dlbStrategies

The question is not what you look at, but what you see. –Thoreau

Personnel Team Turnaround

Sales Team

Business owners often struggle with building and managing high-performing teams. In my first meeting with a business owner, he mentioned out of frustration he was very close to firing his entire 4 person sales team and starting over. He didn’t have a sales manager on staff and all personnel reported directly to him.

dlb PLAN- The first step was to make sure I truly understood the situation and root causes. I spent several weeks in close interaction with the sales team to assess the skills and capabilities of each team member, the dynamics of the product offering and marketplace, and the effectiveness of the underlying support systems and incentives. This included conducting a formal survey, one-on-one interviews, and actual sales calls of my own. It became clear the company didn’t have systems or programs in place to provide visibility and accountability for the sales team’s activity, nor did they have the proper incentives to motivate desired behavior.  They also did not have a lead generation strategy or program that consistently “filled the funnel” for the sales team. I proposed an overhaul of his sales team which included :

  • Develop Better Tools for organizing and tracking prospects and reporting status, including purchasing and implementing a new CRM.
  • Train Personnel both in the use of the new tools as well as in some fundamental sales skills that were lacking.
  • Create Effective Incentives that were designed to encourage meeting activity goals, in addition to final results.
  • Engage in Consistent Marketing Activities targeting specific vertical markets and spheres of influence in the prospect community, to increase lead flow and predictability.

THE RESULTS- There was an immediate and measurable increase in activity, leads, and revenue. The energy and enthusiasm within the sales team was so positive that the owner was convinced he needed a full-time sales manager. I was retained as a “virtual” sales manager for 3 months to help solidify the changes and prepare the company for adding a full-time sales manager. I was then retained to roll out my program to other regional locations.