Excerpts from Paradigm Group’s Evergreen Research
WHAT CONSISTENT HIGH PERFORMERS DO
Research on consistently successful sales managers and companies
identifies five key levers for improving performance:
-
Leading strategically
-
Having intimate knowledge of customer needs
-
Ensuring standard sales process is followed
-
Coaching/motivating their salespeople
-
Creating a high performance climate
CSO Insights’ researchers asked survey respondents about their sales organizations’ performance along six important dimensions. They assessed each company’s capabilities in sales process management. Note the significant performance differential between the organizations found to be at Level 4 and the rest of the pack.
Accurately target prospects
Properly qualify leads
Effectively present features
and benefits
Effectively cross sell and up sell
Sell value, avoid excessive
discounting
Effectively introduce
new products
Level 4 Companies
Level 1, 2 and 3 Companies
Level 4 Companies:
Rigorously adhere to standard
sales process and modify whenthey detect changes in market conditions
Level 3 Companies:
Enforce use of standard process
but their monitoring looks
backward– is not continual
Level 2 Companies:
Expect salespeople to follow
astandard process, but do not
measure or monitor
Level 1 Companies:
Allows employees to do their
own thing; may be “anti-process"
Sales Management Behaviors That Ensure Sales Process is Followed
-
Educate representatives on the value of
following a standard sales process
-
Model and coach salespeople on the value of taking a disciplined approach
to reaching all decision makers
-
Coach salespeople on following a disciplined/ systematic sales process
-
Continually monitor representatives’
use of standard process
-
Provide feedback on process improvements needed to adapt to changing market conditions
CSO Insights’ researchers asked survey respondents about their sales organizations’ performance along six important dimensions. They assessed each company’s capabilities in sales process management. Note the significant performance differential between the organizations found to be at Level 4 and the rest of the pack.
Accurately target prospects
Properly qualify leads
Effectively present features
and benefits
Effectively cross- and up-sell
Sell value, avoid excessive
discounting
Effectively introduce
new products
Level 4 Companies
Level 1, 2 and 3 Companies
Level 4 Companies:
Rigorously adhere to standard
sales process and modify when they detect changes in market conditions
Level 3 Companies:
Enforce use of standard process
but their monitoring looks
backward–is not continual
Level 2 Companies:
Expect salespeople to follow
a standard process, but do not
measure or monitor
Level 1 Companies:
Allows employees to do their
own thing; may be “anti-process"
Sales Management Behaviors that Ensure Sales Process is Followed
-
Educate representatives on the value of
following a standard sales process
-
Model and coach salespeople on the value of taking a disciplined approach
to reaching all decision makers
-
Coach salespeople on following a disciplined/ systematic sales process
-
Continually monitor representatives’
use of standard process
-
Provide feedback on process improvements needed to adapt to changing market conditions
