When sales executives find sales are slumping and workers are no longer engaged with their jobs, they may want to flip the script and revamp their sales process to re-energize the company and get sales staff motivated to sell again. Companies should combat the effects of sales slumps and stimulate growth through restructuring both their sales processes and their incentive compensation programs.
While it’s natural to see slow periods as part of a typical business cycle, companies should not ignore the warning signs that indicate their sales are stuck in a rut, marketing expert Geoffrey James wrote in Inc. magazine. Sales managers who see workers losing interest in their jobs should determine whether their current sales processes are to blame. Workers may be burned out by their jobs or feel they are not compensated adequately, which could negatively impact their productivity.
To solve these problems, sales managers may want to look into changing their sales processes, according to Inc. magazine. Jeffrey Hoffman, founder and president of sales training and consulting firm M.J. Hoffman & Associates, wrote that companies should start with reviewing the four stages of their sales cycle: attention, interest, desire and action.
How to re-evaluate sales processes
In the first stage, companies should analyze whether sales staff are attracting customers’ attention quickly and effectively. However, it’s not enough to simply get their attention. Sales staff also need to gauge the level of customer interest in products and services and which sales techniques or pitches are piquing interest at the right time.
When engaging with customers, it is crucial for sales staff to nail the third stage, desire, which they can feel out through asking customers questions about their pain points. By locating their pain points, sales representatives can better assess the customers’ problems to better serve them and offer solutions. Finally, the sales process needs to incite action and ensure reps can follow through and close on the deal.
Companies may want to invest in sales tools that will pinpoint where sales staff excel and where they can go wrong from the initial stage to the last in the sales process. In addition to looking at the sales process, companies should consider improving motivation among staff by evaluating the effectiveness of their incentive compensation program. Inc. magazine recommends companies set their goals higher when establishing sales quotas to inspire their employees to challenge themselves.
