Last month we addressed Creating a High-Performance Sales Team, part of the Five Business Dangers series. Continuing our exploration of the ingredients for a successful sales program, we’ll now get specific about the importance of a sales-focused organization, and its critical ingredients.

Your Sales-Focused Organization

What is the view or mindset of your organization toward its sales team? The sales team should be viewed as a high-performance team, no different than a professional sports team. The entire organization (employees / leadership) must get behind the sales team and be supportive, helpful, and passionate about winning, succeeding, and driving results. Something as simple as setting the mindset of ‘everyone sells’ can be a shift in the culture and attitudes embraced by the organization.

Has organizational leadership made clear its go-to-market strategy, along with high value targets? Is the sales manager and sales team equipped and armed with the needed information to carry to prospective customers? Too often sales teams are expected to function just like an owner or leader would, often relying on passion and inside knowledge the sales team doesn’t have access to. Is your sales team set up for success or failure? What information does the owner or leadership have that once shared becomes a game-changer?

We’ve found that many organizations truly want great results, but when it comes to a sales-focused organization with a high-performance team, gaps in this concept emerge. These gaps may include mis-hires in the recruiting of sales team members, not being clear about the role and results expected for the position, and not providing the right tools or direction that supports the optimal success of the sales team. It may be sales management, where success is expected, not celebrated, or assumptions that the team is trained and knows what to do, but no one is checking to see if that assumption is valid.

Creating a Sales-Focused organization that is resilient, focused on new and repeat business, and successful in achieving its revenue and profit goals is not transactional. It requires a commitment and the investment of time, energy, and effort with a clear vision of what success looks like. Why not take stock now and find a few areas that will make a difference?

Is your company focused on the right areas, and producing the performance and outcomes you want? Thinking of your current organization, its focus on sales, the culture, employee & management attitudes (mindset), along with sales performance, read the statements below and ask yourself: are these in place and are they optimized?

If your answer is NO to two or more of the following statements, then you would likely benefit from a shift in sales related focus in your organization:

  • All employees have a positive view of sales and selling in our organization
  • The sales leader meets regularly with the business owner /leadership to ensure alignment of sales and organizational strategy
  • Strategic prospecting targets are defined and included in each salesperson’s territory plan
  • All employees in the organization understand the importance of sales and the role they play in supporting and increasing both sales and customer satisfaction
  • The organizational culture supports sales efforts and our goal of being easy to do business with for our customers
  • Each salesperson has a dashboard or individual sales plan that is reviewed regularly
  • The sales team is viewed by the organization as a high-performance team, much like a sports team

Every sales-focused team has room for improvement! If you aren’t implementing all the statements above, or only a few, you may need to adjust your thinking or priorities around sales performance… it may be time to get help.

To a great degree, enhancing your revenue performance depends on how well your sales team performs and all the elements that create and support a high performance sales team. For the specifics of your business, its sales efforts, and their success we’ll need to rely on your candid assessment. Don’t wait, take stock today, and figure out where success or the lack of it is coming from.

In future months we will examine, separately and in depth, Financials – one of the Five Business Dangers. We will also provide a free assessment tool that will highlight specific gaps within the Five Business Dangers.

Your Gateway to Performance Improvement and Business Success

If you’re feeling some pressure to address the success of your business, don’t wait – it doesn’t take more than a brief phone call…

David is an accomplished and experienced business professional who brings over 40 years of insight to the table. As a business coach, he specializes in helping business owners prioritize their needs. He can help you examine the health of your business and find critical areas which once addressed will result in performance improvement for your business.

It all starts with a single, free conversation. Call 734-726-5208 today for a free coaching session or contact David. Your success is waiting!