The Value of Sales Process
With competition continually increasing across all sectors, your sales force needs to look for ways to succeed. Over the coming weeks we will reveal to you what some of the best organizations in the world are doing to improve their sales performance and how they differentiate themselves in the marketplace.
Being the first article in the series, this article is about the basic framework used by your sales team, namely a sales process or a sales methodology.
If you believe in Pareto’s principle (the 80/20 rule), you recognize that the top 20% of your sales team bring in around 80% of your organizations revenue. The good news is that your organisation has the potential for much higher performance with your existing team.
The first stage in improving sales performance is to examine your current sales process.
Ask yourself the following questions?
- Does your sales team have a structured sales process in place?
- If so, do your sales people follow it rigorously and are they constantly measured against it?
The chances are you cannot confidently answer “Yes” to both those questions. What does this mean for your organisation?
Sales process is a key ingredient in any successful sales team. A recent study by CSO Insights of 1,300 sales organizations found that 17% more Business Development people achieve quota in companies that have and use a defined sales methodology.
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Rep Performance vs. Quota for Companies With And Without Sales Process |
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The chart compares what percentage of a company's sales people achieved quota for all the study respondents and for those firms who have a formal sales process that all reps are trained on and are expected to use when selling, and which is consistently monitored for effectiveness and changes are made based on market shifts.
Key Findings
- Sales reps at more than half of companies failed to make plan.
- Companies that consistently reinforce their processes have 17% higher average achievement.
© CSO Insights |
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When you consider that 20% of your team bring in 80% of your business what would the impact on revenues be if you could get another 17% of your team performing to or above quota?
Silver Stream Solutions specializes in developing strategies and technologies for clients that attract and retain customers. We build sales methodologies and strategies into our Salesnet software, enabling the software to guide your sales people to sell more effectively. Click here to learn more
While there are many Sales Methodologies available, below are three of the more successful methodologies being used by our clients. Examine their relevance to your organisation by clicking on the links below.
- Spin Selling – Huthwaite Institute
- Strategic Selling – Miller Heimann
- Customer Centric Selling
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