Conduct a Sales Assessment to Exponentially Improve Execution

As a CEO, you’re tasked with improving your company’s bottom line. You and your leadership team may have a good handle on your marketing strategy, but prior to moving forward with that strategy, it’s a good idea to conduct a sales assessment to ensure your sales team can execute flawlessly.  

What’s at stake? A lot. One study indicates that more than two-thirds of lost sales are a result of flawed sales methodologies.

As you assess your sales effectiveness, can you say that you have a sales process and sales methodology that is deployed consistently across the organization? Have you implemented a sales methodology tailored to your business’s sales cycle?

Next, how do you measure your results in sales? Do you have weekly, monthly, and quarterly reporting by sales representative, by sales team, by geography, by account? Do you have a monthly sales forecast and are you satisfied with its accuracy? Do you have weekly sales meetings to review the sales pipeline and ensure there are enough leads and opportunities to adequately make the revenue targets?

If you have high turnover on your sales team, what can you do to lower that (since it costs the company each time you hire someone new)? A highly transactional sales force reacts well to being rewarded weekly. However, if you have longer sales cycles of 12 months or more, it makes more sense to recognize achievements quarterly or annually.

Also, ensure you’re using the right metrics to measure your sales team as a whole. Some companies measure gross profit while others measure total revenue. Be selective and opt for the metrics that are most meaningful for your company.

Here are a few more questions to answer if you wish to complete a basic sales assessment of your organization:

• Are the top 10 objections well understood, and is the sales team knowledgeable about how to deal with them?
• Do you have a clear plan for reaching multiple stakeholders with specific and relevant messaging in potential large accounts?
• Do you have specific plans in place for how to engage your top 10 accounts so that they continue as customers?
• Have you tracked and published sales activities by sales rep and stack ranked them by revenue percentage of plan and by customer satisfaction metrics?
• Does your incentive compensation plan reward the behaviors most important to your business? Does it motivate your sales team in the right way?

By answering these questions, you can more easily identify gaps and opportunities within your organization. If you want help with your sales assessment or need to go beyond the basics, Chief Outsiders’ Fractional Chief Sales Officers are ready to help you quickly and effectively bridge the gap between strategy and execution.

 A fractional CSO is focused on delivering C-suite-level expertise and experience without the cost and commitment of a full-time employee. They can work with your business to develop and implement a revenue growth plan, identify new market opportunities, and optimize current revenue streams. In addition, a fractional CSO can bring a fresh perspective and outside knowledge to the business, helping to drive innovation, increase efficiency, and foster customer success. Overall, hiring a fractional CSO can be a cost-effective way for your business to drive sales growth today while achieving its financial goals.

Learn more here.