The sales field is dominated by a consistent sense of urgency. The urgency to meet quotas and goals, the urgency to outperform competitors, and the urgency to take advantage of available opportunities are all determining factors in how sales teams operate.
In some cases, this constant presence of urgency can cause a lack of genuine productivity. It’s critical for sales leaders to recognize this situation and redirect their teams to focus on productivity and long term attainable goals. The following are tips you can implement to help support your team:
Press the reset button and reestablish expectations
The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown a wrench in business as we know it. That applies to sales the same as any other business. As sales teams look to recover from the challenges presented to them, pressing the reset button is a great place to start.
With the future of businesses still uncertain, resetting standards and reevaluating expectations is critical to sales teams. The usual quotas and goals are likely not attainable under new circumstances. This being the case, it’s important to evaluate what is realistic and reset goals for teams that pose a challenge but aren’t impossible to meet.
Reevaluate incentives
In adjusting goals and expectations, it may also be beneficial to reset incentive and bonus thresholds as well. Where incentives may have once been based on sales and closed deals, it may make more sense to incentivize qualified leads. Providing your team with tangible and realistically attainable incentives is an important motivational factor.
Invest in the future of digital
The shift towards digital selling has skyrocketed as we have pursued safe social distancing. What was already a growing and developing field has now been thrust into the spotlight full speed ahead. This begs the question of how to prepare sales teams for the new platforms and capabilities that are being thrust upon them.
Investing in the future of digital sales seems like a no brainer. We are already hearing that some industries are considering never returning to traditional office settings based on the costs associated with the clear success of going digital. With the growing success of the digital workplace, it’s essential to begin preparing and training team members to adjust to a new normal.
Rework tools and processes to support your team
Now is the perfect opportunity to make adjustments to best serve your team. Looking around it’s like the traditional rules of business success have been thrown out the window. It’s a new world for many businesses and adjustments must be made to appeal to each professional’s best interest. At the end of the day, the priority should be focusing on the needs of your sales team. What do they need to do their best work? How can you support them to reach their goals?
Today’s already shaky landscape doesn’t need to be further complicated by outdated and challenging processes. In fact, the flexibility of many of today’s work environments provides the perfect opportunity to implement process updates that provide scalable automation to simplify the roles of sales teams.
Provide your leadership team with a clear vision to pursue
It isn’t uncommon that in challenging times leadership can fall short of what’s needed from them. It’s an overwhelming and demanding situation to be held responsible for the success of a sales team, not to mention in the midst of a pandemic. Sales team leadership plays a critical role in communicating their expectations with clarity, while simultaneously demonstrating a commitment to their teams.
The Covid-19 pandemic has posed a challenge for businesses globally, sales included. Implementing our suggestions detailed above will help give your sales team the leg up they need to recover from the pandemic and regain their success and resume productivity. For more information on revamping your sales team, contact Kelli Yount, founder of KelNet.
