Many B2B businesses in the rapidly changing technology markets are great at what they do. Despite their success, however, they struggle to reach their sales aspirations. For some reason the business seems to be “stuck”. It’s unable to grow to the next level – their sales mojo is not humming.
The issue becomes apparent in sales pipelines that don’t convert, the constant hiring and firing of sales people and the frustration of not being able to scale and increase revenue results.
Every B2B business leader wants a sales organisation where:
- Management can have confidence in the sales pipeline and conversation rates are reasonably predictable
- The Sales Team and Channel Partners are performing at optimum efficiency
- The business can scale based on repeatable sales processes
There’s no quick solution or silver bullet to achieving this.
During more than 15 years as a “hands-on” consultant working with more than 100 medium sized businesses at different levels of maturity and in various markets, I identified over time a pattern of 6 essential building blocks. When they were all considered and aligned properly the result was growing sales momentum. These building blocks are:
- Sales Model
This is your Go-To-Market strategy. It’s about how you connect to your target market. It requires a solid value proposition, clarity about your competitive positioning, a clear target market and the aligned selection of sales channels, may it be direct, indirect or blended.
- Sales Revenue Plan
It is not good enough to say, “we need another $2m”. You need a revenue plan to determine where the revenue will come from. For example, the sales strategies to grow existing customers are very different to winning new business. Once you bring clarity into this question, you have a basis to define the tactics that will get you there.
- Sales Structure
Essentially this is an org chart where sales teams and individuals are assigned customer segments, territories and KPIs. It breaks the bigger target and revenue numbers into smaller achievable chunks that define the success measures for your sales people. It also establishes focus for teams and individuals, identifying their specific goals and objectives.
- Sales Process
How your sales people sell is what I refer to as the ‘Heart Beat’ of your business. Getting a proven Sales Process that plays to your strengths and is repeatable, is crucial to achieving scalability. Never confuse Process with Sales Methodology or Selling Skills. These are all different categories. To measure if you are on track, you need to apply realistic conversion rates along the sales cycle to work out the shape and size of your sales pipeline.
- Sales Marketing Campaigns
Getting the right leads is the crucial beginning of a healthy sales pipeline. Make sure that Sales and Marketing are well aligned and measured by the same outcomes. Like never before, in the age of digital marketing the buyer experience needs to be seamless across any channel. Think beyond the initial sales and create four core campaigns that align with revenue goals: lead generation, onboarding, retention, cross & upsell.
- Sales Performance Management
The Sales Management function is the most pivotal role in the business of growing revenue. Most small and medium sized businesses won’t have the luxury of a dedicated role. All the more important it is that the business owner or MD dedicates at least 2-3 hours per week per sales person to sales operations. The must-have weekly management activities are: pipeline reviews, deal planning, 1:1 meetings and coaching.
That’s it. Yes, it looks like lot, and it is quite a bit more than a half day planning session. It is healthy to set an agenda over 8-10 weeks to do it right and give the leadership team time to think and make well rounded decisions. However, it is essential and there are not really any short cuts if you want to take your business on a robust growth path and get the Sales Mojo working.
This is not a set and forget exercise, it is advisable to review these 6 building blocks once a year so you can re-calibrate where necessary.
About Business Backstage: Ursula Dauenhauer, Founder of Business Backstage, is passionate about helping medium sized B2B companies who are great at what they do to achieve their sales aspirations. For over 15 years now, Ursula has been working hand-in-hand with business leaders to gain confidence in their sales pipelines and build a scalable sales structure & process. Call Ursula on 0401 147 493 or email ursula@gotomarketconsulting.com.au for a chat.