The latest sales research on sales performance improvement points to sales professionals who are looking hard at sales effectiveness to combat toughening market conditions.

As budgets are tightened, sales teams either work harder or smarter. This article finds that the firms that have a higher attainment of sales performance improvement and quota achievement are the ones who choose to work smarter, placing as much emphasis on the science of sales as the art of sales. The difference in quota attainment for the companies who work smarter is significant (13%). In all categories of sales activity they out perform their rivals.

Reading further into the 230 pages of the report it becomes clear that there is no magic pill or killer activity that on its own will secure overnight sales performance improvement. What it does show is that the smarter approach is made up of a number of small improvements across a range of sales activities.

I have taken a cross section of the research material and identified the areas which I believe can be implemented for sales performance improvement without the need for any fanfare or major program. If executed consistently by sales professionals who want to raise their game, they will make a positive difference; the research shows this to be the case.

The raw material of sales, leads

So, let’s start with the raw material of sales, leads. The report found that 63% of companies identified lead generation as an area in need of sales performance improvement. Only 25% said that their lead generation met their expectations. Given that leads are so important to the achievement of quota, why is the situation so poor?

The traditional alignment issues between sales and marketing are often blamed. The report, whilst acknowledging this as a potential concern, focuses more on the task of generating leads. It was found that firms who invested more in the quantity and quality of leads had a higher rating in terms of the sales team’s assessment of the leads generated. The impact of feeding the top of the sales funnel is obvious, but if the quality of the leads is not right then the performance and effectiveness of the team is impacted. It reminds me of the old computer adage of "rubbish in, rubbish out". The trouble is that often by the time the rep realizes the lead is rubbish, time and effort have already been spent.

Therefore, it is no surprise that the report shows "revising/ enhancing lead generation programs" in the top three priorities for improving sales performance. We have seen many examples where this issue has been tackled head on. While the problem cannot be fixed overnight, sales and marketing could consider the following as a way of generating the right quality and volume of leads:

Thoroughly research new accounts

"One trend in sales performance that has continued to deteriorate over the past several years is sales reps’ ability to convert leads into opportunities". This is not something most organizations want to hear, as the implications all around are not good.

By their own admission, a surprising 48% of companies declared that this conversion ratio is in need of sales performance improvement. The report shows that there is a marked difference between firms that focus on researching the opportunity prior to calling on the new account and those who declared this area is in need of sales performance improvement.

We have all heard the more colorful example of the five Ps that goes along the lines of "Poor Preparation leads to Piss Poor Performance". The first impression a prospect has of us is all-important, and will shape the way the meeting goes. So, why do so many reps not undertake adequate research? The report points to the internet and the vast amount of data available. One quote the researchers got was "I know the data I want is in there, but I don’t have an easy way to find it". Worryingly, we are hearing the same comment made about company’s intranets or portals. In fact one was described to us as a black hole; once in there you never come out, let alone find what you are looking for.

What to do? The report is suggesting that some sales operations and training groups are stepping up to find ways to help the sales teams quickly pull the information together. But, it seems to me that there are two strands that should be explored here. The first is identification and access to the data, and the second is the willingness to undertake the task. When I was sold to as a senior manager in large organizations, I felt the lack of research on the part of the sales executive in front of me entailed a serious lack of respect for me, my time and the company they were representing. If I’m not alone in feeling this as a buyer, and I don’t think I am, then the message is clear.

Shifting the conversion ratio just a few percentage points can make a world of difference to the chances of improving dales performance and making quota. Whilst there are no overnight fixes for this issue, there are some things that are worthy of consideration:

Properly qualify and prioritize opportunities

A SVP of global sales once said to me that, "bad news early is good news". In the same vein the report suggests "if you are going to lose a deal, lose it early in the process". This is often easier said than done, especially if you do not have that many leads or opportunities.

The issue is one of ensuring time and investment is spent on opportunities that have a higher propensity to close. The report suggests that qualification, as well as positive commitment signals from the prospect, is a good indicator that the sale is still on track. The researchers also found a very strong correlation between the strength of the relationship and the rep’s ability to qualify/ prioritize opportunities. "Nearly 80% of firms who attained a value-add relationship with their customers either met or exceeded expectations. Only 16% of firms operating at a vendor relationship level were able to attain similar results".

Given that hope is not a sustainable strategy for improving sales performance or for winning business, reps might like to consider the following approaches:

Effectively cross and up-sell

This should be a complete no-brainer of a sales performance improvement activity, but over 48% of firms said this was an area requiring attention. It goes hand in glove with the next section on farming existing accounts, but it seems to be more a more complex issue than first indications suggest. The research shows 3% more firms are declaring the need for sales performance improvement in this area over last year.

The issue seems to be more acute with companies that have extensive product or service lines. In these cases the ability of the sales rep to cross sell depends, to some extent, on their product knowledge and the underlying business benefits they can deliver.

However, the research found that additional product training did not make that much difference. Where there are signs of the situation improving is where companies are investing in Sales Knowledge Management solutions to help capture and share more about how best to sell a particular product or solution rather than just have good product knowledge.

This is an easy area to understand, but the solution is more complex than just raising the product knowledge of the sales team. Companies should also consider:

Farm additional revenues from existing customers

Given the commonly held view that an existing customer is somewhere between 6 and 10 times easier to sell to than a new one, it is surprising that 57% of firms surveyed reported this as an area that needs sales performance improvement. It would appear investment is being made in account management but it is not necessarily translating into the level of sales performance improvement and additional revenues expected.

We find that account management is either managed in a fairly loose way or is managed through a rigorous account planning process to bring a level of business return and control. The main instrument used in the latter is the account plan. The common view of account plans is you hate them or love them, rarely is there any middle ground.

The account plan should be appropriate to the task in hand, e.g. if the objective is to build the relationship and drive the revenue then the plan should focus on people and opportunities. We have seen too many plan structures which, in my view, are plans for planning’s sake. Consider the following in terms of helping to improve sales performance and drive more revenue from your existing accounts: