When’s the last time you evaluated your sales force? If you can’t remember, it’s definitely been too long. Regular and detailed analysis of your sales team’s methods is crucial, if you want to get ahead of any problems that might exist and stay ahead of your competition. But where do you even start?
The first step is to figure out exactly where your sales team stands now. What motivates them? How good are they at differentiating your company from the competition? How effective is your sales management team? Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your team before you begin to make changes is vital, to make sure you attack only real problems and avoid changing effective processes.
Once you know your sales force’s methods and motivations backwards and forwards, then you can get into any adjustments that need to be made. And much like your body, your sales force needs an exercise program to develop and train in the areas where it is deficient.
Great organizations that rely on effective performance from their teams all have exercise programs. Professional athletes don’t just run onto the field on game day unprepared – they train and practice every day so they’re sure that when they need to perform, they will be at the top of their game. Why should it be any different for your sales team? Just going out and selling is a bad strategy; it’s a hit-or-miss mentality which won’t lead to the kind of growth you want and need.
Make training regular and mandatory. Practice for important upcoming meetings and debrief past meetings, whether they went poorly or well. Make your company an environment where constantly learning new concepts and techniques to improve performance is deeply ingrained in the culture – where it’s important, and it’s not up for debate.
