Introduction
Hello. Thank you for beginning what I hope will be an interesting read and learning journey for you. My series of 6 blogs are focused on How to Guarantee a Permanent Improvement in Sales Results and I hope that I am able to help with your strategy in some way.
Millions of pounds are invested every year in pursuing way to grow sales. Yet only a handful of organisations have been able to grow their sales steadily, not just in good times, but lean times too, and of course in the face of ferocious competition.
Sales Activator conducted a significant survey across USA and Europe. 2663 organisations participated. The organisations who participated were not only large organisations like Barclays, Shell and ABN Amro, but small ones too.
What I find so fascinating abut these findings, is that the issues facing the larger organisations were the same as those faced by small companies – you would think this would be different considering they have more resources at their disposal.
We have compiled and published a report from all the findings. I’m so excited about the insight and solutions – its 27 pages brimming with really useful and valuable information, packed with hints and tips of how to overcome the issues found.
Here’s a few top line findings to titillate you:
- A poorly defined sales process – whilst the traditional method of selling is long gone, and the consultative sales approach is the norm – 82% of organisations say they don’t have a consultative sales process or are not following the one they have.
- Not addressing under performance – while 8% of our salesforce is consistently at peak performance, 50% have room for improvement – which is a fantastic opportunity – but 42% – that’s nearly half – of our sales force is consistently performing below expected standards. Imagine 42% not getting anywhere fast.
- Sporadic Coaching – almost 70% of sales leaders are not doing or are sporadically carrying out coaching or development. Is this you?
- Lack of Time – 52% of sales managers say they don’t have time or are too busy to develop and coach their teams. Of course I understand it – we are all really busy with our daily tasks and more and more is expected and asked of us, corporate commitments etc…at the end of the day if we don’t look after our teams the whole business suffers.
But combating these issues together are not enough to ensure profitable sales, there’s more to it. Please look out for the next blog posts which will pin down the issues facing sales leaders, with solutions on how to combat them – I will continue with successful Planning and Direction. Thank you for reading.
To download a summary of the research click here.
Thank you for your time, if you wish to get in touch, please contact me at lorna.leck@salesactivator.com
