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No one can tell someone in sales that they have a tough job - they already know that. Success in sales takes character and a set of skills that not many people have. But that’s not all that’s needed – the following are six rules to follow that should serve as minimum criteria for your sales team’s success: |
1) Have written sales goals. Sales goals can be expressed on a number of different levels, including revenue, profit, % growth, entry to new markets or lines of business, and sales team productivity. Whatever the goals are, each individual should have their own set of goals. What happens when you have a group of people own a single goal? The answer is nothing much – when responsibility is diffused amongst a group of people, not much gets achieved. But if each team member owns a part of that bigger goal, there will be significantly more accountability and much more can be achieved.
2) Know your ratio. How many prospect calls turn into sales meetings? How many sales meetings turn into requests for proposals? How many proposals submitted get closed? Keeping these figures in your head will help guide you so you know what you need to do every week or every month. You can then start looking at improving those ratios, so that you can identify ways to reduce your labour intensity. For example, if you have 10 sales meetings a week, and only 1 leads to a sale, then improve that number to 2 out of 10 and you’ve doubled your sales! Looking at ratios this way will open up new ideas and thoughts on how to grow your revenue.
3) Manage your mindset. You’ve got to fully believe in three things to really be proficient in selling: in yourself, in your product, and in your company. Get these three things right, and you’re 80% there.
4) Have a sales process. Processes produce measurability, and we’ve all heard the saying “what gets measured gets improved”. A sales process helps make predicable outcomes for your sales team and prepares them for all of the unexpected obstacles that could come their way as they try to convert leads into clients. Without one, they could be wasting a lot of time and energy.
5) Reward your team. Good work deserves to be rewarded, and doing so will ensure it stays good. Rewards mean different things to different organisations. Some use extrinsic motivators such as money, recognition, and awards to encourage their sales staff. Others are motivated intrinsically such as being part of a culture or high-performing team. Companies with the best ways of motivating their sales team use a combination of both.
6) Learn to cope with rejection. We’ve already talked about mindset above, but this point is so crucial that it deserves another mention but through a different lens: how you pick yourself up after a rejection from a prospect can determine how successful you’ll be in the future. Even the best of the best sales people get turned down from time to time. The difference is that successful sales people are optimistic and resolve to keep trying, even after multiple rejections. A good way to handle a rejection from a prospect is to find out why they don’t want to buy from you, simply by asking them. Keep the relationship strong even when rejected. And always remember that a “no” sometimes means “not now”.
♦ Ahmed al-Akber is the managing director of ACK Solutions, a firm that helps companies to improve their marketing and sales results by offering more effective ways attracting customers and significantly better products and services. Ahmed has worked internationally in marketing, sales, and strategic planning at companies such as the Coca-Cola Company, Philip Morris International and Dell. Questions or comments can be sent to Ahmed on [email protected]
