Of course you want your salespeople to succeed. But while well-intentioned, some of your actions and policies may actually be undermining your group’s performance.
Here are four ways you may be secretly harming your team’s sales productivity:
- Not Providing the Right Sales Tools
In an effort to control costs, many sales organizations skimp on the collateral and technologies most salespeople say they need to sell effectively. In fact, a recent Knowlege Tree survey reported that a full one-third of salespeople say they aren’t given the tools they need to sell, and only 28 percent believe the tools they do have are being used the right way. To generate the kind of revenues they need to meet their sales goals, sales managers need to invest in the collateral and other tools their people need to sell, and then train them in their proper use.
- Focusing on “Process” Instead of Results
The larger a company becomes, the more rules, regulations and processes begin to dominate its culture. In sales, this often takes the form of meetings, sales reports, and chains of command that hinder, rather than help overall sales performance. While anarchy is clearly not an option, the fewer rules (and meetings!) the better when it comes to boosting sales productivity.
[Source: https://www.fastcompany.com/1837301/5-ways-process-killing-your-productivity]- A Poor Mix of Technologies
Technology can greatly enhance sales productivity. But loading up salespeople with too many non-compatible applications can be counter-productive. Over the past few years, scores of companies have come forth offering CRMs, email clients, calendar tools, automatic dialers, and more. Some sales organizations load their people up with so many gizmos that even seemingly simple tasks require jumping between multiple applications. While having the latest high-tech software can be enticing, the trick is to find the most elegant solution for your individual situation. More is not always better.
[Source: https://www1.toutapp.com/blog/why-too-many-sales-tools-is-causing-rep-fatigue/]- Not Changing with Your Market
“It’s the way we’ve always done it,” won’t work in today’s economy, especially in the technology field. Building and managing an effective sales team requires not only a sensitivity to an ever-changing market, but also to the beliefs, motivations and expectations of the men and women in your salesforce. While older salespeople may be driven primarily by money, younger recruits may be more interested in purpose, meaning and job stability. To optimize productivity, you must be able to adjust your company culture to the needs of your employees as well as your customers.
[Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/why-its-so-hard-to-fill-sales-jobs-1423002730.]Tools & Technology to Improve Sales Productivity
The Peterson Group (TPG) specializes in helping companies of all sizes improve their sales productivity. Our Tools that Sell® and Technologies that Deliver® help companies improve individual sales performance and generate more revenue over time.
For more information, visit www.go4tpg.com or email increasesales@go4tpg.com.
