If so, this article should change your perspective.
The best way to become the main instigator of your commercial success is to structure a commercial system whose equilibrium is based mainly on your strategy and your organisation, so as to minimise the impact of the vagaries of the economic climate on your business.
Fifteen years of supporting companies in developing their commercial performance has enabled us to identify 6 main levers to achieve this.
Here are some of them, and more importantly, how to activate them.
1. Define a successful and structuring business strategy
Companies often structure their business activity gradually over time and according to opportunities. While this can in some cases yield good results, it is not aguarantee of sustainability for your business success.
The risk of doing this is thatyou become too dependent on the economic situation or on the individual talent of your salespeople: what happens to your results if demand in your market suddenly drops, if a new competitor is very aggressive on price, or if your best salesperson leaves the ship?
As a manager and/or sales manager, the best way to protect yourself from these hazards is to act strategically on the variables over which you have control. In particular, on 2 axes:
- The type of commercial activities carried out (lead generation, appointment setting, discovery...)
- The resources allocated to these actions (time, people, budget)
A company's sales strategy is not the result of individual self-defined action plans by its salespeople, it is the opposite!
Give a clear guideline, translate it into quantified objectives (number of leads generated, number of appointments made, number of sales, proportion of new customers, etc.) and finally, translate it into individual action plans withyour sales staff.
2. Develop the skills and commitment of your sales people
To achieve your sales goals, recruiting competent salespeople is a good start, but your role does not end there! The most successful companies are those that see the development of skills and continuous improvement of their sales teams as an integral part of their management responsibilities.
When you recruit a salesperson, he or she usually masters the techniques and methods of selling, but this does not prevent him or her from needing support in at least two areas:
- Knowledge of your offer (products/services, ranges...) and its specific positioning (prices, targets, brand identity...)
- The constant evolution of sales methods (social selling, inbound marketing, consultancy sales, etc.) and the tools used (CRM, apps, etc.)
The more trained and competent your teams are in these areas, the more effective and autonomous they will be in achieving their objectives.
Another key factor for your business is directly related to your management style: developing the commitment of your employees.
In this area, two points are particularly important:
- Regularly share the definedbusiness strategy with your team
- Actively and effectively steer its implementation: co-definition of individual action plans, monitoring of indicators for the achievement of objectives, identification of areas for improvement, etc.
On this last point, avoid locking yourself into a "control" posture: favour a "coaching" type approach, based on regular and constructive dialogue withyour salespeople to support them in achieving their objectives. This is more effective than a periodic evaluation based solely on the analysis of their figures, and is also much more favourable to their commitment to your company and to their motivation!
3. Identify and deploy the optimal sales process
Think continuously about the (best) ways to obtain potential customer contacts for your company and to convert these leads into actual sales. Identify and analyse the successive steps leading to a saleIdentify the best way to handle them to improve their effectiveness and lower their cost.
- What interactions do you have with your prospects?
- When do they occur?
- What is the best way to make these interactions commercially contributing?
These questions will enable you to define the means, tools and methods to be implemented and the system offering the best return. In particular, what mix you will adopt between marketing and sales actions, or between internal resources and external providers.
A point that is far from trivial: in the field, we observe a ratio that can go from 1 to 20 between the different lead acquisition methods! Depending on the company and the mix adopted, the cost of "appointment 1" (discovery sales meeting) varies from €20 to €400, for example.
Discover the KESTIO webinars, where we discuss
all topics related to business performance with our experts:
Fabien Comtet, CEO
Dominique Seguin, DG
Nicolas Boissard, Marketing Director
4. Create a company-wide business dynamic
Make sure that all your employees feel they have a clear responsibility and role in the business development of your company.
In concrete terms, this means first of all making them aware of the impact of their work on the overall success of the company : for example, the efficiency of the logistics department has a direct impact on the number of deliveries invoiced in the month, and that of marketing on the number of leads sent to sales representatives, etc.
Then, define with the various components of the team (sales, logistics, administration, customer relations, etc.) the actions and means to be implemented to participate effectively in the company's commercial success.
This can consist of: guaranteeing the quality of the services delivered, optimising processes, disseminating a positive image of the company to its customers, etc.
The key is to develop and transmit an "Everybody sells! "culture ( everyone sells). Don't forget to formalise and document these team commitments (quality charter, internal process, company pitch, good customer relations practices, etc.): this will enable you to disseminate them effectively, to "anchor" them and to make them evolve over time.
5. Use digital tools that will (really) simplify the life of your teams
More than ever, customer knowledge is at the heart of the commercial effort and represents a valuable asset . This is why the contribution of digital tools in this area can be decisive for the overall efficiency of your sales system.
The first thing that comes to mind is CRM tools , which allow you to keep track of data relating to your customers and prospects, and to monitor the actions of sales staff.
But it can also be applications dedicated to business efficiency, such as :
- les trackeurs d’email comme Tilkee ou CloseMoreDeals qui vous informent en temps réel des ouvertures et pages lues sur vos propales envoyées par email,
- les outils de génération de leads, tel que Swabbl, qui exploite les contacts des membres de votre équipe sur les réseaux sociaux,
- or interest scoring tools, such as GetQuantywhich analyses the behaviour of your web visitors to turn them into qualified leads.
To this must be added social networks and their extensions dedicated to prospecting, such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator and finally, digital Business Intelligence solutions, including Sparklane.
The attention of the editors of these solutions has been focused for a few years on marketing automation, and the follow-up of online interactions with your prospects.
The current trend is therefore to move from an original logic based on "contact management" to a "lead generation and qualification" orientation, which is a major challenge for you today.
6. Put your customers at the heart of your business success
Finally, the last essential lever for the solidity and resilience of your commercial system: make your customers your first ambassadors!
In this area, one question must constantly guide your strategic choices and animate your employees: "Will the experience that the customer is having with our company lead him to recommend us? ».
Inspirez-vous d’entreprises passées maîtres dans l’art de rendre leur solutions « virales », comme Trello, Uber ou Sellsy. Elles travaillent systématiquement sur la question des usages de leur solution en partant des attentes de leurs cibles et mettent tout en œuvre pour satisfaire leurs clients, et inciter ces derniers à les recommander à leur propre réseau.
Thanks to the "recommendation effect" thus generated, they considerably facilitate the work of their sales representatives: the barrier of "trust" and "legitimacy" having already been crossed with their prospects, they can concentrate on the transformation and closing stage, saving themselves the "lead generation and qualification" and "demonstration of the interest of the solution" parts in the process! This saves a considerable amount of time and sales effort, which also represents financial savings (we're back to our third lever...! 🙂 ).
The full and complete activation of the six levers we have just mentioned allows you to remain in charge and to limit the impact of external factors on your results. It requires continuous leadership from a leader with a global vision who takes full responsibility for both success and failure. In other words, you will need a 7thlever that will be your "magic wand": commercial leadership!
To go further, discover in our webinar, hosted by Dominique Seguin, the keys to a reasoned approachto negotiation.
