aQuity

But first…

Before we discuss the topic of a Sales Strategy, we share an important and fundamental message. Firstly, every sales leader should have developed and evolved a Sales Strategy. Similarly, every entrepreneur should be involved in Sales Strategy Development. Without this vital tool, direction and focus are absent at the expense of wasted resources, time and effort. Lack of a Sales Strategy and its younger sibling, the Sales Plan, the sales team are adrift in a sea of uncertainty. The team is at a loss what to target and how to target. Specificity and accountability become the victims of this omission. The team members will be treading deep salty water forever.

Secondly, Sales Strategy Development is not the sole domain of management and they don’t have a monopoly over its existence. The individual aspirant sales professional, in the face of a lack of a coherent organisational Sales Strategy, must develop her own. This is not as challenging as it sounds. A few fundamental steps as well as a bit of research and critical thought are all that is required.

👁️ No Sales Strategy? The competition is going to eat your breakfast, lunch and kill your business!

What is a Strategy?

In simple terms, it is all about how the objectives will be achieved. Excellent guiding background reading is Richard Rumelt and BHAG. These works major on Strategy Development. Alternatively, a summarised version is available in our eBook ‘B2B or Not to B…‘.

What is a Sales Strategy?

Sales Strategy Development is all about the how your sales objectives will be achieved. The lack of an effective Sales Strategy will put the entire organisation at risk. Ideally the entrepreneur or the sales leader should not develop the Sales Strategy in isolation. It requires the participation and relevant input of the entire management team to formulate a comprehensive Sales Strategy that is easily understood and actionable by the sales team. The Sales Strategy should mesh with the Marketing Strategy.

in addition

It is also about monitoring the sales team’s performance against the timeline set out in the Sales Strategy. The agreed objectives should include growth targets, Client retention targets, new product launches and territory penetration, amongst others. The resulting actions taken must support each target to ensure their achievement and to establish measurable KPIs.

Effective strategy development involves setting realistic goals and creating a plan to achieve them over the long term. Do not neglect short and medium term achievable objectives. Unlike miracles, strategies should not be expected to produce immediate results, as they often take many quarters or even years to fully execute. While strategy formulation may itemise specific goals to be achieved within a given timeframe, it must also account for the pace of personnel and product development, ongoing education, market changes, process improvements, and competitive positioning. By taking a comprehensive, long-term approach to Sales Strategy Development, with regular revisions, organisations can increase their chances of success and minimise the risk of failure.

Sales Strategy Implementation summary

To ensure successful implementation of the sales strategy, it is fundamental to communicate the strategy of the individual roles and to specific individuals with clear and delimited goals. The message should be straightforward, “You are responsible for the success of this vital portion of our overall strategy. You have the skills and experience. Do you agree?” This can be related to objectives like industry-specific goals, launching a new product, expanding into a territory, achieving growth targets, and more. Clarity, specificity, and granularity are the fundamental enablers to execution, allowing individuals to understand their responsibilities and track their progress. By disseminating the strategy down to individual roles, the entire team can work together towards achieving the common objectives outlined in the Sales Strategy. “The world is your oyster – go for it!” is a statement of hopeless and unprofessional ineptitude.

Implementation Example

The individual goals should contain value as well as time objectives, quantified as KPI’s. Example: “Our new product objective is to deliver: 65 Suspects by the end of Q2. An additional 42 Suspects and 15 Prospects by end of Q3. 40 additional Suspects, 17 additional Prospects and 6 new reference-able Clients by the end of Q4. All in your territory.“. The response will be, ‘Say what?‘ if the objectives aren’t supported by the executable plans described in the Sales Strategy.

“Sales Leaders don’t abdicate the execution of the Sales Strategy to the troops. They live and test it with the team.“

Sam – 2010

The Sales Strategy, in alignment with the the Marketing Strategy should clearly define the role of each function. Is Marketing responsible for producing Leads or merely Named Opportunities? When does Sales assume responsibility for an Opportunity? In addition, in this example, there should be a tight integration with the Marketing and Production strategies. This topic deserves a work on its own.

Sales Strategy Execution

Effective strategy execution is critical for achieving growth and success. It involves implementing the plans outlined in the Sales Strategy and consistently monitoring actual results. Even the best strategy will fail without proper execution, which can lead to stagnation and disengaged employees. On the other hand, aligning a strong strategy with meticulous execution creates sustainable growth.

Executing any strategy requires constant attention and can consume up to 80% of management’s time. In the case of Sales Strategy it is imperative to measure progress by deploying meaningful metrics, such as the quantity and value of business secured. The developer of the Sales Strategy should also clearly specify the quantity and value of genuine Prospects to be achieved. However, the third and often-overlooked aspect of execution is enabling the sales team to achieve the desired results. This is a prime aspect of the aQuity Methodology.

This involves cultivating a responsible attitude, an alignment and approach, as well as accountability among team members. Without these factors, even the best plans will fall short. The sales leader must ensure that the Sales Team is equipped to deliver against the plan to achieve the desired results. The solution that encapsulates all these variables is a process.

The adoption and implementation of a Sales Methodology (defined in the Sales Strategy) eases workload, frees up management time and provides the barometer of progress. It also creates focused effort in members of the team.

Execution Focus

While there may be other measures unique to your strategic goals, ultimately, they should support the two primary objectives: 

• improving the quality of the Sales Forecast content and 
• securing additional business. 

By prioritising these goals and enabling the sales team, organisations can achieve long-term growth and success.

We have witnessed many sales leaders who operate on sheer personality for a brief period. Who don’t document and agree their Sales Strategy internally to the organisation and who don’t implement a semblance of progress measurement – by whatever criteria. Those who are not synchronised with marketing. Who don’t have a mutually understood nomenclature to define the stages of the sales cycle or the status of an Opportunity. In short, those who don’t provide the necessary guidance and leadership and therefore ultimately fail.

Alignment of Objectives

• Are the objectives aligned across functions and departments?
• Are the individuals clear on their objectives and possess the means to execute?
• Has the sales team been trained on a common sales methodology and new products?
• Is HR clear by when new talent should be available?
• Is Production on board with the planned sales target for delivery?
• Are the Marketing plans in place and aligned with the Sales Strategy?
• Has the target market been quantified and identified down to individual organisation names?

Monitoring and Reporting

Traffic lights are an effective and quick visual reference of progress against KPI’s and aren’t obfuscated by unnecessary emotive discussions or excuses:

The use of Traffic Lights can streamline reporting across different levels of the organisation, from individual to team, department, and sector. While implementing them requires tact with more sensitive individuals, the benefits are soon apparent to all and promote focus. One significant benefit is that conversations become more focused on solutions and actions. Meetings become more purposeful and shorter as the ternary results speak for themselves. Astute advocates of Traffic Lights usually don’t collect the data themselves, but instead assign the task to an impartial colleague. An impartial scorekeeper allows the sales leader to concentrate on strategy execution and depersonalises the process. Avoiding being viewed as the sales policeman is the consequent benefit.

The use of Traffic Lights or similar should feature prominently in Sales Strategy Development.

Communication, Focus & the Future

Our recommendations for transparent communication provide a framework that obviates plans and activities that do not support the KPI’s. They promote teamwork, trust and understanding. They differentiate the ‘hopefuls’ from the achievers; drive the work ethic; avoid wasted effort; and affirm the Sales Leader’s position and resolve.