My friend Brent Thompson from Peak Sales Recruiting sent me this quick piece today. I thought it was worth sharing!
Here are seven proven ways to make your reps more productive this quarter.
1. Give reps more time for selling – automate low value tasks such as reporting and data collection so your reps can focus on prospecting, developing and selling
2. Focus on results – activity matters, results matter more
3. Help them prioritize and invest time wisely – sometimes reps spin their wheels on the wrong opportunities and activities – coach them to improve where and when they spend their time
4. Reward value added – service sells – incent your reps to be of high value to customers and reap the rewards
5. Create systems – simplify the sales process so reps can develop strong sales habits and tactics, create checklists and rules for advancing opportunities in the process, and provide tools to accelerate closes
6. Plan for the unplanned – there are no certainties in this economy and hoping there will be just creates frustrations – expect the unexpected
7. Remind them to have fun – if your reps are under too much pressure, they won’t be smiling in front of prospects. Enthusiasm is infectious, find ways to blow off a little steam here and there.
Dedicated to increasing your sales
Colleen
#1 and #5 seem particularly difficult to achieve (at least in any reasonable timeframe). I have been a Sales Engineer for many years and have used, and sold, Sales Force Automation systems a great deal. Unfortunately most of those systems seemed to be geared more towards making management’s lives easier rather than making reps more productive. Both #1 and #5 would depend, at least in part, on changing or updating a company’s SFA which is not a short-term task.