Question: Sales aren”™t growing fast enough. It seems like a combination of problems and as the business grows, I have less and less time to focus on sales. How do we get better at closing new business?
Thoughts of the day: Carefully consider who is in charge of sales. Get cracking on building sales management tools and efficiency. Chase what you can likely get. Ask your best supporters to help you open more doors, faster.
When you started the business, you were probably in charge of sales, getting and retaining customers needed to get the business off the ground. It may now be time for a change. Ask yourself these questions: Do you have anyone you can rely on to back you up 100 percent in sales? Who steps up to the plate when you get busy, go on vacation or otherwise take your eye off the ball?
As companies grow, they need a sales manager who is accountable for planning and delivering the growth goals the company needs. A harried, distracted business owner who is pulled in multiple directions can”™t continue to be directly in charge of sales. The question is whether you can find and grow the talent you need internally or should look to the outside. Both solutions have challenges.
It can be hard for a peer to shift into management. The skills needed to succeed in sales ”“ independence, ambition, drive and individual focus ”“ may be the opposite of what”™s needed to succeed as a manager ”“ collaboration, coaching, analysis and planning across a broad platform. I”™ve seen it happen enough times to be wary: A sales superstar gets picked to run sales and turns into a dud as a manager.
On the other hand, it may take time to find an outsider. Integrating a new player into the team can be difficult. And a new person may have trouble learning about the company”™s products, services and ways of doing business.
Assess your team of existing players. Look at individuals for management potential. Who is the most organized, strategic and accountable? Who consistently steps up as a leader, even when that may hurt their individual results?
Look at outsiders who already know your industry. Is there someone who is successfully managing a team of salespeople? Are they looking for their next great challenge? Could they fit into your company”™s culture?
Pull together anyone who currently works on sales. Ask them to print out samples of every form of communication they”™ve used in the last 6 months. Put everything on the table and start looking for the best examples. Pull the best from each document presented. Mock up standard letters, emails and proposals.
Record a variety of mock sales calls on video. Ask salespeople to play salesperson and prospect, since your salespeople are the most familiar with how different prospects respond in different situations. Play back the video and analyze what works and what falls flat.
Build standard scripts or questionnaires to qualify and develop prospects. Brainstorm the best way to approach various sales situations, and then write out the process so you can teach it to the team. Make a list of prospect concerns and stalls and have the team practice how to handle them effectively.
Resist the temptation to go after everything. When sales are stalled, many companies make the mistake of churning through leads, wasting time where they never had a chance. Instead, focus on pursuing prospects that have a better-than-average likelihood of coming to fruition. Critically evaluate every opportunity.
Not getting in front of enough of the right prospects? Enlist the support of your customers, your vendors and your marketing department. Ask them to work together to help your company get to the next level. Good customers know that if you”™re growing, you”™ll have more resources to help them. Good vendors know that a successful client of theirs means more sales for them. And the marketing department can figure out how to attract more attention for the things your company does well.
Looking for a good book? “New Sales. Simplified.: The Essential Handbook for Prospecting and New Business Development” by Mike Weinberg and S. Anthony Iannarino.
Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., strategyleaders.com, a business-consulting firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurial firms grow. She can be reached by phone at 877-238-3535. Do you have a question for Andi? Send it via email to AskAndi@strategyleaders. Visit AskAndi.com for an entire library of Ask Andi articles.
