While some may want to blame this on the state of the economy, this is only part of the story. Sales effectiveness, or consistent sales performance against quotas, has been always been an elusive goal for companies.
We sat down with Dave Stein, co-author of the report, to shed some insight on what could be happening here. We discussed what lowers sales effectiveness, how the disconnect between Sales and Learning can be repaired, and the main takeaways from the report itself.
What Really Hurts Sales Effectiveness
There are of course many things that can hurt sales effectiveness, but the main factor seems to be misunderstanding the customer. The best way to sell to a customer is to know who you're actually selling to. This means reps should have an idea of who their ideal customer would be. Specifically, they should know what the customer's buying pattern, preferences, and what the customer's alternatives are to buying the rep's product or service.
When they learn who they're selling to, the next step is to look at how this information interacts with sales strategy. If you're finding gaps between how you go to market and what the people in your market are actually looking for, it's no surprise you're not meeting quota.
There are also some structural problems that can hurt sales. Here's what Dave had to say in regards to infrastructure:
"Not having the right infrastructure to support effective selling not having the right support from marketing [and] not having a strategic approach to sales training including reinforcement, coaching, and measurement."
In other words, sales effectiveness can serve as a good barometer for whether or not your business has the right people in the right jobs at the right time.
The Disconnect between Sales and Learning
The conflict between Sales and Learning has been around for almost as long as both departments have existed. Sales sees Learning as a teacher who doesn't know their lesson plan; Learning sees Sales as the troublemaking student who can't sit still long enough to learn anything.
And, to the joy of sales reps everywhere, the problem seems to be more with Learning than Sales.
Learning needs to make sure what they're trying to train them on is relevant. And yes, this does include taking part in sales activities, including sales calls and cold calling.
On top of being relevant, Learning should focus on training the middle 50% of the sales reps. Dave explains:
"Your focus for learning most often is the middle 50 percent of the sales team. You often can't help the bottom quarter, and the top quarter can use the learning, but don't need it to perform. If you can make an impact there, that's real progress."
And, maybe most importantly of all: recognize that Sales is in fact unique. Bonus points if you can answer why they are.
Key Takeaways
As far as a main takeaway, Dave had this to say:
"The desired outcome from a successful sales training initiative isn't excellent post-program evaluations. The bottom line is more revenue. That direct connection must always be on your mind."
In other words: sales training should drive revenue. One of the best ways to know if it's working is if revenue increases. When that isn't working, start looking at what you can do to fix it.
