1. Killed your momentum? If sales go into a slump, look to your company'sactions and find out what your company did or did not do three to six months ago. There are common momentum killing mistakes that can ruin your forward momentum. One or a string of these and you have a recipe for disaster. Common momentum stoppers: changes in sales incentive plans, territory reorganizations, senior management changes, premature product deaths, promotional programs sliced to contribute to the bottom line (talk about an oxymoron). Knowing what you did to kill the momentum is the first step in recovery.
Why it Matters
Sales Leakage happens to every company. The issues are common, the fixes are slow in coming because no one wants to face people and process problems!
2. Mid-year coach replacement? Did you make significant changes in sales management? Changing the coach in mid-season isn't the best way to motivate a team. If you made the mistake, or had no choice in making it, get the new manager out in front of every salesperson so that they know who the new coach is and what he or she stands for in their life.
3. Advertising blackout? Did the company stop advertising about three months before the slump? If so, crank up the promotional machine to pull yourself out of the swamp. You're in a sales lead blackout and you're spiraling downward. Unfortunately it will take from three to six months to repopulate the pipeline, but you have to start somewhere.
4. Change the incentive compensation? Check and see if management has made changes to the incentive compensation plan. Move the food dish and salespeople will wander about trying to figure out how they will make a living. You should only make incentive compensation changes at the beginning of the year. If you blew it, get back to the salespeople and make sure all of them know how they will be compensated.
5. Senior management shuffle? Have there been significant changes in senior management, e.g., the president of the company? Sometimes changing the ultimate coach for the company will cause a blip in sales.
6. Lost sales reports? Find out why you are losing sales; make lost sales reports mandatory. OK, so maybe you don't have lost sales reports, then start. It's never too late to find out why you're losing more than you're winning.
7. Old proposals? Go back to every proposal (or a statistically significant sample) that you have given out in the last six months and interview them to find out why sales are down. Why didn't they buy from your company? Was it price, the salespeople, delivery, features?
8. Why are you winning? Find out why you won the sales you won. Please Interview people that have bought from you in the last year and try to find out the dominant reasons for your sales success. Do more of the right things.
9. No Sales lead follow-up? You need a policy for 100% follow-up. Look at the follow-up of sales leads over the last three to four months. Is there a problem? Why has follow-up dropped off?
10. Resellers playing you for a fool? Is your channel using your leads to sell another company's products? Do a mystery buyer program. Call your independent sales channel and see whom they recommend for your products. Fire those that do not recommend you.
11. Sales territories turning over? If your salespeople are resigning, you have to find out why and stop it cold. Every time a salesperson leaves a territory, there are sales leaks for six to nine months. Keep a bullpen of salespeople that are ready to fill in sales territories or use a recruiter.
12. Realistic quotas? Is the sales incentive bar set too high? If you have set sales quotas too high (usually visible if very few make quota from year to year), you have to tell the quota-setting president (it usually comes from this office) that quotas are set too high and are not motivating; they are performance killers. Setting stretch quotas (10% to 15% higher than what you really need) is a prudent tactic, but goals that are 30% to 50% each year are unrealistic and demoralizing.
13. Hiring the best and the brightest? Have you hired your cousin's son because he wanted a job? Tested for sales aptitude? Have you looked for a successful sales track record in previous companies? Checked W2's when hiring?
14. Testing salespeople for sales skills before you hire them? There are sales aptitude tests that will help you reduce your hiring risk for new salespeople. Use them for every new hire. Trust the tests when they tell you a person isn't right for your products or marketplace.
15. Salespeople making quota? If too many territories are not making quota, ask the salespeople why? I know that's a bit obvious but try it anyway.
There are more…Thirty more and another 15 will be published tomorrow, but these are the items that convict the companies that are failing.
