Sales Force Effectiveness

 

By Hernan Vera

Organizations are always looking for ways to improve sales force effectiveness and be able to measure it in meaningful ways. Fortunately, there is sales force automation and customer relationship management technology that can be implemented and configured without costly in-house programming or IT support. The technology can be very effective in streamlining processes and providing the metrics needed to better forecast sales and manage the sales team.

As organizations start the journey of changing their sales processes, the tendency is to look at all the challenges they face and tackle them all at once — which is only natural. You’re investing in a new technology that can fix all the problems, so why not just get them all done in one sweep so you can move on and focus back on sales.

However, the result of that approach is a major disruption in sales activity as the sales team focuses on learning new software and many new processes all at once. They are required to turn their energy away from selling so they can figure out how to manage all the change and try to understand how it will affect their lives and livelihoods.

The revolutionary approach is almost always doomed to failure because it tries to accomplish too much too fast with no meaningful metrics in place to measure change. The journey ends almost before it begins and the new technology, which has enabled all the change, becomes yet another problem to be solved.

A journey of small steps

The better approach to sales force effectiveness is to think of it as a long term journey with a series of small steps that lead to the ultimate goal. Sales management needs a long-term vision of where the organization ultimately needs to be and then define the core processes to be changed and the order in which they need to get done. Trying to do too much at once causes friction within the sales team and contaminates the good changes that might be successfully implemented.

But don’t confuse a series of small steps with sales process methodology, which defines every step a sales person is required to complete in a precise order along the sales cycle with the sales person checking off each step completed before moving on to the next. Process methodology is doomed from the start because it over-manages the sales force and is perceived as compliance tool that does not help them be more effective in their jobs. Change needs to enable the sales team, not constrain it.

As with any journey, sales force effectiveness starts with a single step. Pick one or two core processes to change at a high level, put meaningful metrics in place, coach the sales team on what the changes will be and why it will help them and the organization, then work on that for a few months. When it becomes a natural part of everyone’s normal process and the sales team recognizes the value of it, you can move on the next set of changes. It’s a quick win that inspires the team as opposed to a string of failures that demoralizes them.

For example, start by having the sales team forecast revenue from all accounts for the next month. It’s a meaningful metric that will take a salesperson very little time to generate. Coach them on exactly what you’re looking for and then measure for three months. If everyone is doing a good job, then take the next step and delve into more detail (e.g. forecast revenue at the product level), measure for a couple months, succeed and move to the next step.

The only meaningful metric

Measuring success is key to demonstrating that change is being implemented. There are many metrics that an organization can use, but the most meaningful metric for sales force effectiveness is your win ratio (or close ratio). And, the only way to measure win ratio is on revenue, not deal count.

I’ve seen that many companies try and measure win ratio by excluding deals where the client did not make a decision to change providers. If you deliver a proposal to a client, only two things can happen: you win or lose the business. The reasons are nice to know, but at the end of the day it’s revenue that impacts the company. Revenue is also important because that’s how salespeople are compensated. Revenue — profitable revenue — is the key metric for measuring success and it is what drives the organization. Revenue without the level of profit your firm deserves is a going-out-of-business strategy.

Managing change a step at a time

It is difficult to get organizations— especially complex ones — to change. Sales automation and CRM tools can help, however the key is to focus on the long term goals, implement change gradually, coach the sales team every step of the way, and develop metrics that truly measure results. Sales force effectiveness is a journey of small victories that ultimately leads to significant change.

Vera is Vice President, Marketing & Sales Operations for Pitney Bowes Management Services. He has a proven track record of winning substantial new business and expanding existing client bases. He has a strong understanding of multiple verticals including: marketing, sales, management, operations, business processes, finance, e-commerce and technology.