What Factors Affect Sales Team Performance?

The performance of a sales team is crucial for a business’s success, as it directly impacts the revenue and growth of a business. The sales team often serves as the face of a company, as they are the team that often interacts with potential customers the most and bear the responsibility of fostering the relationship between the business and its clientele. The significance of their position is monumental, and it is important to be aware what factors affect sales as well as the performance of a sales team, including:

But the point of all this is to curate and leverage the information we need to be successful in the sales process. Tracking the right KPIs will make the things that are most important to your business more predictable. It will make your life less stressful, and help your sales team and sales managers know where to focus their efforts. So, let’s get into what the most important sales KPIs are, and what to do about them!

10 Proven Strategies To Improve Sales Team Performance

1. Hire the right people

Business owners, traditionally, approached hiring from the perspective of recruiting the top talent available. When it comes to salespeople, it’s important to recognize that top talent is the result of great training. When hiring new people into the sales team, it is critical to look for the skills and personality traits of someone who is receptive to training and coaching efforts.

2. Use an effective sales structure

The structure of your sales organization plays an important role in the effective ability of your salespeople to perform their jobs. It is not uncommon for sales structures to grow and change as the business evolves, so take the time to evaluate what style will improve sales performance the most. The three most common sales models are the assembly line, the island, and the pod and each have their advantages.

3. Refresh your sales strategy

Modern markets require organizations to be adaptable to changing consumer needs. The world moves quicker than ever, and there are an unfortunate number of sales strategies that are developed in January and see little change until December. Examine your sales strategy bi-annually, quarterly, or even monthly as the needs of the business demand.

4. Make decisions with sales performance metrics

Most businesses understand that they should be making data-backed decisions but find themselves drowning in what factors affect sales. Without a clear dashboard for reporting or key performance indicators (KPIs) it is difficult to gauge how to best improve sales performance. Instead of taking in more sales data, it is more effective to find and utilize the right data. Some metrics you should track include:

• Win Rate

• Sales Quota Attainment

• Sales Content Usage

• Sales Training Completion

• Sales Cycle Length

• Sales Pipeline Coverage

• Conversion Rates

5. Train your reps to win

Establish a comprehensive sales training program that not only guides sellers on putting your methodology into action but enables managers the opportunity to coach and inspect behavior as well. Sales training programs tend to sprawl, so it is often better to break key initiatives down into a simple set of objectives so that both the sales team and frontline managers can narrow in on what they need to change.

6. Coach your coaches

Sales managers, much like salespeople, need to be trained on how to enhance rep and team performance. These frontline managers need just as much investment and support as the reps to perform their jobs effectively. Clearly identify what good performance looks like in sales rep performance. Effective communication and support to sales managers enables them to carry the behavior forward, teaching the entire team means of how they can best improve sales performance.

8. Elevate your customer experience

If a customer has difficulties engaging with a business, whether it is online or a result of certain sales processes, they will be more reluctant to buy your solution. Instead, invest in providing an exceptional customer experience. Showing customers that you care about making things accessible for them is a clear way to improve sales performance. While your individual reps can only control their one-on-one meetings with a customer, elevating your entire customer experience requires the alignment of your marketing, customer success, and other sales-adjacent teams to drive consistent, easy interactions across the customer lifecycle. These changes can take time, but they inspire customer loyalty in your product or service.

9. Put your people first

As you continue to increase sales performance across your teams, it is important to not lose sight of the people who have made it possible. From employee recognition to enhanced benefits and perks, your long-term success is dependent on the people around you. Speak to your employees and show an active interest in helping them grow and you will find yourself soaring to even higher heights.

10. Stay hungry

Success is not a permanent guarantee. Recognize the success your organization has had, but your competitors are always right behind you, waiting for an opportunity to pass you buy. Always keep looking for an opportunity to grow, change, and innovate on your products and services to surprise and delight your customers.

iDecide gives you access to prompt and efficient follow-up messaging with email or text to the client immediately after they have viewed your presentation with easy appointment setting options available.

You will increase engagement, boost your credibility, and monitor and deliver meaningful performance data quickly and easily. Let iDecide help you create your next sales presentation and close your next deal.