There is no question that in these economically uncertain times, sales leaders will need to get a whole lot smarter and more shrewd if they are going to keep their existing customers.

And they are going to need to be a whole lot more crafty if they are to win the slim pickings that are still out there to be had! That being said, there are some fundamental sales management strategies that when implemented are guaranteed to generate sales within the next 90 days.

Over the few weeks I will release each of the three strategies beginning with the first one today.

Strategy #1
The first strategy may seem so simple and so easy that you are bound to say to yourself “Is that all there is to it?” Please do not be fooled. Whilst the strategy below may seem simple, when done exactly as I have described below, it delivers some amazing results. So don’t question, just do!

It has been proven that, when effectively applied, the practice of regular one-on-one Sales Performance Coaching is the fastest and most effective vehicle to drive your sales growth. One-on-one Sales Performance Coaching is a powerful, time-tested, behaviour-changing, sales acceleration strategy and is the foundation on which permanent and consistent growth in your business is built.

Whilst there are many different processes and skills to be an effective Sales Performance Coach (see my book Bulletproof Your Sales Team - The 5 Strategies Guaranteed to Turbo-Boost Your Sales Team’s Performance), there are 2 activities that you can apply that would have an immediate impact to your sales drive.

Sit down with each of your salespeople either in person or by phone, ABSOLUTELY NO LESS THAN ONCE A FORTNIGHT. Depending on the state of your sales pipeline, you may need to ramp that up to once a week. Here’s exactly all you need to do...
1. IN DEPTH review the week/ fortnight just past. When you are done ...
2. IN DEPTH plan the week/ fortnight coming up.

That’s it, that’s all, that’s the lot!

What does IN DEPTH MEAN?
IN DEPTH means just that. As an example, when prospecting for new business opportunities either with existing customers or new prospects, your salespeople must complete some primary due diligence and be able to answer some or all of the following questions before even fronting up or making the sales call. 

Having answers to the questions below will afford them the best opportunity for success. Your job in coaching them IN DEPTH is to ensure that before they invest their time and your money going to see a prospect, they are extremely well prepared.

Imagine if you asked your salespeople some or all of the questions below before a business development call. “So you are going to see Bob at ABC Co....”
1. What have you learned about ABC Company?
2. Who are all the “players”?
3. What does your research tell you about the critical issues that ABC is facing right now?
4. What is the evidence that they are facing these issues?
5. What do you believe the potential impacts of those issues to be? What evidence do you have that they are dealing with this issue?
6. What are their current constraints in solving that issue (in relation to time, people, money)?
7. What is our answer for solving the issue?
8. What are the current market trends in their area?
9. What do we know about other companies that operate in the same space as they do?
10. What are ABC’s key strategic initiatives?
11. What would their decision constraint criterion be in relation to time, people money?
12. How may we be in a position to help them?
13. What questions do you have prepared to elicit needs?
14. How do you plan on positioning the company and what it is we do?
15. What information should you bring back from your visit, to move this opportunity to the next stage of the sales pathway?
16. What is the objective of the sales call?

This list is not exhaustive. It may have left out issues specifically relevant to what it is you sell. However, it is a great start! Create your own pre-call strategy checklist and ensure that your salespeople are well prerpared prior to their next sales That is what I mean by IN DEPTH!

Can you imagine just how much better prepared your sales people would be to take advantage of the opportunities out there with this kind of IN DEPTH probing? Please feel free to list other questions you feel would add value to the preplanning process...

My next post will cover strategy #2: The Bulls Eye.