The Ingredients of a High-Performance Sales Culture
SALES PROCESS
As we have shared previously, we are doing a series of posts of what we have observed superior sales organizations do to shape a High-Performance Sales Culture. Each post will feature one ingredient, followed by a few questions to challenge your thinking.
The fifth ingredient of a High-Performance Sales Culture is SALES PROCESS.
“If you pit a good performer against a bad system, the system will win almost every time. We spend too much of our time fixing people who are not broken, and not enough time fixing organization systems that are broken. All too often management relies on individual or team heroics to overcome fundamentally flawed processes.” - Geary Rummler
In selling, process is key. Superior selling organizations define and document their sales process to ensure everyone understands the most promising paths to success, and then execute against them. The process is their methodology, or their ‘language of selling.’
Process-centered selling organizations identify the customer’s expectations for each step of the process and how evaluation decisions are made. Process-centered sales teams recognize that their sales process differentiates them from other companies. They recognize that a well-honed process will attract talented sales professionals who want to be a part of their selling system.
Here are things they do to make their process a way of life:
- They look for ways to ‘optimize’ their sales process, as the process is a road map to replicate success.
- They educate all other functions on the process and request help in specific areas where the sales process can be improved relative to the customer’s journey.
- They prepare behavioral questions relative to the process when interviewing, seeking evidence of a candidate’s capability and driving mindsets.
- Sales Coaches use the process to strategize prior to calls and to conduct post-call debriefs with their salespeople.
- They study the process at least yearly to identify where changes are needed based on experience and new market trends.
Questions to Consider:
- To what extent have you documented how you sell / interact with customers?
- How does the sales process align with how your customers make buying decisions?
- How have you specifically defined where value can be added to the customer’s business?
- To what extent have you shared your sales process with the rest of the organization to seek opportunities where other functions can add value to the sales team?
- How have you specifically defined where value can be added to the customer’s business?
Next Up: Compensation and Celebration