Encouraging your team boots motivation
When people or teams are treated as partners and are given the opportunity to work together, it naturally increases intrinsic motivation. And while working in sales, where the goal is to meet a particular quota, it’s crucial to have a manager who understands this.
Working together and having a manager who supports his team means alignment with and across teams on every aspect of the sales funnel and having the visibility into each stage to offer coaching and guidance to keep the team motivated and successful.
Prioritizing the client is more important than closing the deal
In any role there are clear objectives and goals – and sales is no different. However, our objectives and goals rely solely on our customers and products. Understanding your product and customers’ needs comes above all else.
Salespeople’s goal should be continued learning of products and services along with the maintenance of a customer relationship. Why? Because without the understanding why a customer would want to purchase a product or service there is no sale. It is the objective however, of a skilled salesperson to keep the momentum going (throughout the sales process) through knowledge, regular check-in’s and assessed needs.
Stalled deals and increased timelines
When a deal stalls, it typically means there is not enough alignment throughout the sales process. Maybe there was no clear deadline, or perhaps a key stakeholder (decision-maker) was excluded.
Once you notice this shift in momentum, it becomes an opportunity to examine your plan, goals and connect with your champion (your team support) to help re-engage the customer and set a realistic timeline with clear milestones.
Capturing and organizing customer data
Collecting and properly utilizing customer data basically falls into two categories: technology and structure. Utilizing your company’s CRM software to properly capture and organize touchpoints to provide your customers with the right solution at every step of the sales funnel.
What’s more, using a reliable method for capturing data, activity and performance helps the entire team work efficiently and effectively, ensuring your value and expertise to the customer.
Defining the full sales life cycle – the necessary touchpoints
The sales cycle is an actionable process that teams use to identify customers, build long-standing relationships and, eventually, make the sale. The typical cycle can be defined by five stages: prospecting for leads; outreach to potential customers/qualifying; presentation of product or software; closing the deal; nurture the relationship.
In terms of touchpoints (think meetings, calls, emails and messaging), this will depend on the complexity of your product and the resources involved. The key touchpoints, however, are the five stages of the sales cycle or clear next steps/actions and goals that are needed to drive the sale.
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