To win in sales you, and your company, need a recipe for success. The ingredients to win in sales must be pure and of high quality to create a great, high-end, finished product. Here is what we believe it takes to compete with a strong solid sales team that closes the right deals with great sales velocity.
Keep it Simple – the very best repeatable recipes are the ones that are simple to make. Complicated commission plans or unwieldy territory rules and exceptions cause a half-baked sales team. For a perfectly cooked main dish of deals that hit quota, keep things simple to understand and easy for sellers to sell.
Keep it Nimble – as a mid-market company, are you getting so big that you can’t be flexible? Our recipe for success requires that you be able to listen to the customer and flex in ways that help bring big opportunities and deals to closure. Don’t act like an enterprise company that is immovable. If you can grow and still adjust as you go, you’ll have an ongoing advantage over those “big” guys.
Keep it Fresh – the best ingredients are fresh ones, and so are the fresh insights your sales team needs to have with potential buyers and existing clients. They need to track their buyers and clients through social platforms or by aggregated content specific to their industry niche, geographic territory, or through named accounts. This is a daily necessity that is as important as remembering the baking powder when baking a dessert.
Keep it Consistent – baking is scientific, and so is selling. You must have a repeatable sales process and methodology for your team to follow in order to repeat the results you desire. You must consistently hire sellers who fit the profile of your most successful reps. You call on those companies who are “more probable” to buy from you than those who are “less probable” to maximize reps’ time. Those who are “less probable” but possible in the future go into a nurture program as future clients.
Keep it Tasty – your offers to prospects must be enticing. They either solve existing issues your buyer has or they help create a better future for your buyer and their company. If they don’t entice, then you compete with the “status quo” when the buyer does nothing and simply works with what they have. How can you engage them in a taste of what you offer?
Cooking Review:
Based on the recipe above, here are some ideas to think about with your sales team:
Review how you hire and retain sales reps. Do you have a well thought out process?
Conduct assessments to find reps consistent to what it takes to succeed in sales at your company.
Train and coach frontline sales leaders. Studies show this is the best place to invest in training with follow-up coaching for reinforcement. If your frontline sales managers get it right, they will impact everyone on their teams.
Assess everyone through metrics and conversations. Individuals should be getting better at identifying, creating, qualifying, and closing business. If not, measures must be taken.
Create content that catches buyer’s attention. Help the sales team with consistent, progressive messaging. If they get messaging right, appointments, meetings, and deals will flow.
How does your recipe for success work for your sales team?
This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I've been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.
Lori Richardson is recognized on Forbes as one of the "Top 30 Social Sales Influencers" worldwide. Lori speaks, writes, trains, and consults with inside sales teams in mid-sized companies. Subscribe to the award-winning blog and the “Sales Ideas In A Minute” newsletter for sales strategies, tactics, and tips. Increase Opportunities. Expand Your Pipeline. Close More Deals.
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