Top 5 strategies to scaling sales effectively
To stay competitive in today’s crowded marketplace, you have to constantly be on the lookout for new ways to promote growth and drive sales. Although one of the main factors influencing your growth is the strength and proficiency of your sales team, in truth, the effectiveness of this team hinges on the broader leadership at your company – from your sales managers to the sales leaders to your sales executives.
When you have buy-in from every employee at every level, and then couple that investment with a sales enablement blueprint strategy, you can scale sales as expertly (and efficiently) as possible.
In addition, you’re encouraged to implement five core strategies to support you in this process: (1) recognizing the importance of scalability for your business, (2) knowing how to scale your sales successfully, (3) taking initiative to measure sales effectiveness, (4) incorporating technology to help you scale up, and (5) avoiding common mistakes as you build sales.
1. Recognizing the importance of scalability for your business
It’s difficult to overemphasize the importance of scalability for your business, regardless of what you sell, where you’re located, or the size of your company. If your aim is to experience growth and increase profitability (as it should be), then scalability ensures you maintain both initiatives in the long term. When companies focus on sales expansion without also bringing attention to scalability, they’ll no doubt face challenges once scaling issues come into play.
But with smart, scalable processes in place, adjusting to changes in sales trends and customer demand becomes significantly easier. As consumer preferences and buying behaviors fluctuate over time, the capacity to pivot or adapt according to the market will be a key ingredient in determining your success and longevity within the wider industry you’re working in.
2. Knowing how to scale your sales successfully
Scaling sales well requires thoughtful planning, deliberate effort and implementing the appropriate processes that will secure the health and wealth of your business.
Scaling sales from a broad perspective
When looking at scalability from a broad perspective, you’ll want to begin by defining what sales effectiveness means to your respective brand. With this definition in mind, you can then analyze your sales data to identify how (or where) you’re driving revenue versus how you’re falling flat.
This practice of analysis helps you build a ‘roadmap’ of sorts, so you can better achieve both individual and collective goals. What’s more, when you merge these sales activities with mindful onboarding and coaching strategies for your sales team, sellers can readily put these winning processes into action for a more effective upscaling execution.
Scaling sales in the context of sales enablement
Scalability within the context of enablement is centered on your company’s ability to expand its products to growing audiences without having to add more resources. But as powerful as scaling enablement can be, it requires clear, concise communication in order to succeed.
In addition, a charter-based approach for enablement is really a prerequisite to this type of scalability. This method is necessary for two reasons: (1) it guarantees clarity around the vision and purpose of enablement for your business, and (2), it establishes which enablement services you’ll provide to your target audience (and the enablement capabilities used to do so).
Using sales enablement to drive sales effectiveness
Simply put, sales enablement is directly related to all aspects of sales effectiveness. For example, sales reps need updated marketing content to engage leads and make conversions, while sales managers need access to performance data to resolve inefficiencies and drive revenue. Moreover, when sales leaders have visibility into value-added activities that positively impact your profits, they can open up a dialogue with the entire team about sales enablement best practices.
And utilizing these practices makes it easier for sellers to guide customers through every stage of the sales cycle (thus meeting their sales goals). Plus, this buy-in from your reps allows sales leaders and enablement teams to replicate high-performing habits across the entire sales force.
3. Taking initiative to measure sales effectiveness
Generally speaking, sales effectiveness is defined as the average performance or output of each sales representative on your team. Depending on your specific goals, output might refer to lead generation or the sales of a particular product. With that said, true sales effectiveness is assessed by how well your reps navigate the sales process and deliver a successful result.
So then, how do you measure the output of every sales representative on your team? To begin, consider the larger objectives of your company (and the sales team as a whole).
Even when someone is putting up impressive numbers, they may not be contributing to the greater goals you’re trying to reach.
For instance, a rep might sell a ton of product Y at the start of the year, and yet, product Z was meant to be the focus for Q1. On the other hand, if your primary objective is to generate more revenue, then that rep would have a higher sales effectiveness.
In light of your unique goals, your company may find it beneficial to incorporate metrics like: average deal size, average on-target earning, average length of sales cycle, or quota attainment. With these KPIs at your disposal, you can get a better sense of sales effectiveness as it pertains to individual versus group average, newer reps versus veteran reps, and more.
Why reps are failing to meet their sales goals
Given the fact that there are so many different stages throughout the sales cycle, reps need to have a strong and diverse skill set if they hope to meet their ongoing sales goals. Without a robust knowledge of the entire cycle – and without access to sales assets like best practices and performance benchmarks – reps are more vulnerable to failing within their role.
