Is your sales operation stalled? Not sure how to jumpstart growth?
Let’s paint a familiar picture. Your business started strong, but now you’re struggling to sustain that early success and achieve predictable growth. You’ve hired salespeople and even brought in a sales leader like a VP or CRO, but things still aren’t clicking. The temptation is to double down on what worked initially, thinking, “We just need more leads!” This is a common refrain among CEOs facing slumping sales. But remember, you’ve already tried that to no avail. You’re not alone — 7 out of 10 companies hit this crucial transitional period, and what they do next to get over the hump is critical.
Only 3 of 10 make it past the sales slump
9 of 10 companies admit they don’t have a sales strategy or structure in place. Without the fundamentals, it’s difficult to know where to begin to make adjustments when the sales either aren’t closing as wins or are getting stuck somewhere in the process.
At least 88% of companies rated themselves as poor or below average in these areas of sales readiness:
- Sales Strategy: Positioning, competitors, and value proposition
- Sales Analysis: Goals, quotas, metrics, and compensation
- Sales Methodology: Territory, coverage, processes, and CRM
- Sales Organization: Hiring, staffing, having defined roles, onboarding, and training
-Sales Xceleration
Sales Activities vs a Sales Foundation
Do you have the structure you need to grow sales? All high-performance sales operations share one key element: a robust infrastructure and a proven process that enables the team to thrive and deliver predictable results year after year. Most CEOs believe they have a sales infrastructure in place, but upon closer inspection, they discover they have a Go-To-Market (GTM) plan and a flurry of sales activities. However, a solid sales strategy and process often remain elusive.
Let’s face it; you probably have some sales activities happening, but it’s unclear what’s working, how to scale up your success, and why certain methods are effective.
Start with the basics:
As CEO, you know your business. But building a scaleable sales operation takes special expertise developed from years of experience. You should direct, but not personally build your sales foundation. This is your chance to change the dynamic and eliminate the uncertainty of unpredictable growth. Get some help to do the following:
Build and publish a solid Sales Strategy
- Create a comprehensive sales strategy from your go-to-market plan.
- Share the details with your executive team to ensure company-wide buy-in ( learn why publishing your strategy is critical to success).
- Align everyone to focus on revenue-generating activities.
Develop a custom Sales Playbook
- Tailor a sales playbook for each product line and vertical.
- Integrate this playbook into your CRM to track the sales process stages for each opportunity.
- Use a forecasting dashboard to monitor the sales team’s performance and reduce uncertainty.
Bottom Line
You’re in an uncertain stage of growth, but you can regain control, move past the slump, and achieve predictable sales year over year by building a strong sales foundation.
The best news is that it’s both doable and affordable with expert help. We work alongside you to build a solid, time-tested, results-driven structure for growth. Regardless of when we enter the situation as your advisor, we help you manage sales uncertainties and establish a foundation that will help your business thrive for years to come.
Only 3 in 10 tech companies make it through the expansion phase. Those that craft and document a strong sales strategy and supporting structure, tend to speed up their growth. And the quicker they get on it, the better the results during expansion.
