Ready to Begin Your Journey Toward Sales Success?

As a business owner/leader, are you frustrated that you're not hitting your sales goals and know something needs to change?

Let’s face it, Sales and a Company’s Sales Function form some of the most important success elements through the life cycles of any business that begins as a start-up, advances through early-stage growth, second stage growth, on to maturity, sustainability, and beyond.

If you are like many of the businesses we have worked with, you may have experienced the following:

• frustration with not reaching your sales targets
• sales cycles that are longer than expected
• a pipeline that is too weak to make up the difference on too-slow-to-close opportunities
• unsure if you have a good or the right sales process in place
• as a business owner/leader, overwhelmed with both running the business and managing the sales function and/or sales team
• struggling to find the right sales manager
• as a sales manager, overwhelmed by too many responsibilities
• as a sales manager, pressure to find an efficient process to lead and coach a sales team
• as a sales manager, feeling conflicted about having to grow and lead your sales team while also trying to achieve your own sales targets
  

This is not an exhaustive list. Which items above might be true for you?

What other factors are you experiencing that lead you to be less than satisfied with your sales efforts and performance?

Based on our experience, we have found that the importance of a strong foundation can’t be understated. If the foundation of your home had a large crack, you would be rightfully worried and call a professional to get it taken care of as soon as possible. Why look at business any differently?

Find out more about our sales-focused organization training on our website.

Are you ready to begin your journey toward sales success?

Whether you are satisfied with the effort, focus, and results of your sales process, many clients we work with aren’t ready to take action – simply because they don’t know where to begin. If you’re open to a brief call, let us know and we can take the first step together

Call us at 248-468-7400 or contact us and we’ll reach out to you right away!

Are You Building a High Performance Sales Team?

Is your company focused on the right areas, and producing the performance and outcomes you seek? 

Thinking of your current organization, its focus on sales, the culture, employee & management attitudes (mindset), along with sales performance, read the statements below and ask yourself: are these in place and are they optimized? 

If your answer is NO to two or more statements, then you would likely benefit from a shift in sales related focus in your organization.

• All employees have a positive view of sales and selling in our organization
• The sales leader meets regularly with the business owner /leadership to ensure alignment of sales and organizational strategy
• Strategic prospecting targets are defined and included in each salesperson’s territory plan
• All employees in the organization understand the importance of sales and the role they play in supporting and increasing both sales and customer satisfaction
• The organizational culture supports sales efforts and our goal of being easy to do business with for our customers
• Each salesperson has a dashboard or individual sales plan that is reviewed regularly
• The sales team is viewed by the organization as a high-performance team, much like a sports team

Read more about creating a sales-focused organization on our website.

Every sales-focused organization has room for improvement! If you aren’t implementing all the statements above, or only a few, you may need to adjust your thinking or priorities around your sales efforts and function… it may be time to get help.

Over the past few months, we’ve provided an in-depth look at key areas of a successful Sales Focused Organization including sales fundamentals, effective sales management, and a high-performance sales team. Please click here to request your copy of our comprehensive checklist outlining specific focus areas toward building a sales focused organization that succeeds and thrives.

Want to get the best out of your sales efforts?

We work with sales leaders, managers, teams, individual salespeople, and their organizations.  With both our standard offerings and our customized coaching and consulting engagements, we focus on the gap areas to drive better sales results.  Our work varies in length from just one quarter to multi-year engagements depending upon the size of the organization and needs. In some cases, we operate as a Fractional Sales Leader and other times we coach with an existing Sales Manager and sales team. We often work at all levels of the organization to help build a Sales Focused Organization - leadership, strategic direction, systems, management, departments, and individual contributors. We also assist in the recruiting and evaluation of “Qualified, New Business” Sales representatives.

Creating a Sales-Focused Organization

What goes into creating a Sales-Focused Organization? In our series, we have addressed elements that include sales process, messaging, the conversations salespeople have, sales management and a high-performance sales team. We now turn our attention to creating a sales-focused organization. 

