Categories: Talent Management | Sales Qualification
Elite sales organizations drive higher win rates, larger deal sizes, higher margins and predictable revenue. They are backed by a reliable team of sellers who know how to uncover customer problems and align their message of value.
Outcomes like these aren’t arbitrary; they are deliberate and finely orchestrated. Leaders of elite sales organizations purposefully direct these results by aligning critical areas of sales effectiveness with a well-defined sales strategy. The result? Revenue growth.
There are four things elite sales organizations do well – repeatedly.
1. Articulate value and differentiation of their solutions
Best-in-class sales organizations equip their sales teams to be effective at the buyer-level. That starts with building cross-functional alignment around how you create and capture value for your customers and how you do it better or differently than your competition. Elite sales organizations know that value messaging is more than just something the marketing department controls and they ensure every customer-facing role is audible-ready to articulate that value and differentiation in a way that has meaning to the buyer.
2. Qualify, advance and close sales opportunities
Alignment also helps your organization execute a successful sales process, particularly around your qualification criteria. We talk a lot about using Customer Verifiable Outcomes to build qualification into the sales process. These buying indicators help provide you with the necessary information to advance the opportunity to the next stage of the buying process. They may include things like (1) the organization has to invest resources around a new product or a recent acquisition, or (2) your prospects may have documented pain points that they’re under pressure to correct. Sellers that use Customer Verifiable Outcomes are able to better validate deals, where they otherwise would be guessing. Remember, it’s the customer that drives the sales process, not the rep. If your reps don’t focus on staying in sync with the customer and reading their buying signs, they greatly increase the probability of losing the deal.
In addition, organizations that have a mechanism to qualify the opportunity throughout the sales process ensure that sales time is spent in the right areas, effectively managing investment of time and resources. Qualification is critical because it ensures reps are spending the right time on the right opportunities and not wasting time on one's that won't happened. Many of our most successful customers use a system like MEDDICC or MEDDPICC to ensure everyone is focusing their time with the right buyers. What would your customers say about your organization’s ability to create and capture value throughout critical hand off points?
3. Accurately predict and achieve your number
Repeatability and consistency drive effective sales planning and allow your organization to accurately forecast and delivery on revenue. Sales organizations that provide their managers with critical line-of-site are able to create efficiencies in forecasting, account and territory planning and opportunity reviews. High-performing sales organizations put processes in place that ensure their salespeople focus their efforts on the highest value sales opportunities.
If you create a predictable cadence around territory, account and opportunity planning, you’ll improve forecast accuracy and your reps ability to build a healthy pipeline. Here are key questions to consider when developing a cadence that drives sales planning activities.
- What are the critical few activities I should focus on?
- How frequently should I be doing those activities?
- What tools are available to help me?
- How will my success be measured?
4. Attract, on-board and retain top talent
If you want a high-performing sales organization, you need the right people on your team. Best-in-class companies have tools and processes in place that help them attract, hire and retain top sales talent.
Perfectly crafted messages, unified processes, and well-designed sales strategies ultimately don’t amount to much without the right people to execute on them. As a sales organization, it is up to you to find the right fit - the person who has the right behaviors to be successful within your sales organization.
Leaders of elite sales organizations know that a true sales transformation is hard work. You know your company best. You know what’s working and more importantly where you need to make the greatest changes. Elite sales leaders take a “draft in” approach, one that leverages your current best practices to build a more sustainable roadmap for success.