On top of that, your organizational level of sales enablement can make or break your sales team’s effectiveness. While most enablement teams have the bandwidth to serve the current state of business, they’re not prepared to support a growing, future state. That’s why you’re encouraged to develop a sales enablement strategy that favors scalability; in doing so, your reps will have the tools they need to deliver results and meet their goals with ease.
4. Incorporating technology to help you scale up
When your company is ready to build its sales and scale up, don’t underestimate the ways technology can complement this transformation. An innovative sales enablement platform can help boost your sales performance thanks to digital tools and new avenues for sales readiness. In fact, by leveraging modern technology and integrations, your sales enablement plan becomes notably more effective – and your commercial operations more succinct and streamlined.
Advanced software that intuitively uses AI and machine learning is truly the best resource for your reps, as it helps them automate repetitive tasks and/or contact management to save countless hours during the workday.
So not only does technology make scaling sales possible, but it makes the entire process more convenient and accessible than ever.
5. Avoiding common mistakes as you build sales
Like it or not, trying to scale sales effectively is often met with its fair share of roadblocks. But with an awareness of the most common mistakes to watch out for, you’ll be better equipped to avoid these missteps and execute on your growth in a sustainable, profitable way.
Neglecting the customer-product fit
At its core, customer fit is all about aligning your various offerings (be it a product or service) with the needs of your target customer; when that customer’s needs are adequately met by your company, the customer is fit, and the likelihood of a sale increases. With this trajectory in mind, scaling sales shouldn’t be focused on converting every customer who crosses your path – instead, when you hone in on the right customer, conversion will naturally fall into place.
Placing acquisition before retention
Unfortunately, there seems to be a tendency for startups and small businesses to prioritize customer acquisition before they’ve nailed down retention. Unless you know how to build brand loyalty and secure recurrent sales from your existing clientele, acquiring new customers won’t amount to much in the long run. For that reason, it’s important your company aims to improve its retention rates before it begins pursuing other potential customers or market segments.
Disregarding the importance of training
If your team isn’t well-versed in what you’re selling or who you’re selling to, you’re setting yourself up for lost sales and missed opportunities to connect with your customers. That’s because a disorganized or untrained sales team won’t be performing at their fullest capacity. Rather, they’ll be forced to figure things out on their own, which means expending unnecessary energy and wasting valuable resources while trying to understand how your company operates.
Stretching your sales team too thin
Even if you’ve taken the time to organize your sales department and properly train your team, there’s a chance you’ll stretch them too thin and/or tap out their workload. When you overload employees with ongoing responsibilities and daily to-dos, they’re bound to feel confused as to how to tackle everything. Fortunately, preventing this scenario is easy, by clearly communicating their individual role and providing the tools they need to thrive in the workplace.
Not empowering your team to succeed
The truth is, you can’t expect to build sales without first coaching your team and helping them enhance their skill set. In that way, your work doesn’t stop just because you’ve created sales structures and processes – you’ll still need to empower your employees through intentional coaching if you want to improve productivity. You might have hired exceptional salespeople, but now they’re selling a different product (so they’re likely to benefit from additional guidance).
Scaling sales FAQs
What is the definition of scaling sales enablement?
Scalability within the context of enablement is centered on your company’s ability to expand the sale of its products to growing audiences without having to add more resources. A charter-based approach for enablement is really a prerequisite to this type of scalability, as it guarantees clarity around the vision and purpose of enablement for your business and establishes which enablement services you’ll provide to your target audience.
Why is scalability important for your business?
If your aim is to experience growth and increase profitability (as it should be), then scalability ensures you maintain both initiatives over the long term. That’s because with smart, scalable processes in place, adjusting to changes in sales trends and customer demand becomes significantly easier. As buying behaviors fluctuate over time, this ability to adapt will be a key factor in determining your success and longevity within the wider industry you’re working in.
How do you measure sales effectiveness?
To measure sales effectiveness, consider the larger objectives of your company (and the sales team as a whole). Depending on your unique goals, you might find it beneficial to incorporate metrics like: average deal size, average on-target earning, or average length of sales cycle. With these KPIs at your disposal, you can get a better sense of sales effectiveness as it pertains to individual versus group average, newer reps versus veteran reps, and more.
Interested in learning more about Pitcher? Request your Pitcher demo and experience our sales enablement Super App in action.