December Workshop:
What are the Blind Spots in your Sales Organization?
I am regularly approached by companies that are looking for sales training and coaching for their organization.
When I inquire about what the company is looking for, I often hear responses such as “I think our sales could be better” or “we aren’t reaching our sales targets.” When I ask what is keeping the company from hitting their goals, they will sometimes point to external factors such as the economy, they’ll mention that their competition is dropping price/fees or have added a new product or service line, or they’ll tell me that their people just need to get better.
On occasion, business owners or managers will point to symptoms of internal selling issues such as not enough new opportunities in the sales pipeline, the sales cycle is getting too long, or their salespeople just need to get better at closing opportunities.
When companies point to external factors for their lack of sales results, or when they discuss symptoms of a larger problem (not enough opportunities in the pipeline, low closing percentage) without identifying the root cause of their sales issues, it will be very difficult for them to make the necessary changes to maximize their sales results.
When I ask business owners why their sales teams are underperforming, or if they are confident that they’ve got the right makeup of the sales team to ensure success, they typically don’t have an answer. In my experience, successful companies need to evaluate what factors are keeping them from being successful before they can determine the new strategy, staff, or skills that are needed to improve their results. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I would suggest that if you are not happy with the sales results your company is achieving, you need to take a step back to evaluate what got you to your current situation, and what you need to change so that you can get better results.
Before I start to work with a company, I like to evaluate the situation before prescribing training or coaching. I meet with the management and leadership team to understand the goals of the organization.
I want to understand what the company’s revenue goals are for the next 6, 12, 18, and 24 months.
- Has their strategy changed recently?
- Are there fluctuations in the marketplace that are impacting their business?
- Have the products or services they are selling been modified?
- Have the expectations of what they need from their salespeople changed?
After I understand their strategy, I now need to identify the blind spots of an organization.
I utilize a sales assessment tool to evaluate the leadership team and the salespeople. Do they have the right people in place to implement their sales strategies? Are the strengths and weaknesses of the sales team aligned with the leadership of the organization? Are there gaps in the team that can be addressed with one or two new hires? Is the team trainable and coachable and does the team have the sales DNA to be successful? If the answer is no, then we need to discuss ways to build a sales team that can meet the organization’s objectives. If the answer is yes, then we can look at the training and coaching strategies that needs to be implemented to get better results out of the current team.
If your team isn’t meeting your sales objectives, don’t assume that you know the reasons why.
Don’t start making changes without understanding the team’s strengths and weaknesses, along with the gaps that need to be filled for your company to achieve its results. The investment in examining your blind spots is minimal compared to the cost of not hitting your goals. Once you understand your blind spots, you can be strategic with your changes which will allow you to achieve your goals more quickly. Please reach out to me if you are interested in uncovering your blind spots when it comes to evaluating your sales team.
Polin Performance Group provides real-world sales solutions through sales coaching, sales training, business development workshops and speaking engagements. We give you and your team the sales skills needed to maximize sales performance and increase revenue. Let's talk about your sales challenges and together we'll figure out the best solution for your business growth goals. Contact us today.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over & over again and expecting different results.
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