In business, there are few things more energising than stepping onto a sales floor, which has an audible buzz and a clear sense of purpose.  Contemporary sales models involve increasing levels of remote working conditions and digital communication.  However, it takes a lot to beat the on-premise workspace for a culture of quick, collaborative and productive meetings and the presentation to the market with a combined purpose.  The buzz comes from the alignment with a clear strategy, relevant values and high-performance sales culture.  Achieving the buzz and the alignment requires strong and intelligent leadership.

Early and easy decisions setting up the culture involve the provision of a CRM, sales training and KPI dashboards. Cespedes and Maughan refer to these tools as “sales efficiency initiatives”.  As a part of these tools, there are an increasing array of technology solutions all aimed at increasing efficiency.  Gradually, business owners are being forced to prioritise which “efficiency” tools they adopt.  Each of the solutions may not represent a big spend, but collectively, they can impact the overall business profitability.  The best businesses carefully track each initiative and ensure it is performing to the expected financial return levels.

However, even if implemented well, efficiency tools on their own don’t create alignment and a higher performance sales culture.

Recently, one of my clients appointed a Sales Optimization Manager; an enlightened decision.  The remit for this role and exceptional professional: aligning the sales effort with the business strategy, market segmentation and territory planning.  This seems like common sense and easy to do but often something that is not done well in small to medium companies.

There are many low-cost alignment initiatives which a small to medium-sized business can implement, which will contribute positively to a higher performance sales culture.  Here are five starters:

1.       Strategic planning process

The strategy you have in place should be updated annually for currency and relevance.  If you have a well-planned strategy, it should not be a big project to keep it updated.  The planning process should be built on this overarching strategy.  As a subset, it will feed into the types of products and services your company has on offer and the target markets or clients you wish to prioritise.  Remember that the company Mission will imply what your company does and does not do.  The strategic planning process needs to address this as well by ensuring focus on where the majority of complementary business can be gained.

When you are running a small business, it can be hard (or impossible) to remove yourself from the day to day to spend time on planning.  Of course, having a dedicated resource for this is the ideal but not possible for most small businesses.  In large companies, the planning process never ends.  In smaller businesses, it’s reasonable to spend 3 to 4 months planning for the next fiscal year.

The challenge for a strategic plan is to bridge it to the real world for your front-line sales.  Early communication and buy from the sales leaders is essential if successful execution is to be the outcome in the following year.  Once the leaders are on board, then you are ready for the sales kickoff.  Most successful businesses will use the sales kickoff meeting at the beginning of the year to lock down this plan.  It is the direction to the sales team on what and where to focus activities.

2.       Territory Planning

Market engagement is a key component of the strategic plan.  What are the key markets, and who are the target clients?  Working out the appropriate territories is a function to be undertaken with the sales leaders and the financial planning lead.  Carving out suitable territories can be a complex activity reliant on a combination of sufficient and skilled sales resources and business affordability. 

One thing to remember is that the territories belong to the company, not the sales professional.  Be willing to change or tweak the territories annually to reflect what is best for the strategy and not just a particular sales member.

Having a clear strategy for the year which is well communicated is a great foundation for a high-performance sales culture.

3.       Performance reviews (for territories)

A performance review is often discussed for sales members.  However, clients also need to be evaluated.  At times the cost of doing business with client outstrips the business results.  A detailed review of the resource allocation and the resultant revenue will reveal where best to allocate valuable and scarce sales resources.  At times, these reviews have revealed to me, not only the huge return being realised from a client but also the untapped potential.  In contrast, you can also uncover inefficiencies which are couched in “being too comfortable” and persisting with an “underperforming” client “because we have always done this”. 

Having a clear territory plan with high-performance territories leads to a high-performance sales culture.

4.       Sharing and teamwork

I have always struggled with the “pay for everything” incentive model for sales.  A high-performance sales culture will reward and recognise but also expect accurate and timely sharing of vital information (preferably in the CRM) and a willingness to support and assist colleagues without expectation of any direct payback.

A high-performance culture has a strong element of teamwork and an inherent trust that contributing to the overall health of the culture will eventually, if not regularly, come back with rewards.

5.       Reward and recognition

The members delivering the most business should earn the most sales commission and on-target earnings.  The old saying “success has many fathers, but failure is fatherless” is very relevant here.  Be clear who has delivered the revenue and compensate this person or persons generously.  Of course, support people may be involved.  They are valued, but they are not the sales professional engaging the client and securing the invoice for payment to your company.  In the best case, the top sales professionals will earn more than their manager.

Developing a high-performance sales culture is complex.  It cannot be done overnight.  It needs strong and intelligent leadership plus persistence.  If you can be successful, your best people will stay with you, and they will attract like-minded talent.

Reference:

4 Ways to Build Sales Culture – Frank V. Cespedes and Steve Maughan June 2015