How to boost sales performance

Boosting sales performance is not easy and at its core, it's all about setting the right culture and leadership.

The importance of sales team performance

People who feel better in their work will perform better in their work. So, building and maintaining a positive company culture is the foundation for boosting sales team performance. All other aspects of a business depend on a well-managed sales team that performs well, so getting this culture right is crucial for long-term business success.

The impact of culture on sales team performance

Almost half of the sales leaders responding to a Salessound 2023 survey felt they had received little or no training for their leadership role. In the businesses of those leaders, almost 70% of the responses to questions about company culture were negative or neutral. The prevalence of poor workplace culture was clear in other survey responses. When asked to describe their company culture in a single word, roughly half of the responses included words such as inclusive, open, and collaborative. In contrast, the other half used words such as inconsistent, abrupt, and chaotic. Salespeople are interested in the same things which motivate everyone else in a modern workplace. Achieving targets, earnings, and results is essential, but feeling engaged, valued, and listened to is also increasingly important. Often more important than a relentless focus on targets alone. Managing a team well is not only about pursuing metrics. It’s about broader engagement, communication and knowledge sharing. Salespeople who are not well-managed and motivated will leave businesses, and replacing them will be costly. Businesses which don’t gather and share salespeople's valuable knowledge will also lose opportunities to create new benefits for customers.

Identifying the challenges

What are the main challenges and barriers organisations face when setting the foundations for improved sales team performance?

1. Poor communication – of plans, targets, performance, two-way feedback, reporting and the activities of others in the team
2. Knowledge silos and duplication in the chain of marketing | sales | customer service | operations
3. An excessive focus on competitive personal success, leaderboards, and gamification at the expense of collaboration and idea-sharing
4. A lack of tools focussed on the team members, instead of only on sales results
5. A lack of training for new sales leaders
6. Scarce resources, particularly in technology, training and support.

Taking the steps to improve sales team culture, collaboration and performance

Overcoming performance obstacles is not simple, and takes determination, leadership commitment, leading by example, continuous improvement, and a long-term view. But all businesses can take some simple and achievable key steps:

• Training and development for sales team members and leaders
• Setting clear written and measurable goals and expectations
• Gathering regular short-term feedback from sales team members
• Gathering structured periodic reporting from sales team members
• Monitoring and evaluating sales team performance and insights regularly
• Encouraging and developing ideas from the sales team and others in the business
• Sharing sales team updates and knowledge with the wider business

Tools for managing sales team performance

Salessound provides the tools leaders need to lay the foundations for better sales performance:

• People management
• Idea development
• Objective setting
• Snapshot feedback / weekly sales reporting
• Monthly sales performance reporting
• Insights and market knowledge sharing

With these tools sales leaders can:

• Manage all aspects of sales teams and their performance: confidence, ideas and objectives, not just their targets, supporting the best use of all the talents and resources the business has.
• Gather pulse feedback and structured reporting, so that sales teams are properly integrated with the wider business.
• Share sales team knowledge and insights about what’s happening with customers and in their markets, to ensure customers’ views and needs are understood and met.

Conclusion

Getting the right culture, leadership and tools in place are essential steps for any leader hoping to boost sales performance. Salessound is one of the best places to start.

Find out more about tools to help boost sales team performance in Salessound