Wouldn’t business be so much simpler if your sales team would just concentrate on a target rich environment where “The Buffalo” – your customer, are in abundance. Seems easy and straight forward, so why does it not happen quite that way? A management consulting firm might have some interesting perspective here.
It is our experience that most sales people don’t know who, or what, your ideal customer looks like. That might sound strange, but it is what we find day-in, day-out as we work with sales teams. It might be very clear to you in your mind but not in theirs. If they do know who your ideal customer is, they often don’t know how to engage them and as a result can’t prospect very well. They get deflated and usually go to a market that they are comfortable selling in, but it’s often low value sales and margins. A management consulting firm can help here.
So what can you do, after all, sales resources are very expensive if they are not returning on the investment in them.
Firstly, you must be crystal clear on who you do business with and who you don’t. From this your sales team must have this message drilled into them. They must understand what problem you solve for your customer, and they must be able to articulate this in a succinct way. They must see and believe in the value you offer your customers.
You must then measure the performance of the individuals in your team:
– are they meeting your ideal target customer
– are they meeting enough of those ideal customers
– are they quoting enough business
– are they closing
All of these elements are easily measured. We have found that most Sales people can improve each of these aspects of their performance and as a result contribute more to the business. The challenge for you as a business owner is to set a routine to measure, manage and communicate these metrics to your sales team. In order to execute this you must first have a crystal clear image of your perfect customer. If you are struggling with this, maybe you could work with a management consulting firm.
