Improve Sales Performance - Master the Three P's to Ensure Sales Success in Any Economy

As CEO or Senior Executive, you have thesales organizations. Once hired, management should
responsibility to ensure that your business runsinvest in regular ongoing sales performance
smoothly, effectively, efficiently, and most importantlyimprovement training as a means of maximizing the
of all, profitably. Successful businesses shouldinvestment made in the salespeople.
continually strive to improve sales performance by2. Processes
mastering the Three P's that result in businessOnce your firm's sales strategy, targeted markets and
prosperity: People, Processes and Performance. I'd liketargeted prospects are identified (and there may be
to help you think about your mastery of the Three P'smore than one depending on product/service offering
as it relates to sales and revenue capture, so that yourmix), a written and documented sales process needs
business performs to plan regardless of the state ofto be completed. The main reasons are 1) salespeople
the economy.come and go, 2) a documented process is a tool to
1. Peopleteach, train and manage your sales team, and 3) your
Every successful business is the result of the worksales team can be scalable as you grow. Well written
performed by its people. It is the job of everysales process documentation includes:
executive and manager to hire correctly. Regardless- A description of your target market and their
of function, having the right people in the right jobsrevenues
maximizes the chances for success.- Identification of the titles your people sell to
Hiring mistakes are costly in terms of money, time and- Product descriptions of all products/services sold
lost productivity. It is essential you hire candidates that- Targeted price points to sell at along with target
blend into the company culture. With salespeople, it ismargins
essential that you hire according to your firm's growth- Documented sales objections and ways to address
stage. According to Paul DiModica, a leading specialistthem by title
and consultant, and author of Sales Management- Sales Value Propositions for each product or service
Power Strategies, salespeople fall into eight differentthat you sell
categories:- Documenting WHY prospects buy as well as WHY
- Hunters are full-cycle salespeople. These areTHEY DON'T
survivors that will outlast and outwork all others. They- A checklist of the sales steps involved
know how to prospect and own responsibility for- A description of the prospect qualification process
results.and the expected sales cycle
- Farmers are half-cycle salespeople. They cling to- Metrics for success
existing accounts and squeeze by on existing business- Lead generation and follow-up expectations for each
contacts.sales person
- Players are salespeople that play by the company- Sales training timetable
rules. They perform adequately, are team players andThe process should be published and distributed to all
competent account managers.sales employees, and it should be reviewed on a
- Cowboys are generally well-experienced,regular basis to match business and product changes.
independent, operate outside the rules. They requireThe process is what gives rise to the metrics that
lots of direction and often end up alienating managers,assess sales performance and measure success.
co-workers and more importantly, customers and3. Performance
prospects.Once your executive team has established hiring
- Politicians continually manipulate their corporatepractices and has documented the sales process or
surroundings to position themselves with management.processes, management must consider the
They will often circumvent rules in order to prove theirperformance goals for each position. Sales
way is better.performance metrics should focus on measuring the
- Trotters are just steady producers willing to workeffectiveness of steps in the sales process that lead
within the system, learn as they go and perform at anto revenue. A sample set of metrics might look like this:
above average pace. These sales people can be- How many calls are made in a given day/week
molded into hunters.month
- Half-Cycle Salespeople are long timers who feel that- How many calls it takes to make one appointment
cold-calling, account management, process are- How many appointments it takes to make one
beneath them. They produce under the radar andproposal
often overrate their skills in developing long term- How many proposals it takes to make a sale
lifetime business.- What the average sale value is (including margin)
- Non-Performers generally do not fare well in their- How many sales it takes to make quota in a month
sales role, may be miscast, or don't have the correctquarter
skill set to be successful in sales.- How a salesperson performs to quota in the
It is important that as CEO or Senior Sales Executive,measurement period
you have a firm grasp on your company's growthSince quota attainment is by far the most important
stage and ensure that you have the right mix ofmetric for any salesperson, it is the one metric that
players to meet or exceed sales revenue objectives.requires the most amount of thought. Quota attainment
The wrong mix of sales types, hanging on to laggardsets the revenue expectation necessary for the
performers, and general lack of sales management isbusiness to operate profitably and meet all of its
the leading cause of poor revenue performance withinobligations to its stakeholders.