By James Harper
Every business needs to generate profit, which is mostly done through the sale of products and services. However, some companies struggle to close deals and achieve growth. To avoid this, it’s imperative that you learn to manage your sales team and maintain a steady profit. If you are looking for ways to boost your bottom line, you might want to consider these 7 proven strategies to improve sales performance.
What is sales performance?
Businesses set goals for themselves all the time, and naturally, some of those goals will be related to sales and achieving results that increase the company’s profitability. Sales performance is the ability of your sales team to achieve the goals your company has set. The timeframe when you can assess your sales goal can be monthly, quarterly, or yearly.
When it comes to which goals you should set for the sales team, most small business owners who constantly try to overcome cash flow problems choose to look at profit. However, that’s not the only way to measure sales performance. You can also look at indicators like the number of generated leads, time spent per client, or the return on invested resources.
Here are 7 proven strategies to improve sales performance:
1. Monitor external factors
When facing poor sales performance, it is easy to immediately point the finger of blame at your sales team. After all, they are the ones responsible for closing sales. However, it is vitally important to figure out what caused the drop in sales in the first place.
Of course, it can be directly tied to the individual performance of your sales team members. That doesn’t mean you should forgo a thorough financial analysis and look at external factors like:
- Poor economy. Sometimes the global or national economy is in a state which can influence the sales of your company.
- Competition. If you are facing stiff competition that is trying to undermine you, then the sales performance isn’t only a reflection of your internal sales teams.
2. A positive outlook
Although we have acknowledged external factors that could lead to poor sales performance, you also need to be realistic that having a positive mindset can hugely influence a sale. One of the most important strategies to improve sales performance is having everyone on your team approach every sale with a positive outlook. If you think that you won’t be able to close a sale with a client – you are just setting yourself up to fail.
3. Use sales management software
In the digital age, there are numerous software tools to choose from that can be used to measure and improve sales performance. Sales management software can enable faster communication between teams. This can be incredibly valuable when your company is operating under a hybrid work model. If your employees aren’t in the same office, digital tools can speed up communication and be used to host team meetings.
Sharing information can also be automated, and this can allow sales agents to have immediate access to everything pertaining to a client without needing to wait for confirmation from other colleagues. While the right software can be of great help to your sales team, you also need to ensure that everyone is comfortable using the tools you have decided to implement. Your team is only as strong as the weakest link, and you need to have everyone commit to using the digital tools in order to make your whole system effective. Software tools can also be used to measure sales performance and pinpoint possible chokepoints as areas for future improvement.
4. Set realistic goals
Obviously, if you set unrealistic goals, you will constantly be receiving inadequate results. However, that doesn’t mean you should just set the bar low and accept that your business isn’t doing well. The best strategy to improve sales performance is to set realistic goals and then try to surpass them. This approach can be incredibly motivational to your team. People love exceeding expectations, and it feels great to deliver more than the official goal.
5. Cultivate a positive company culture
Imagine a scenario where your sales team fears for their jobs, and instead of adopting strategies to improve sales performance, they are busy undermining other coworkers to make themselves look better. The most important thing any business owner should strive to do is create a supportive environment and cultivate a company culture that champions teamwork.
Try to define core values that reflect your company culture. Schedule team meetings and focus them on improving productivity. Let team members share the challenges they have been facing, as well as advice for overcoming them. This will foster an atmosphere of camaraderie and teamwork, which will inevitably result in a better bottom line for your company.
6. Respond to customer feedback
Connect with your customer base and show them that you care. It’s crucial that you react to negative feedback constructively. Prove to customers that their opinions matter and that you are listening and working hard to improve on those fronts. If you offer exceptional services and a great customer experience, your customers will be more than willing to recommend you to others. The importance of connecting to your local community is just one lesson we’ve learned from female business owners who managed to beat the odds even amid the pandemic. Positive word of mouth can go a long way to establish trust within your community, and it can elevate your company in the eyes of your customers.
7. Have a referral program
Once you have built up trust with your customers, you can leverage that to boost sales. Implement a referral program to reward customers for their loyalty to your brand. This can take the form of rewards, discounts on future purchases, or specialized offers for VIP customers. Besides rewarding customers, this method is a proven strategy to improve sales performance by generating new leads. You will have an easy time converting those leads to customers since they received a referral from someone who was happy doing business with you.
In conclusion
If you decide to implement these 7 proven strategies to improve sales performance, you can expect to see a significant boost in your bottom line. Keep in mind that you need to track the appropriate performance indicators for your chosen strategies and goals. However, with a bit of careful planning, it will be easy to achieve your business goals and motivate your staff.
Meta description: If your company is struggling with poor sales numbers you should check out these 7 proven strategies to improve sales performance and increase your profit.
Author bio:
James Harper is an Outreach Specialist working for Convert More, and his job regularly requires him to bridge the gap between the Marketing and Sales departments. James welcomes the challenge since working with both teams lets him get a better understanding of what goes into the sales process.
