There’s nowhere to hide in a goal-driven arena like sales, where KPIs are in the spotlight. Outstanding performance is mandatory, so it’s understandable that how to improve sales performance is at the top of most sales managers’ minds.
5 Effective Ways to Improve Sales Performance
If you’re looking into how to improve sales performance, these are five excellent places to start.
1. Invest in a sales enablement strategy.
Sales reps can’t succeed without the right tools and adequate training. A sales enablement strategy can help ensure that your sales force has top-notch skills and everything they need to identify and engage prospects—and ultimately close the deal. Check out this article for tips on developing a solid sales enablement strategy.
2. Become more data-driven.
Even if your department is tracking KPIs—and even if you’re visualizing them on a sales dashboard, you still might not be getting the full benefit of the data you’re collecting. Deeper data analysis can help you understand things like why some deals closed while others didn’t, where deals are stalling, which communication channels are the most effective, which prospects are the “right” type of prospects, and more! It’s not about collecting more data, it’s about mining the data you’re already collecting to its full advantage.
3. Regularly audit your sales methodology.
Sometimes, it’s not the sales team’s fault that they’re not hitting their targets. It’s the methodology. Many companies overlook the power of value-based selling and are surprised to find that inbound sales are eclipsing outbound sales. The internet has changed how people make buying decisions, and your company might have expanded its offerings or its target market, making your go-to sales formula a little outdated. Regularly auditing your methodology will help to ensure that your sales department is moving with the times.
4. Develop a referral strategy.
Without a strong pipeline, it’s difficult to hit your sales targets. That’s where a referral strategy comes in. Referrals can be a treasure trove of warm leads. Research shows that around 47% of top-performing sales reps consistently ask for referrals, yet on the whole, 57.9% of sales reps surveyed said they ask for fewer than one referral per month. That’s a lot of untapped revenue potential. Building a referral strategy into your sales methodology is one of the easiest ways to improve sales performance with little more effort than asking a question.
5. Add gamification.
Sales gamification is a fantastic way to add excitement to the workday, keep reps engaged, and drive performance. From badges and leaderboards to traditional sales contests, incentive programs have been a mainstay of sales departments for decades—because they work. Gamification software, like Plecto, makes it easy to keep sales teams motivated, engaged, and hitting their targets.
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Improve sales performance with Plecto!
Plecto is chock-full of features and functionality that help improve sales performance, including real-time sales performance dashboards and built-in gamification features like leaderboards, contests, points, badges, and instant notifications to help recognize and reward everyone’s achievements.
Sign up for a free 14-day trial and see how these tools can help you in your mission to improve your team’s sales performance.