Critical elements that must come together include leadership, strategic direction, clear targets (markets, differentiators, goals) and all the sales elements we’ve covered in our last 3 articles. For some organizations, evaluating the current team through a Sales Effectiveness and Improvement Analysis (SEIA) can be a game changer. For companies that have many salespeople, have had a sales manager in place for a while, this analysis can rapidly offer insight on gaps that once closed create for a great return on investment.

What is the view or mindset of your organization toward its sales team? The sales team should be viewed as a high performance team, no different than a professional sports team. The entire organization (employees / leadership) must get behind the sales team and be supportive, helpful, and passionate about winning, succeeding, and driving results. Something as simple as setting the mindset of ‘everyone sells’ can be a shift in the culture and attitudes embraced by the organization.

Has organizational leadership made clear its go-to-market strategy, along with high value targets? Is the sales manager and sales team equipped and armed with the needed information to carry to prospective customers? Too often sales teams are expected to function just like an owner or leader would, often relying on passion and inside knowledge the sales team doesn’t have access to. Is your sales team set up for success or failure? What information does the owner or leadership have that once shared becomes a game-changer?

Read the full article on our website.

Are you ready to begin your journey?

Have you struggled in the past to develop an effective sales focus, giving your business what it needs to thrive?

Whether you are satisfied with the effort, focus, and results of your sales team, many people we speak with have been hesitant to act – simply because they don’t know where to begin. If you’re open to a brief call, let us know and we can take the first step together.

Call us at 248-468-7400 or fill out our contact form to receive a download of our Sales-Focused Organizational Checklist! Together, we can assess how your company is doing from a sales, messaging, management, and performance standpoint, and determine the best way to help you achieve your goals.
 

6 Components of Effective Sales Performance

Is your sales team effective, focused on the right areas, and producing the performance and outcomes you seek? 

Thinking of your current sales performance, including team members and their management, read the statements below and ask yourself: are these in place and are they optimized? 

If your answer is NO to two or more statements, then you would likely benefit from a shift in your sales management solution, mindset, or approach.

• The sales manager is effective in leading, coaching, and growing sales team members and the overall ‘sum of its parts’ performance
• We celebrate wins and goal achievement on a regular basis
• Annual sales plans and goals are in place for each salesperson
• Salespeople are not spending valuable “sales” time doing non-value added tasks that don’t contribute to results
• Sales training related to sharpening the saw on selling skills, process, and effectiveness occurs at least quarterly
• Each salesperson has a dashboard or individual sales plan that is reviewed regularly

Every sales-focused team has room for improvement! If you aren’t implementing all the statements above, or only a few, you may need to adjust your thinking or priorities around sales performance… it may be time to get help.

Over the next couple of months, we’ll provide an in-depth look at key areas of a successful Sales Focused Organization including sales fundamentals, effective sales management, and a high performance sales team. We will also provide a comprehensive checklist outlining specific focus areas toward building a sales focused organization that succeeds and thrives.

Want to get the best out of your sales team? Read the full article on our website!

Call us at 248-468-7400 or fill out our contact form to receive a download of our Sales-Focused Organizational Checklist! Together, we can assess how your company is doing from a sales, messaging, management, and performance standpoint, and determine the best way to help you achieve your goals.

High Performance Sales Team – T.E.A.M.

Together Everyone Achieves More (T.E.A.M.). What goes into building a great, high performing team? 

In our series, we have addressed elements that include sales process, messaging, the conversations salespeople have, and sales management. 

We now turn our attention to a high performance sales team. Critical elements that must come together include people, talent, execution, and effectiveness – all to achieve a desired result.

With a professional sports team, let’s say Ice Hockey, the goals are clear to almost anyone – players, coaches, management, officials and even the fans. The success of a professional Hockey team is influenced by many factors that may include talent, roles, synergy, practice, focus, coaching, leadership, drive, perseverance, mindset, and so on.

