5 Smart Investments that will Empower your Sales

An investment in your sales team is an investment in the success of your business.

Getting the most out of your reps is essential for your business to grow and thrive. Building client relationships is the key to more sales and no one knows your clients better than the people who spend all day talking to them. They are the ones on the front lines, building client relationships, increasing revenue, and helping to move your business forward.

When the performance of your sales team is healthy, your profits tend to be healthy, too. But according to a recent Hubspot study, 66% of reps miss their quotas. This statistic highlights the fact that it’s not enough to just hire more sales people, you have to set them up for success. Whether it’s strategies, tools, or training — smart sales investments are smart for your business.

The goal of sales development

When deciding where to invest your sales development dollars, always keep the end goals in mind. Each of your strategies to improve the performance of your sales team should have the proven ability to do one or both of the following:

• Increase productivity – Allow your sales team to spend more time selling. The more hours they spend selling (as opposed to administrative tasks) the more chances they have to succeed. Simple.
• Increase win rate – Empower your team to close more deals. Provide the information and strategies they need to make each sales call more effective.

Your resources — including effort, time, and cost — are limited. Read on for some strategies that are proven to get results.

5 ways to improve the performance of your sales team

1. Invest in sales enablement technology

You’re dedicated to helping your salespeople achieve peak performance. Not much demonstrates this better than giving them the tools that make their job easier. That’s why 37% of businesses list sales enablement as a top priority. Many time-consuming processes that used to be entirely manual can be automated for your sales team, enabling them to sell better and faster. Among the tops tools are:

• Asset management platforms
• CRM software
• Presentation builders
• Guided selling tools

2. Invest in ongoing training and coaching

Placing a high priority on education will build confidence and improve performance better and faster than just about any other practice. Effective sales onboarding dramatically cuts ramp-up time and lets your new hires quickly start contributing to your bottom line. But onboarding is only one part of the story.

Almost 87% of that onboarding training will be forgotten in just a few weeks. To avoid this loss and ensure long-term success, make training an integrated part of your company culture and provide regular coaching to all reps — not just new hires. Ongoing training helps your reps keep improving and your sales strategies keep up with an ever-evolving market.

3. Invest in internal communications

In order to help your company reach its goals, your reps need to know what they are. This might seem like a no-brainer, but a great majority of employees feel that company leadership is bad at communicating. Only 13% of employees strongly agree that their leaders communicate effectively.

Sales success requires a deep knowledge of both your company and its offerings, so it’s vitally important to keep reps involved and informed on everything from product updates to the company vision. Armed with a steady stream of good communication, your sales team can direct their efforts toward helping the company reach its clearly-stated goals.

4. Invest in employee engagement

Increasing employee engagement is one of the most effective ways to improve your sales and boost your bottom line. Stimulating an employee’s enthusiasm for work helps direct their energy toward organizational success. Taking an employee from simply “reliable” to “actively engaged” can mean a significant boost in the amount of effort they put into their work. In complex positions such as sales, the improvement in output can be as great as 120 percent.

5. Invest in incentive programs

People need to know when they’ve done a good job. Incentives can be a fun, effective way to both make your reps feel valued and to encourage desired behaviors. Focus on incentivizing both sales and activities that lead to sales such as prospecting and face-to-face conversations. Celebrating wins, even small ones, gives everyone a boost and keep reps motivated to achieve.

Ready to empower your sales?

For expert guidance to ensure your sales strategy succeeds, contact the specialists at GO2 Partners. We can help you get started with an employee engagement program, level up your internal communications, provide sales enablement tools, and more. Whatever your business needs, we’ll work with you every step of the way to support your reps and grow your sales.