Design a Sales and Business Development System to Deliver Accelerated Sales Growth

Sales and Business Development System

Do you have one? You probably do…

It’s probably different for each sales person…

The sales leadership team probably have one that’s different from the sales team…and the CRM sales system is different again.

Some sales and business development systems might work better than others, after all you’re using them for a reason

But, either way, congratulations to you because

…any sales and business development system, even a bad one, is better than no system at all…

But the need to take a deeper look at your sales and business development system typically comes when a couple of things happen.

Here are some of the typical triggers when you find out just how important having a universally accepted and used sales and business development system really is:

• Sales aren’t coming in as fast as they could, sales cycle durations are getting longer, which means the rate at which cash is hitting the bank slows down
• The sales peaks are the same but the troughs are deeper and longer
• Leads aren’t converting at the same rate
• Discounts are creeping up
• The gap between the best sales rep and the worst sales rep gets bigger
• Competitors seem to be growing stronger
• Key sales people leave/or threaten to…
• Sales forecasts melt like ice in a heat wave – accurate and reliable they are not!
• Forecasting growth seems a million miles away
• The rest of the business is starting to look at the sales function wondering what’s going on

You’ve been here?

You’re here at the moment?

Using a Sales, Marketing and Business Development System to Increase Sales Results or Stabilise Performance

If you’re serious about improving sales performance, and changing the results of the game whilst it’s still being played, then what’s the best sales and business development support system look like?

First of all, let’s think about what your Sales and Business Development System should deliver for you and your business.

We could make this a really complex list and you’d probably go no further than a very complex list, so I’m deliberately going to make my list very simple for you.

Your sales and business development system should deliver:

1. Quality opportunities that convert to profitable sales
2. A predictable supply of the above
3. An opportunity to continuously improve conversions at all stages in the sales process

Just three things.

That’s all.

Those three things will deliver you the following:

1. A regular, predictable and controllable supply of profitable business
2. An opportunity to accelerate sales growth in a sustainable manner at a controllable rate that is appropriate for your business

What more do you want?

I thought not.

What Should Your Sales, Marketing and Business Development System Look Like?

Again – it should be really simple.

So simple it’s child’s play.

I’ve seen sales processes that stretch around the block and back again…trust me when I tell you, the more complex your sale process, the more things will go wrong AND, even worse, you’ll rarely be able to find the root cause quickly…that means the sales fix is a million miles away.

Keep it Simple.

Like this:

• Qualified Leads In (in line with your Perfect Prospect Profile) if you can do this by Lead Source it’s an added layer of detail that’s very useful
• Meetings Booked
• Meets Sat
• Quotes Out
• Converted Customers
• Closed Lost
• Retained Customers

Too simple?

Too right!

But, in reality, those are the key 7 sections that will affect your profit and your sales throughput.

Sure – there are mini sections inside these 7 sections but the reality is – if you manage these 7 sections and the 5 gates in between them, then you’ll be doing what 90% of the sales teams working today AREN’T doing.

How good would you feel then?

You see, these 5 gates (shown in red) – from Leads > Meetings > Meeting Sat > Quotes > Converted Customers > /Lost Customers/Retained Customers, will show you exactly what part of your sales process is letting you down.

Once you know that, it’s a very simple deep dive to improve that section.

If you want some guidance on what you can do to improve each of the 7 sections – take a look For When You’re Serious About Sales Performance Improvement

How to Set Up Your Sales, Marketing and Business Development System?

3 key rules:

1. Keep it simple
2. Don’t make it complicated
3. Remember rule 1 and rule 2

Seriously, I can’t stress it enough…complicated and complex will kill any ambition you have of accelerated sales growth.

You can wave goodbye to highly predictable sales growth and it will cost you heavily in time, profit and opportunity, plus you’ll be forever cursing the day you spent creating a monster that’s unmanageable.

And you know the worst thing?

Without such a simple, transparent and segmented sales and business development system, you’ll be FOREVER reliant on the skills of your transient sales team rather than the potency of your sales engine.

Why build the skills of the sales team that can leave you in a heart beat and fail to build a sales engine that will deliver when they’re no longer around?

If that doesn’t scare you then stop reading now, because if you’re putting your business performance in the hands of the sales team who can up and off, en-mass, or hold you to ransom then you’re playing with fire.

Trust me.

So, top line – how do you set up a Sales and Business Development System for your business?

Take a look How to Improve Sales Performance for an initial insight.

Your Sales and Business Development System – 10 Things to Think About.

Transparency – each section (shown above) should have it’s own high level of transparency, it’s own accountability and it’s own check list

Sales Process – have a sales process that EVERYONE sticks to. No deviation, no hesitation, no question – you’ll never be able to scale and replicate a working and profitable sales and business development system if everyone is doing their own thing – Sales Improvement Made Easy will help you.

Set KPI’s for each of the 4 gates that exist between the 5 sections. They are the KPI’s you manage every single minute of every single day

Metrics – for additional sales metrics to check you’re on track – Sales Metrics to Measure, Monitor and Manage

Lead Quality – be very very careful of the leads you put in the top of your sales process – your sales and business development system will die a slow and painful death if you treat all leads as being of equal value and if you shove any old rubbish in there…no point keeping count if you’re just counting worthless buttons…make sure your leads are high quality, pure gold prospects you’d LOVE to work with – for more details check this out for advice on How to Build A Great Sales Funnel

Marketing – what are your key sales messages, the sales messages and how you convey them in your conversations, the things that scream ‘talk to me – I’m the expert – we’ve done this before – and we get great results – I can prove it‘ Get those messages defined with absolute clarity, ignore this stage at your cost.

And don’t forget these in your Sales, Marketing and Business Development System 

Get Creative – to drive accelerated sales growth you’ll need to get creative in each of your 5 sections, check out this blog for being creative and demonstrating value in How To Increase Price.

You’re Selling What? – think about what you’re actually selling, you’ll be able to get a greater insight into this by asking what your customers are actually buying, because once you understand this not only will you be able to accelerate your sales growth you’ll also be able to increase your prices…here’s a guide to help you – just hit this How to Build Value in Your Sales Process

Value – think about what value you bring to the buyer at every single stage. If something in your sales process doesn’t deliver value to the buyer, then serious consider getting rid of it.

Managing Poor Sales Performance – you’ll need to be tough, there’s no point putting up with sub par sales performance if you’re a business committed to sales growth – check this out – How to Deal With Poor Sales Performance 

Get Competitive – be prepared to step out of your comfort zone and make some noise, sure you can still keep your operations covert if you wish, but as far as your prospects, buyers and sales force are concerned – be loud and proud – check out How Competitive is Your Business if you want a nudge in that direction.

And one final thing

Make sure you’ve got your sales and senior management team on board acting as sales performance improvement functions, sales coaches, sales problem solvers and sales guides…this is a big task and some of your old guard will rally against the change, check out Dear New Sales Manager...if you’re committed to accelerated sales growth I know you’ll do what you need to do.

So can any business set up a sales and business development system?

Yes – any business can.

Few choose to.

Many leave it in the hands of the individual sales functions, sales people, sales managers and they pay the consequences when key sales people leave.

And they really pay the price when it comes to engaging in any form of sales performance campaign or if they quickly need to bring in new sales.

Accelerated sales growth relies on ALL aspects of the business pulling in the same directions – that means any business undertaking such a commitment to increase sales and business performance NEEDS an agreed, workable and sustainable sales and business development system.

Few firms have this.

The cost associated in NOT having such a system is huge – time, money, market share, brand value, competitor growth, missed opportunity, lack of responsiveness, mediocre business and sales performance…all negatively impacting the bottom line.

I hope you think about how your business could benefit from such a system…

Any questions…call me

Carol on 0779 002 1885

If you’re looking for an sales improvement and business development training course to drive your sales growth and build the sales and business development systems we’ve talked about here, as well as give your sales team all the skills they need to effectively convert the modern buyer then book to attend The Sales Improvement Workshop 

Remember – your sales and business development system is the way you stop your business being held hostage by under performing sales people, poor market conditions and lack of meaningful sales management information.