As part of my daily routine, I like to start my day with coffee and education.  I like to read, watch a documentary or listen to other business experts to keep up with what is happening in the business world.  I have consistently heard over the past few weeks of economic experts talking about the recession of 2020.  I don’t know if these experts are correct or not, but what I have learned over my 20 plus years in sales, the best time to prepare for a downturn in the economy is when the economy is robust!  Does your sales organization have the fortitude to withstand an economic contraction?
It is surprising to me that when I speak to leaders of organizations, they are struggling with their sales business plan in this growth market and are not taking additional steps to recession proof their businesses in the advent of a slowdown in the economy. At the heart of the problem, is a limited understanding of the essential elements of a healthy sales organization. One that can withstand significant market fluctuations and thus is less susceptible to changes in the economy.
Having recently researched over 100 companies across multiple verticals, the following ten challenges continue to manifest and limit the return of the sales infrastructure dollar invested. 

Ten Challenges Companies Face
1.    Lack of Performance Accountability
2.    Poorly Constructed Sales Compensation Plans
3.    Inconsistent Sales Team Coaching/Development/On-boarding
4.    Focus on Selling Stuff vs. Client Experience and Solving Client Problems
5.    Aggressive Growth Targets, No Plan to Get There              
6.    No Explicit Plan to Manage Sales Team to Higher Levels of Performance
7.  Blind Spot Relative to Sales Teams Activities, Sales Data Retrieval and Productivity Reporting             
8.    Poor Recruiting of the Right Sales Talent for Growth
9.    Lack of Leadership Development in Sales and other areas                       
10.  Poor Synergy and Cooperation between Sales & Marketing    
It is critical for companies to create a high-impact sales plan across 16 key sales drivers, thus building a high-performance sales infrastructure and team. Leaders must strive to proactively manage their sales team and hire the right salespeople thru best practice and clear sales process definition. Companies taking the time to analyze their sales organization and approach, and then build a targeted sales plan will see a significant sales productivity improvement over time. This improvement will stand the test of toughening economic conditions and ensure improved consistency in achieving results.       

 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Please click on the link below to answer my free, 10-question assessment to gain a glimpse of your current sales execution and receive improvement tips in your areas of weakness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crmQB_oT1LM

Link above is to a recent interview explaining what New England Sales Solutions powered by Sales Xceleration does for customers.
​Contact us today to have a discussion with your organization to see how we can help you to create strategy, process and execution!
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​One of the things I love about living in New England is that we have 4 distinct seasons.  As many of you have lived or seen on the news recently, we have had 4 large storms this March.  Spring really came in like a lion this year!
One thing is true though, Spring will arrive!  Mother Nature always wins out!  Flower’s will bloom, it will stay light much later, and everything will turn green and new!  We humans will become more active and come out of hibernation from our winter!
What about your sales team?  Do they have some winter cobwebs from hunkering down for a long winter?  Do they need some new energy to blossom and become alive again? 
Here are three things you can do to pump some life into your sales team and get them going again!

1. Coaching time – March signifies the end of the first quarter for many companies.  Pull out the goals sheets of your sales reps and review with them.  See how they are progressing towards what you both agreed upon back in December.  It is a wonderful time to adjust their activities to keep them engaged and on track for the next 90 days and ultimately for the rest of 2018.  If they achieve their goals, you will achieve yours!
2. Training – I used to love to re-visit our prospecting sales process this time of year.  Make prospecting a focus at your next team meeting.  Set up some role plays for the team to practice and shake those cobwebs off.  Maybe make it fun by setting up a sales contest for new accounts closed in the next 90 days.  New business is the lifeblood of any sales organization!  Sometimes you need to shine some light on this area to make it spring to life again!
3. Field time – as the sales leader for your organization, this is a great time for you to spend some time in the field with your reps.  It’s a fantastic way to learn what’s happening in the marketplace, terrific way to connect to customers and best of all, a great way to watch your sales reps in action!  Field time coaching is some of the best because you get to see them in real life situations, how they engage with the clients, how they represent your company and if they are effective in influencing people.

