Boatsman Gillmore PLLC would like to thank Keith Eades, Founder and CEO of Sales Performance International (SPI), for presenting last Wednesday, the 15th, at our Impact Seminar. Keith gave a very insightful presentation on How to Measure and Motivate Your Sales Team. The presentation covered the state of selling, what the best performing sales teams are doing, and how you can sell more. Below is a brief summary of the presentation.
Sales representative performance has been slipping. According to the 2010 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Survey, the percentage of sales representatives meeting or exceeding their quota has dropped from 60% in 2009 to 51% in 2010. How do we improve our sales performance? SPI offers five keys to world class sales performance:
- A Buyer-Aligned Sales Process
- Sales and Marketing Alignment (messaging, sales tools, and sales conversations)
- A Continual "Learning Framework" (skills assessment, training and multi-year reinforcement that aligns with process and sales methodologies)
- Management "System" and Disciplines (that foster and sustain process and methodology adoption)
- Technology Enablement (that explicitly supports process, methodology, and management practices)
A Sales pipeline tends to be over optimistic because sales people over estimate their deals. The typical sales pipeline is measured by calculating the total expected revenue of all potential sales divided by the length of the sales cycle. SPI takes a different approach when measuring the sales pipeline by linking behaviors to the pipeline metrics. This ensures that you aren't wasting your time pursuing a prospect that isn't ready to buy. The more information you can drill down to will lead to a stronger, more realistic pipeline.
Why should you measure throughout the sales process? When you measure your sales team, you establish a basis for accountability. Build more predictable and productive pipelines by applying consistent pipeline grading habits, anticipating and minimizing shortfalls, and enabling seller success. You are also able to identify skill problems when you measure and are able to apply focused coaching for this action.
Motivating through a sales process is easier. Having a documented sales process provides a roadmap to get from where you are to where you want to be. This process provides your sales team with a series of closes / wins throughout the sales process. Improving performance will lead to more revenue which will in effect motivate the sales team. The sales process ensures that higher individual quota is attained, higher team quota is attained, there is an increase in the average deal size, and productivity is improved.
Keith Eades is the Founder and CEO of SPI. He is considered one of the most knowledgeable authorities on sales and transforming companies in to world class sales organizations. SPI has been the leader in helping global companies successfully transition from selling products to marketing and selling high-value solutions. With extensive sales performance expertise, deep industry knowledge, global resources and a proven track record, SPI collaborates with clients to deliver strategic, operational, and tactical solutions.
