Solid Sales Process

If an organization is churning through salespeople, it’s probably time to examine the sales process in place supporting the sales team. Top sales people will not stay in organizations without solid processes around them.  In fact, a recent study done by the TAS Group stated that sales staff turnover is reduced by 39% when a formal sales process is in place.

Sales professionals all over the country are drowning in a sea of useless paperwork, lost phone numbers and missed opportunities because they are not following a formal proven process. Top sales people want to spend their time in front of the customer. They want to see a process in place that they can “plug into” and know their time will be used in the most profitable way for the company. If a new representative doesn’t see a sales process in place to support them, he/she immediately begins to fear they will have to develop a process which requires a lot of time and ultimately sets them up to fail. The sales person has a lot of pressure on them to produce results but this is an insurmountable task if they can’t spend their time selling. Development of a formal sales process is the organization’s responsibility, not the sales person’s!

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the first step in developing a process. The good news is there are many easy to implement and affordable CRM options today. Other elements of a sales process include ready to use marketing materials, inside sales representatives, product demonstrations and any other tool that support can the sale.
Take a look at your top reps’ process and see if there are holes to fill that will free him/her up to concentrate more time on customer relationships and new business.