Spring Forward:
Execute on any or all three calls to action above and you will see the energy and life flow back into the activities from your sales group.  When activities increase with proper structure, your sales will spring to life!  We are here at Sales Xceleration to help jump start that sales growth with other ideas and sales infrastructure building expertise.  Click on the link to see a quick video or take a free assessment on sales infrastructure: https://www.salesxceleration.com/advisors/scott-yelle/.   

Do Your Sales Reps Perform Like an Olympic Athlete?
 
 
The winter Olympics began last week, and I must confess that I prefer the winter events over the summer ones.  I am always excited to watch the speed involved with the downhill skiing, the bobsledding and the speed skaters.  I love to watch the teamwork of ice hockey and the pair’s figure skating.  I am ever amazed at the drive and determination of the Nordic and Biathlon skiers.  I marvel at the risk taking of the ski jumpers and the freestyle events, and I am fascinated with the strategy of curling!
 
As I was watching the events on television the other night, it occurred to me that a great salesperson possesses many of the same qualities of an Olympic Athlete!  Speed, determination, teamwork, drive, risk taking and strategy!  Which led me to the question … Are your sales reps ready to compete in the Olympics of Selling?
 
Assess Your Team – Be the Olympic Coach
 
In order to assess your team, you need to conduct routine reviews of your sales force.  This can come in many forms:
 
1.Accompany them in the field.
 
Days spent with your rep in the field are the best, in my opinion.  You can see if your rep has prepared for their work day, how they present themselves, how they handle objections, are they asking for the business, do they follow-up, and how well do they represent the company!  A well-planned day with a sales rep, watching them perform in their everyday world, is critical to their growth.  It also sends a clear message that you care about them!  What sales rep wouldn’t want a manager who cares about their growth both personally and professionally?
 
2.Routine 1-1 sessions that are not performance reviews!
 
Schedule one-on-one time with every one of your reps on a regular cycle.  It’s a chance to check in and see how they are progressing in key areas, and to provide ongoing coaching and career development advice.  It creates a two-way, open dialogue that leads to a productive employee-manager relationship.  When you structure these meetings to be productive for both sides, it will be one of the things your employees will look forward to the most!
 
3.Performance reviews.
 
These are a quarterly or semi-annual full-blown review of your sales rep’s performance against the key metrics that you mutually agreed upon at the beginning of the year.  There needs to be a performance grade applied to this review, so your team knows exactly where they stand in the eyes of the company.
 
4.Project assignments.
 
Assigning projects to your sales reps allows them to grow, and it allows you to observe how they handle time management, problem solving, delegation, etc.  This is a great way to develop potential future leaders for your organization.
 
Remember, every Olympic athlete didn’t achieve their dream of competing on the Olympic stage without the guidance of great coaches along the way.  Their coaches gave them honest, timely and consistent feedback on what they were doing well and where they needed to improve. 
 
Assess Your Sales Infrastructure – Is it Designed for Peak Performance for Your Sales Athletes?
 
Building a solid sales infrastructure to support your sales team is critical for them to perform at peak levels and to bring home the Gold for your company!  Key infrastructure components are:
 
·        A customized, written sales business plan and revenue plan by salesperson, by product, and by month.
 
·        A custom sales process for each sales channel. This enables business owners and their sales management team to tell at a glance where each opportunity is in the sales process, and what needs to be accomplished to move each opportunity to the next stage.
 
·        A Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) that allows you to manage the sales process for your company.
 
·        Key performance indicators (KPIs) and forecasting models to track how the sales team is doing … Are we on track to win the Gold?
 
·        A compensation plan that rewards your sales team for activities that will produce Gold Medals.  If your plan doesn’t do this, then it’s time to adjust it to change the behaviors of your sales athletes.