If you are responsible for revenue and sales growth (and everyone should feel responsible for revenue and sales growth) you are probably starting to think about investments you will make in 2016. That’s right…summer is almost over and leaving the office early to play golf and spend time with the kids at the pool will soon be replaced by staying late at the office to work on budgets and planning for the upcoming year. Like others in your position, you are probably looking at potential investments in your sales team and asking: “Should we invest in technology or should we invest in developing our people?”’
Investing in a new software package or technical platform is the exciting and “sexy” solution. It’s a serious investment in hard dollars and time, which often comes with promises of a “streamlined” sales operation. But you have to ask yourself an important question: “Will a software or technology package really improve my team’s ability to sell?” The answer is – it won’t. Technology is not a panacea that cures underperformance or drives growth – it can create efficiencies, improve communication and simplify workflows, but only if your sales teams uses it properly. Technology also rarely addresses or improves the behaviors that result in underperformance.
When evaluating potential options for driving true performance improvement in your organization, invest in your people – not technology. The members of your sales team were hired because they had a core set of skills and abilities that made them the most qualified for the job they were originally hired for, but they also need ongoing development in order to continue to be successful. I’m not talking about “product training” - I’m talking about helping your sales organization break down their own barriers that have resulted in underperformance. There are a wide variety of approaches to driving improvements in your sales team – and just like technology, there is no “one size fits all” training panacea that will cure all sales organizations. Here are three things you can start today that will make a difference:
- Compare Performance: What is the difference between your top and bottom sales people? I’m not talking about numbers – I’m talking about the activities that the best sales people do versus the bottom sales people. Not everyone has the gift of a silver tongue, but everyone can use the same approaches if they are proven to work.
- Set Clear Expectations: Does your sales organization have clear understanding of the company’s strategic objectives and their individual role in achieving that goal? Not just how many widgets to sell and at what price – but why they are important to the success of the organization and how their daily effort will result in achieving the companies goals.
- Engage your people: Encourage your team to share their ideas on how they feel things can be improved. Unfortunately, people on the front line are not encouraged to share their ideas enough – even though THEY are the ones interacting directly with the end customer. Too often, we send down our grand vision, but don’t have an honest feedback loop that helps us refine the strategy and improve the probability of success.
Investing in technology can be exciting – almost everyone loves new toys (I know I do… just ask my wife) – but as “sexy” as a technology solution sounds, investing in your salespeople will generate far greater rewards than any technology package could.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Brian Thomas is the Vice President of Operations at Incite, a firm 100% dedicated to improving frontline sales teams’ ability to execute and deliver optimal outcomes for their company and customers.