They often say – Sales is a revenue center and other organizational departments are cost centers. A primary activity in Porter’s value-chain, Sales performance is of utmost importance as it drives revenues and helps an organization realize its mission. However, keeping a consistent level of sales is very difficult yet an ideal desire for a business. Many times, you may observe a drop in sales and it could be attributed to a host of reasons. At Arslok, we can help you diagnose the root cause and extend sales training as a corrective measure to enable your business attain a nimble growth trajectory.
Let us look at the key reasons why your sales plummet and identify what can be done in order to thwart it timely.
1. Frequent Changes in Senior Management
A business is primarily driven by its leadership’s direction because they steer the middle management who make things happen on the ground. Frequent or recent changes in the senior management may lead to temporary drop in sales because of misaligned focus, difference in style of leadership or lack of synergy. Clear communication and proactive succession planning can save the fledgling ship.
2. Unfavorable Compensation or Incentive Structure
Maybe it is a case of low employee morale and lack of motivation. It is often due to an ill-conceived compensation structure, insufficient performance incentives or bonuses for high performers. If corrected timely, it can do wonders for your sales and return on investment.
3. Misaligned Sales and Marketing teams
Sales & Marketing teams must operate like hand-in-glove. There should be a perfect synchronization between the two, if it is the classic case of overcommit and under deliver, then sales suffer periodically. Appropriate mechanisms must be in place to have regular KT, document sharing and leads handover.
4. Obsolete Sales-Techniques
Some methods are evergreen but most are unproductive or redundant. These must be identified, called out and changed immediately. For instance, only cold-calling isn’t enough to convert a lead. Inbound selling must be preferred over archaic processes. With the right training, service blueprinting and SOPs in place, sales reps can work-around in a much more productive manner.
5. Poor Training and Hiring Process
A hard fact is hiring cannot be perfect every time. If there’s a misfit in the sales team, it should be dealt with effective measures like probationary period, performance reviews and an integrated induction timeline with milestones.
6. Lack of Follow-ups and closing
No sales cycle is complete without closing it with an order. If sales reps let a lead slip or leak away from its sales funnel, overall sales would suffer and it leads to inconsistent sales results. All reps should observe a standard procedure benchmarked with best practices.
7. Overlooking Competitors
It is a sin to overlook any competitor playing in your market however small. Ignoring their actions or best practices can hamper your sales in a hyper-competitive scenario.
8. Underutilizing Sales Analysis
Data tracking or recording is incomplete without a relevant analysis. In the absence of predefined metrics, businesses may maintain real-time sales dashboards using excel or analytical tools.
9. Insufficient Sales Pipeline Management
Until and unless, the sales pipeline is not religiously maintained, holistically reviewed and reported, it will not red-flag the persistent issues in your sales. It is a high priority area of concern for middle management.
Still Need Help?
If you need assistance in course correction or setting a framework for sales training and analysis, Arslok India has a team of dedicated sales effectiveness experts to help you reach your sales goals.
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