The answer to how to increase sales is to implement action plans that improve your sales performance. But to know which actions to take, you need to conduct an accurate evaluation of your sales team to improve sales performance techniques. In this article, we’ll show you how to evaluate your sales team’s performance beyond the numbers using actionable, measurable key performance indicators.
Factors That Affect Sales Performance
One reason it can seem difficult to find ways to improve sales performance is because of all the factors that affect your sales numbers. Here are some of the factors you should know that influence your company’s sales:
- Sales personnel training
- Content management
- The experiences of your customers
- Your cross-functional alignment
- The inward-facing and outward-facing culture of your company
These elements combine in unique ways for every company to influence its sales performance.
What Makes a Sales Team Successful?
By knowing how the above factors affect your team, you can learn if your reps have the right context, guidance and training they need for sales improvement strategies. You can also ensure your company culture reflects your values and sets your sales team up for positive human interactions with customers and potential buyers.
You’ll also need to use technology to your advantage to ensure your customers have the best experience possible. Many of today’s customers do most of their own research online before reaching out to a sales team. Give potential customers an excellent online experience, including the content they need to educate themselves so they are closer to the buying stage by the time they reach out to your sales team.
Another major piece of the puzzle for your sales team’s success is collaboration. Every sales team consists of individuals, but these people must work together to reach their shared goals. For your sales team to reach new heights, they must function as a unified force walking down the same path together.
How to Increase and Evaluate Sales Performance
Now that you understand the foundation of a successful sales team, it’s time to learn some of the ways to increase sales and evaluate your team’s performance.
1. Hire the Right People
Every successful sales steam starts with the right hires. While other parts of your company may rely on individual talent, good sales teams rely on solid training. Hire people who have the personality traits you’re looking for in your sales team — people who seem like they will be open to training and put what they learn into action.
2. Use the Right Sales Structure
Every team is different. Make sure you’re using the right sales structure to match the strengths of your team. Here are the three main sales structures to know about:
- The assembly line: In this structure, individuals specialize in one step of the sales process before handing the potential customer off to the next sales team member for the next step of their buyer journey.
- The island: Here, individual sales reps manage leads throughout a customer’s entire buying journey.
- The pod: The pod model assigns leads to small teams to guide them through their buying journey.
3. Refresh Your Sales Strategy
It’s easy to create a sales strategy and then move on to other things. Meanwhile, that strategy may stop being effective in a year or even in a few months or weeks. Spend time periodically analyzing your sales strategy to determine whether it’s going well or if it’s time for a refresh.
4. Use Data to Make Confident Decisions
Although this article is about evaluating performance beyond the numbers, it’s still important to remember the value of data within your company. Using the right analytics, you can determine how well your sales team is doing and if you can make any improvements. You can also partner with a third party to help you gather the right kinds of data and use those findings to spur progressive action.
5. Give Your Reps Proper Training
Training is one of the most important factors influencing the success of your sales team. If you evaluate your company’s protocol and see that training is lackluster, then that could tie directly to your sales team’s poor performance. Invest in a robust yet understandable training regiment to ensure long-term sales success.
6. Invest in Coaching
Training and investing in your sales rep is only part of the equation. You also need to invest in your managers and coaches who help keep your sales team operating smoothly. You should especially invest in coaching when promoting one of your reps to a position of leadership within your sales team.
7. Make Personalization Easy
You should give your sales reps some freedom to approach their leads in a personalized way. Give them a simple, comprehensive solution to monitor leads and gain useful insights about them. This can help them better approach the sales process in a way that treats each lead like the unique individual they are.
8. Enhance Your Customer Experience
Positive customer experiences translate to better sales and more efficient sales teams. Besides ensuring each sales rep is helpful and kind to each lead they speak to, you can also build your website to be more user-friendly and educational. Give your customers options for new and exciting ways to interact with your company.
9. Lean Into Referrals
Referrals are one of the best ways to get new leads that turn into sales. For every satisfied customer, you’re gaining a potential evangelist for your company. Make it easy for existing customers to spread the word about you. One way to start this process is by ensuring you have an excellent customer service team to help new leads and existing customers alike. Prominent social media profiles also help customers spread the word about your business.
10. Put Your People First
Success boils down to how you treat your people. Happier employees will be more eager to do their jobs well, knowing that their success is the entire company’s success. Give your employees benefits and perks. Ask them what they want or need to enjoy their job more. Making these investments in your employees will make a huge difference.
Contact Global Performance Group to Help You Enhance Your Sales Team
At Global Performance Group, we specialize in transforming the behavior of the people in your company to achieve greater success and satisfaction. We’ve been helping companies like yours for over 30 years, making us a leader in the corporate training sector. Choose our Sales Training Programs as your next step toward experiencing the same transformative benefits in your own business.
Contact us today for more information or to request a quote.