Is your sales team really different? Maybe the correct question is ‘should your sales team be any different’? With Hockey, the basics are skate, pass, shoot, score. If we reverse-engineer what winning looks like, a top performing team must win the most games, score the most goals, take the greatest number of shots, and so on. All of these must be well planned, practiced, and executed with micro adjustments made all the way through each minute of each period in a game. The coaching staff will help players see beyond their blind spots and overcome obstacles imposed by the competing team. This is all accomplished with practice sessions, meetings, video reviews, on and off the ice.   

We’ve found that many organizations want results, but when it comes to a high-performance team, gaps in this concept emerge. These gaps include unsuccessful recruiting of sales team members, not being clear about the role and results expected for the position, and not providing the right tools or direction that supports the optimal success of the sales team. While a sales manager can be key to building and sustaining a Performance Sales Team, each team member must have the potential to grow and excel. An effective sales manager will help grow that salesperson and work to release their potential.

Read the full article on our website!

Whether you are satisfied with the effort, focus, and results of your sales team, many people we speak with have been hesitant to act – simply because they don’t know where to begin. If you’re open to a brief call, let us know and we can take the first step together.

Call us at 248-468-7400 or fill out our contact form to receive a download of our Sales-Focused Organizational Checklist! Together, we can assess how your company is doing from a sales, messaging, management, and performance standpoint, and determine the best way to help you achieve your goals.

Ready to Begin Your Journey to Effective Sales Management?

Thinking of your current sales management situation, read the statements below and ask yourself: are these in place and are they optimized?

If your answer is NO to two or more statements, then the sales management solution you have may be sub-optimal.

• You have a sales manager/leader in place - their primary role is to lead and grow the sales team, coach and train them, and develop a high-performance sales team
• The sales manager meets regularly with the business owner to ensure alignment of sales and organizational strategy
• The sales manager holds salespeople accountable to goals, territory management, and activity levels
• The sales manager meets at least 1x per month 1-2-1 with salespeople for feedback, coaching and support
• The sales manager holds team meetings at least 1x per month

Every sales-focused organization has room for improvement! If you aren’t implementing all the statements above, or only a few, you may need to adjust your mindset or priorities around sales management… it may be time to get some help.

Over the next few months, we’ll provide an in-depth look at key areas of a successful Sales Focused Organization including sales fundamentals, effective sales management, and a high-performance sales team. We will also make available to you a comprehensive checklist outlining specific focus areas toward building a sales focused organization that succeeds and thrives.

Want to get the best out of your sales team? Read the full article on our website.

Are you ready to begin your journey?

Are you ready to build a high performing sales team and a sales-focused organization?

Have you struggled in the past to develop the tools your business needs to thrive?

Whether you are satisfied with the effort, focus, and results of your sales process, many people we speak with have been hesitant to act – simply because they don’t know where to begin. If you’re open to a brief call, let us know and we can take the first step together.

Call us at 248-468-7400 or fill out our contact form to receive a download of our Sales-Focused Organizational Checklist!

Effective Sales Management

Do you have the WRONG Sales Management Solution?

Consider these:

• Owner/C-Level managing sales
• Someone managing sales along with another key functional area of the business
• Salesperson is quasi sales manager
• No one is managing sales

We have learned that many companies suffer from the wrong sales management solution, and often they have someone trying to manage sales, while running another area of the business. For example, the owner or president continues to manage as the team grows, where among other things, they struggle to hold people accountable and have no time for real development or coaching. We have also found instances where the sales manager has their own territory and is also selling – it rarely works well, can undermine trust with other sales team members and creates internal competition that is not constructive.

For more information about solutions for sales management, read the full article on our website.

Are you ready to begin your sales management journey?

Are you ready to build a high performing sales team and a sales-focused organization?

Have you struggled in the past to develop the tools your business needs to thrive?

Whether you are satisfied with the effort, focus, and results of your sales process, many people we speak with have been hesitant to act – simply because they don’t know where to begin. If you’re open to a brief call, let us know and we can take the first step together.

Call us at 248-468-7400 or fill out our contact form to receive a download of our Sales-Focused Organizational Checklist!