attract customers, we discovered that the impact and success of the campaigns are multiplied.
Fiona says that selling like fishing requires prioritisation. “You can’t just go out to a lake and keep casting. Selling requires a well-informed focus on rich territory, minimum distraction and it also requires backup in terms of training, lead generation and reward for good performance.”
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