Sales Process Productivity: 5 Best Practices and 20 Key Questions

While many companies strive to improve production, distribution, and various back-office work processes, it is less common to find organizations that focus on applying continuous improvement fundamentals to the sales process.

However, our research and experience indicates that the sales process is more complex than many people realize. In addition, we have consistently found that the largest waste in most commercial and industrial organizations is the loss of gross margin resulting from unrealized sales, suboptimal pricing, and cost overruns in sales-related processes.

So, putting aside the “selling skills” or “charisma” associated with those perceived to be the most successful salespeople, when you consider the day-to-day activities required of sales professionals in the field or outside, there are some best Proven practices that can help boost picnic efficiencies, including the following five:

1. Pre-call planning– By planning each sales call in advance, in writing, salespeople can position themselves to accomplish more in less time, thereby increasing personal productivity and accelerating overall cycle time. Making more complete sales calls will not only increase efficiency, but the habit will also have a stronger and more positive impact on customers. Many who have adopted this best practice report that their clients recognize the difference and, over time, are more willing to schedule meetings or sales calls, making it easier for them to make more calls each day—an important part of the job. , as noted. in the next bullet.
2. Set a daily call volume goal. This may seem like an unnecessary step, but a surprising number of salespeople can’t quantify the actual average number of sales calls they make each day. As author Jack Falvey has said, “Want more sales? Make more calls.” By setting a personal goal, which will vary depending on the nature of each territory, salespeople can often motivate themselves more effectively and make more calls per day.
3. Geoplan: By creating a strategic geographic or travel plan for each day, outside salespeople can minimize drive time and optimize face-to-face time. The best plans will start by creating territory quadrants and then mapping the locations of key customers and prospects. The general rule of thumb is to avoid traveling beyond two quadrants on any given day, so when setting up an appointment in an area, try to schedule meetings or plan to visit others in the same general region to allow for a maximum number of interactions in one minimum amount of time.
4. bookends every day scheduling an appointment early in the morning and another one in the late afternoon. This will promote “staying the course” rather than deciding to return to the office early to do paperwork. This best practice could also help achieve point #2 above.
5. Try to schedule next steps (ie follow-up meetings, conference calls, etc.) “in the moment” before the conclusion of each sales call. This simple best practice can significantly increase efficiency for two reasons. First, it helps sales people more easily fill out their calendars for future sales days in the field; and second, it can help shorten sales cycles by securing time with buyers sooner than might otherwise be possible.

But the sales process extends well beyond a day in the field, as it encompasses everything from identifying a potential customer to delivering a solution.

Given this broad spectrum, it is not surprising that the biggest waste within most companies is in the sales area.

The first step towards improvement, that is, moving from “where we are now to where we would like to be if everything went well”, is to identify specific areas of waste in the sales process, and a good way to start might be to answer the following 20 questions:

1. What is our current market share?

2. What are the requirements of our customers?

3. How well are we meeting these requirements?

4. What would it take to truly delight our customers?

5. How long does the sales process take from lead to sale?

6. What is our lead conversion rate?

7. What were the top 3 reasons for lost sales in the last quarter?

8. How many calls does our sales staff make, on average, each day?

9. How much time do we spend talking to disinterested or unqualified leads?

10. How do we continually improve the skills and habits of our sales team?

11. What percentage of prospects contact us first?

12. How does this percentage (#11) compare to industry data?

13. Does it take less time to complete the sales process for incoming leads? If so, how much less?

14. What is our response time to customer or prospect inquiries?

15. How many customer complaints do we receive?

16. How much time do our vendors spend interceding or responding to complaints?

17. What is done with the information associated with customer complaints?

18. How do customer complaints or customer dissatisfaction affect our ability to make sales?

19. How often are discounts extended and what is the average discount?

20. Are discounts offered due to competition or in response to dissatisfaction?

Clearly, there are many ways to analyze and improve the productivity of an organization’s sales process, but these five best practices and twenty questions are good starting points.