In any business, there’s always room for improvement. This is especially true when a recession seems imminent and companies must adapt to unfavorable economic conditions. Because systems, processes and operating units have a way of taking on a life of their own, they often leave leadership teams struggling to find the right means to improve overall business performance.
Sales Xceleration’s data strongly suggests that sales, in particular, pose a problem for organizations, with 89% of small and midsize businesses reporting difficulties arriving at a sales strategy. The same is true for sales analysis, with 89% grappling with goals, quotas, incentives, sales team metrics and other elements. However, it’s not all bad. Determining how to overcome sales challenges can often be accomplished by focusing on recent organizational trouble spots. Prioritize the following areas:
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1. Take a second look at onboarding sales reps
A successful onboarding process and ongoing training strategy can increase employee engagement and equip team members with the knowledge and skills to excel in their jobs. It also provides the opportunity to familiarize new hires with the organization’s policies, benefits and processes, ensuring that their behaviors and actions align with expectations and contribute to the overall objectives of the company. According to Harvard Business Review, employees who have a positive, formal onboarding experience even have a 50% increase in retention and a 62% increase in new-hire productivity.
Despite these benefits, Sales Xceleration data indicates that 67% of organizations aren’t onboarding sales reps with any formalized structure. This just opens businesses up to unneeded risk. For one, new hires enter their roles without a full understanding of the job — nor do they know exactly what success looks like in that role, which can harm productivity and lead to poor customer service. Given enough time, your business can easily begin to experience customer churn and a hit to the bottom line.
New hires may also question the value of their roles and wonder whether they will advance their career goals. Employee satisfaction and morale will take a nosedive. And what was once viewed as a long-lasting career will be anything but, and you’ll probably see high turnover rates with new hires.
The fix is actually quite simple: Initiate a plan for onboarding sales reps. Set clear 30-, 60- and 90-day goals. Communicate the plan in writing, making sure everyone understands the process, standards and expectations prior to starting. Then, it’s just a matter of checking in with new hires regularly, maybe every month, until they start working independently. As the market for top talent — particularly sales talent — becomes more competitive, onboarding and development will only become more critical.
2. Reassess roles, responsibilities and sales resources
When everyone knows what they’re supposed to do and what’s expected of them, the workplace becomes more productive. In these environments, employees know how to behave and where to focus their attention. Less desirable tasks are no longer delayed until they create issues. Because responsibilities are clearly defined and assigned, collaboration comes much easier. In general, everything gets done on time. This clarity permits businesses to save energy and resources, experience fewer redundancies and avoid confusion about the next steps.
Unfortunately, organizations often fail to communicate expectations clearly enough to enjoy these benefits. In fact, Sales Xceleration data indicates that 57% of organizations don’t have sales resources, roles and responsibilities defined in writing. Again, this opens them up to risk — so much so that it could damage business. Every role in small and midsize businesses is essential. If even one sales employee is struggling, business objectives will become more difficult to achieve.
To correct deficits in this area, start by documenting sales processes so that few questions remain about the customer journey, the key milestones to watch for and the ways processes correlate with buying behaviors. Communicate your goals and key performance indicators, and make sure to add these to employees’ compensation plans. Performing regular performance reviews is also important.
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3. Address any sales skills gaps
Though it might seem obvious to address skill gaps, Sales Xceleration’s data indicates that 92% of organizations fail to do so when gaps are discovered. This aligns with findings by the National Society for Leadership and Success, which argues that the workforce at large is experiencing a skills gap crisis. In sales, this has the potential to be catastrophic: When sent out into the market without the knowledge or abilities to share what makes a product or service unique, untrained sales reps will very likely cause business to suffer.
Focusing more attention on how to train sales reps can help. If no onboarding plan is in place, prioritize creating one. You must understand what inspires team members to do their best work and make sure the employee experience is a good one. Doing so will allow sales reps to grow and encourage them to stay with your company. Utilizing a learning lab could also help move the needle in the right direction. Ensuring your sales reps have the right skills can make a big difference in their production. According to RAIN Group, top-performing sellers are 33%-120% more likely to have account management skills, and sellers with advanced consultative selling skills are almost twice as likely to be top performers.
Still, proper training also needs to be aligned with goals. To provide direction for sellers’ efforts, it is extremely beneficial to set professional development goals for sales reps. This is also key to correcting sales skills gaps when discovered. When salespeople aren’t made aware of problems, they have no means of taking the necessary steps to improve.
It can be difficult to know how to overcome sales challenges. While not all companies have issues onboarding sales reps, defining responsibilities or correcting skills gaps, these areas have become increasingly problematic in organizations. Regardless of where your company’s difficulties lie, it’s critical to look at the processes already in place and determine whether they’re working for the business and the sales team. This might reveal problems no one knew existed but could be fixed.
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