Here's something you should stop doing this year

Sometimes improved performance lies in what you do. Sometimes, it lies in what you stop doing. If better sales results are part of your plan this year, here are some things you should stop doing right now.

Stop sending salespeople to ineffective sales training

Training is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States, and a large segment of that industry is devoted to sales. Yet much of that sales training is wasted because it’s not connected to what the salespeople should be doing, and it’s not coached and reinforced.

This year, choose a new way of enabling your sales team. Create a sales strategy that you break down into an informative and actionable sales process that aligns with your customer’s problems and aspirations. Then choose the training provider that can train the behaviors and processes needed to execute that strategy.

Integrate the training and reinforcement directly into the sales team’s daily workflow. Make it possible for them to access reminders and training videos at the moment that they need it, and reinforce correct behaviors with reminders and checklists. In today’s fast-moving digital world, we need to continually learn on the job, not just in classrooms.

Stop creating endless spreadsheets

Sales managers can be the critical multiplier for your sales team, but most of them are stuck behind a desk all day making spreadsheets and managing by email. Understanding your numbers is important to improving sales performance, but only if you’re managing the right numbers.

In most cases, these endless spreadsheets report on lagging indicators such as win/loss rates and number of activities performed. These fail to get to the bottom of what actually influences performance.

Instead, build a sales process that measures progress and the effectiveness of actions, rather than the number of disjointed activities engaged in. Put the process directly into the salesperson’s workflow, and equip managers with tools that allow them to see at a glance where a salesperson needs the most help. Then make sure they have the time and incentive to coach their people in person based on those insights.

Stop expecting managers to know how to do their jobs

Managers are often promoted from within the sales team, and often for the wrong reasons. The two jobs are completely different, and require different mindsets. Yet we tend to stick managers in their new jobs and expect them to run with it. If we provide training at all, it’s usually generic leadership training, and doesn’t support them in knowing what to do in their day to day job.

Stop expecting salespeople to know how to do their jobs

Just because a salesperson comes with a great CV doesn’t mean they’ll know how to succeed in your unique sales environment. And just because you’ve dunked them in company and product training doesn’t mean they’ll succeed, either.

Give managers and salespeople the confidence of a well-designed sales strategy, support them with training relevant to their roles, and give them technology in the palms of their hands to help them execute on your strategy. Give managers the tools to know when and where and what to coach, and the time and resources to do it.

Stop making the same mistakes over and over and over

Most sales teams have so little visibility into their process and progress that they really don’t know what mistakes they’re making. And when you don’t know what they are, you can’t correct them. For example, I heard of a company that found out that a deal they won was almost lost at the RFP stage because their RFP was not professionally presented. Had they not done an effective post-win interview with their client, they would never have found this out, and they would have kept sending out unprofessional RFPs and losing deals they might otherwise have won.

Incorporate detailed win/loss analysis into your process to help identify the mistakes you’re making and correct them. Additionally, make sure you’re collecting the right data throughout the sales process to continually uncover which behaviors, activities, and steps move the needle, so you can reinforce the correct behaviors across the organization. Build continual optimization into your process, and you’ll quickly outstrip your competition.

If you’d like to see how Membrain can equip and enable your sales team to stop making these mistakes and start achieving higher performance, contact us today.