by Lorne Hamilton
Numerous research studies have been conducted (here’s one) to determine how sales people spend their time. The results have not measurably changed over the last five years. Depending upon industry, a sales person is expected spend between 20% and 30% of their time selling. In other words, they spend four out of twelve months a year actually selling. What, then, is going on with the other eight months?
There’s no single answer. Sales meeting preparation, administrative tasks, training and traveling eat up the majority of that time. Although there’s no way to eliminate those tasks from a sales person’s list of obligations, there are ways to make sure he or she can maximize time dedicated to selling.
In my last post, I introduced four key tenants of helping combat the chaos that comes with the job of selling. We established that once reps are in the field it is difficult to provide them with process training. In fact, over-communication and/or over-training can create additional distraction from their efforts. What they need is information that can be immediately applied to the opportunities they are pursuing.
Equipping the sales team with technology that assists them in applying relevant information to their pursuits is a great place to start. The value of the information is determined by what benefit the sales person receives by applying the knowledge. Often, the sales person is requested to input data into a CRM system which is then used by multiple functional areas. So, how do we provide output from that system that gives the sales force what they need to perform their jobs more effectively and efficiently? Following are proven best practices to help you put impactful information in front of them.
- Access internal knowledge. Much of the competitive data you need can be found inside your organization. The sales force knows who is tough to compete against and why. They need a methodology for accessing the information in a quick and easy manner. Reducing the formality and complexity of the process will keep the sales people returning to both provide and receive information.
- Summarize features for easy reference. A comprehensive, easy-to-read summary that compares major features and pricing is one of the most common ways of presenting competitive information. It enables the sales force to understand at a glance how your solution compares to the competition’s offering.
- Back up summaries with important talking points. Summaries often lack sufficient context and thoroughness, and should be supplemented with a “silver bullet” list that highlights main positioning points, reasons why the competition’s approach is inadequate, and strong statements about the unique business value that your solution provides. Whenever possible, support your statements with third-party validation.
- Don’t play nicely. Provide strong positioning against the competition’s strengths. Your sales people are quite capable of exploiting the competition’s weaknesses; where they most need your help is in undermining the competition’s strengths.
- Keep your materials current. If information is not kept up to date, the sales representatives will quickly lose confidence and likely become an infrequent visitor and contributor to the site. Allowing for data input by multiple representatives into a single system is critical. A best practice is to have a standard entry template which sales people can complete. This information can then be aggregated by Marketing into a format that is “client ready.”
- Evaluate the impact. Regular reviews should be conducted to determine who is contributing and accessing the material and assessing if their performance is measurably better than those who may not be taking advantage of the tool. Also, engaging the sales team in dialog to hear their evaluation and feedback will help create ownership and “buy in” to the process.
Do you have stories about your sales people’s success? Are you effectively sharing information across your sales force? We want to hear about it – join the conversation below.
If you want to learn more about supporting sales in your organization, check out “Learning How to Sell Well in the 21st Century.”