In today’s increasingly competitive business environment, it may seem naïve to focus sales operations on sales team behaviors vs outcomes, but if maintaining a competitive edge is an organizational goal – that is exactly what needs to be done.
The sense of urgency to close something…anything…is a weight carried by many sales representatives. With this mentality, some reps have migrated away from selling “solutions”, and now look for “fast fits” to supplement their products. In doing so, they are ignoring the front-end sales process that defines the customers’ pain points and interests and that are key to being able to offer a solution that meets their needs and increases customer satisfaction and longevity. While not all sales personnel operate this way, more than half of sales teams (on average) are below their quota and at a higher risk for a lack of focus on targeting, one-sided questioning patterns and attempts to cut deals instead of crafting solutions.
So what can sales operations do to help their organization reverse this approach? Innovative sales leaders are using sales process-oriented contests to re-emphasize the importance of “winning” behaviors throughout the sales cycle. In addition to recognizing the tangible outcomes, these campaigns incentivize the important steps of the sales process.
Using the proper sales process will help sales personnel increase “win” rates as gaining a better understanding of a customer’s pain points enables them to map the product as a solution to those issues. The right sales incentive solution gives sales operations and contest sponsors the flexibility to do just that.