For most businesses the sectors into which they sell have changed over the past five to seven years. The markets have contracted, it is tougher to get prospects to spend money, and competition has intensified over the few remaining opportunities that present themselves. It's relentless. What's the solution?
To survive this ‘changing of the times’, companies not only need to re-think their sales strategies, they also need to communicate the new strategies to entire sales force to get understanding and alignment, and then of course successfully execute the plan.
It is surprising that a lot of companies we assist don’t actually have agreement between what the MD, CEO and Sales Manager’s think the strategies are. And if sales strategies are not aligned, it sends mixed signals to the salespeople, and the sales manager tends to spend more time resolving conflicts instead of growing the business.
The key to an effective sales strategy is execution. This comes from providing salespeople with clarity of the sales objectives, holding them accountable to the activities that support the strategies, and making sure that any discomforts with the strategies are uncovered and dealt with.
Here are a few examples:
Research shows that it takes 7-12 touch points to a new prospect for them to even remember who you are, so:
Research indicates that if you’re not calling on your customers every 90 days, they are no longer your customers, so:
If any company wants to have a successful, full sales pipeline, then being very clear about the factors mentioned above is critical.
If your sales team don’t understand the strategy that’s in place to grow the business, then there is little chance they will be able to work towards achieving the right outcomes.
The CEO of SalesStar, New Zealand's leading sales development company. Are you looking for Paul? You'll find him at the battle front. He loves getting out to see new prospects learn about their sales challenges and helping them fix their problems and win new business. He works with helping CEO's who are frustrated with their sales results. Who know they can be doing better, but just don't know how!
Find out more about Paul O'Donohue on LinkedIn
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