Sales Effectiveness — Why So Elusive?

Why So Elusive?
The 8 Elements of Sales Effectiveness

We’ve had the chance to see the inside of lots of companies who are struggling to meet revenue goals and don’t understand why they are finding it so difficult. Over the years, the same themes emerge over and over again. We want to share with you what we’ve uncovered to be the 8 elements of sales effectiveness. Whether you perform an internal diagnosis, or use The Collaborative to do it for you, these are the areas you’ll need to focus on:

• Define Market & Offerings – What does your firm stand for? What’s your story and your positioning? Who are your target customers? Do your products and services match the market they are intended to serve?
• Sales Channels – What is the best way to get your products and services to the market? What options are available to you? How expensive is it to support each of the channels? Do you have the necessary resources?
• Sales Talent – Are the right people in the right roles? Do changes need to be made to either the person or the role? Do you have a consistent, workable plan in place for ensuring solid hires get made into the sales roles? Are you using behavioral interviewing?
• Sales Support – Do you have adequate resources to support the sales effort? Resources include: Sales and marketing collateral, technical support, client support and training.
• Sales Compensation – Are you compensating sales people in a way that is consistent with your business objectives? Are you rewarding them for the “right” activities?
• Technology – Do you have resources for prospecting, developing a pipeline, ongoing reporting and easily transferring customers from sales to service?
• Qualification – Are your sales people asking the hard questions? What is the sales cycle? Are your materials and is your approach consistent with the cycle?
• Communication – Do you have a handle on the competition? Are you documenting sales wins and losses? Are your business objectives clear and communicated? Information is no good unless it is being shared.

Many firms struggling to become more effective in their sales approach think it is as easy as replacing the sales person, or making changes to the product or service. We’ve learned from our valued clients who have shared their frustrations, that it is often a combination of these 8 elements preventing the people, and the firm, from realizing success. If you aren’t doing it on a regular basis — take a look at these 8 areas, in the order they appear here, and make sure you have all of these bases covered. A solid, consistent, successful sales organization demands that all of these elements be working in sync!

Click here for a visual overview of our Sales Effectiveness Model, and see if you’re asking the right questions for selling success.