A 4-Point Sales Strategy To Jump-Start Growth
It’s a simple business strategy; use your sales force more effectively and improve the return on your sales investment. This is the thrust of “Using Your Sales Force To Jump-Start Growth” by McKinsey’s Maryanne Hancock, Homayoun Hatami, and Sunil Rayan.
Based on an interview of about 100 sales executives, the authors identified the following as practical ideas to implement now or to serve as conversation-starters for future consideration. Business owners of any size company can benefit from these insights.
LOOK OVER THE HORIZON
Your sales team may not be the most technologically savvy, but they can take the lead to identify where technology is disrupting business as usual. Use Sales as techno scouts to learn what is changing at your customers and what it means to you. The authors’ state that this effort can help your company “position itself as a supplier that’s ahead of the curve and to enjoy superior sales growth while competitors scramble to catch up.”
HUNT AND FARM
Not just hunt OR farm, but both. Could your company benefit by having more hunters? One company, which needed more hunters, made this dual focus work by designating one day a month as a hunting day when all reps would exclusively chase new prospects.
“The result was astounding: in a single day, the company signed up as many new customers as it normally did in two months. Setting aside one day a month for hunting new business is now an ingrained part of the company’s sales practices.”
MOTIVATE WITH MORE THAN MONEY
How do you win more business without increasing compensation? Try supporting sales in a variety of ways that matches personal motivation and the need for fulfillment. In one example, financial advisers were able to develop specific goals that met their unique needs, were given a wider range of financial products that would help them better meet client investment needs, and were given other tools like coaching. This approach may be particularly effective with consultative selling.
BOOST SALES WITHOUT SLASHING PRICES
The authors point out that “a decline across a market doesn’t mean that all market segments are weakening.” By taking into account the characteristics of each market segment, rather than across-the-board price cuts, a company balanced price cuts where competition was stiffest with price increases in other areas. The result of this a-la-carte type of approach helped the company “not only to reverse several years of declining market share but also to secure an overall average price increase of 3 percent.”
HOW DO YOU USE SALES TO JUMP-START GROWTH? Please share your ideas in the comment box, below.
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Mission: To help small and mid-size businesses sell more.