6 Ways for Your Sales Team to Start Selling Again

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Sales is the life blood of an organization. It’s the heart that pumps new, fresh revenue through the veins of the company keeping it healthy and alive. The heart only has one function – so why does your sales organization have so many? Statistics have shown that sales reps only spend on average 15% of their time actually selling products to a prospect; the other 85% of the time is spent prospecting, answering proposals, creating their own marketing campaigns and materials.

Where did it all go wrong? When did sales become the marketing department and the proposal desk? In many cases the organization has become siloed and disjointed. One department has a great idea and doesn’t think to ask for input with those that may have as great an impact on the decision.

Here are 6 ways to get back on track:

  1. Create a monthly brainstorming meeting with a good cross section of team players from across the entire organization to discuss new and exciting ideas. You’d be surprised at some of the ideas an operations associate might have on process improvements.
  2. Coordinated efforts between marketing and sale is paramount. Well timed marketing campaigns with input and buy-in form the sales team works better than “BTW we just started a campaign to all prospects in the CRM – hope it works out for you”.
  3. Be a giving sales rep – don’t be shy asking for help. I know it can be scary to have someone else help write that RFP response – but if it means you get an extra 5 hours on the phone to set up another appointment the ROI is invaluable.
  4. Get your CMR organized. The old saying “garbage in – garbage out” still applies. Clean up those old dead leads, set follow up tasks and reminders and created a process for acquiring new prospects weekly and monthly – don’t wait until you’ve blown through an entire list before you add new leads to call on.
  5. Just say no. Sales gets pulled in all kinds of directions, from project implementations to following up on past due invoices. That should not be a function of a sales rep.
  6. Get help. The more you can outsource the better. From appointment setting to lead generation, it’s paramount you’re providing your sales team with adequate time to do what’s most important – SELLING!