Creating a sales pipeline for your business is one of the most important things you need in sales management. But are there other things you can do to increase your sales? Read on.

Sales management is a daunting process. It includes the hiring process, sales training, and managing salespeople. Additionally, you have to make sure you are up-to-date with new sales techniques, coaching, measuring team and individual performance, and also tracking sales. Being in sales management, you have to keep track of what is working and what is not.

There are a bunch of steps you need to take before getting to the point of making a sale. You have to find and manage your leads and salespeople. Also, you need to continuously nurture your current customers.

You need to know the sales challenges that keep you from achieving sales success. It’s time to figure out how you can better support your salespeople.

Common Sales Challenges

The market today is more informed with the help of technology. Gone are the days where you heavily rely on your sales reps’ selling skills. You must adapt to the changing times. What are some challenges that salespeople face today?

Building Customer Trust

We are all trending away from face-to-face interactions because of the pandemic. Now, buyers are more inclined to do their research online. Customers now have the power to help build your online reputation through reviews. Influencer marketing also plays a role in developing customer relationships and attracting new customers.

Since most companies are pivoting into a digital transformation, a DemandGen research report found that 91% of buyers prefer interactive and visual content. This means that you have to create content that will help you generate, nurture, and convert leads.

Digital marketing helps play a role in helping your consumers be informed about your products and services. Consider building your content marketing strategy on social media or on your website to gain credibility and trust.

Reaching out to Decision Makers

Being able to connect with decision-makers in an organization is a challenging task. Since we are shifting into a virtual landscape, a lot of these executives work from home. It is now more difficult to get a time commitment.

It is essential to personalize any communication you send to your prospects. Also, your salesperson must have information about the company they are reaching out to. That way, they will formulate a solid call to action that gets the desired response.

Struggles in Productivity

There is a big shift in the way people work today. Growremotely did a survey asking professionals and founders about the work-from-home setup. They found out that 97% of employees don’t want to return to the office full-time. Though companies are providing a work-from-home option to employees, distractions play a role in non-performance.

A March 2021 survey by TechRepublic revealed that 53.1% of respondents believe that working from home made it challenging to separate work and non-work life. Doing laundry, gaming, cooking, or watching TV became part of the daily work routine.

Create a plan on how you will be able to encourage your team to be productive. Coaching and mentoring sessions will help your team be better motivated to reach their sales goals.

Thinking about their Buyers First

Shifting into a buyer-first mentality means that salespeople will need to prioritize buyer interests. One way to address this is by looking at how your buyers want to make the purchase. Scrap some old habits in the way you are selling to your customers, such as prospecting too early, being over-eager, or being a know-it-all.

It is vital to have a sales management team that is adaptable as buyer habits change. Sales managers need to be able to provide guidance. Constant communication and collaboration within the group are necessary.

Sales Management in your Organization

Now that you have an idea of what challenges you might face, it’s time to lay out the foundation for success. Setting your sales goals will help you identify what is working and what needs to be improved. Here are some tips that you can use to reach your sales goals:

Coaching Salespeople

Research made by The Brooks Group shows that 23% of sales managers spend less than 30 minutes coaching their reps. They found out that the amount of time they spend coaching is associated with not reaching their sales quota.

Good sales management coaching allows your team to be more confident. When the management team actively gives them the support they need, they will be better motivated to make the sale.

S.M.A.R.T. Sales Goals

SMART goal setting helps you get the data you need to track success. Use the SMART template to empower your salespeople to sell more effectively. Doing so will help you create straightforward goals to follow, track, and hit, which is valuable in sales management.

Start with small incremental goals. You can try to set weekly or monthly goals. That way, your salespeople will not become overwhelmed looking at a more significant number. Also, you can give more time for coaching opportunities to struggling reps.

It is essential to set realistic sales goals based on the hard data that you have. Here are some data you can use as reference:

• Sales records
• Historic Growth Rates
• Sales Performance of your Competition

Higher Incentives for Greater Motivation

Sales management includes funds management. Essentially, you decide on how you want to reward sales performance. Hardcore salespeople get motivated when they are recognized and compensated for their hard work.

Besides the sales commission, try to create a rewards program or a contest for top earners. You can also include retention incentives (monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual) to motivate your salespeople to think a long way down the road.

Alignment

Departments must be aligned and work towards a big sales goal. Good sales management practices include constant communication between teams and team members.

Bring customer feedback into a product meeting, work on fixing it. Create a holistic experience for your customers that will allow you to sell more. Align with your monthly, quarterly, and annual targets with your sales goals.

Supporting Your Salespeople for Higher Sales

In every business, your high-level business plan specifies the big business goals you have. The sales team helps make that dream happen. For your business to thrive, especially in these uncertain times, you must adapt to the changing business landscape.

First, enable your sales team to use the sales software made available effectively. Provide them with the training and product support they need. Second, you have to spend time providing coaching and mentorship. That way, you will discover their challenges and opportunities that might have hindered them from getting the sale.

Finally, align your goals across all departments. Sales management is only one part of the business. Your goal is to get more sales and provide quality products and services to your customers.

Giving an adequate amount of support to your sales team will enable you to achieve higher sales success. Integrate the use of sales technology so you will be more effective in prospecting and managing your leads.

Not only will you be able to increase sales, but you will also be more informed about your prospects and how you can help them. That is one of the things that we do.

Here at Full Scale, we help businesses create software that will enable them to execute processes more efficiently and effectively. Not only that, we only partner with highly qualified individuals who have gone through a rigorous hiring process. We want to ensure our clients that they get the best people to work with them.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you achieve your business goals and enable you to scale!