Are you a sales dinosaur?
Dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago. However our experience has shown that a lot of dinosaurs can still be found in the world of sales.
If you feel left behind or don’t know what some of the new generation sales terms mean. You might be a sales dinosaur. Sales has moved a long way in the last decade and many sales leaders are still stuck in the 2000s.
Sounds like you? Not sure?
Worry no more! Here is the check list:
You don't know what social selling is and your team does not use it!
Having a polished LinkedIn account is one thing. But wondering what to do with it or failing to harness its power is another!
Cold calling, automated emails or old fashion prospect is no longer enough. If you have not invested in a good book on social selling now is the time to do so.
Social selling is the future of sales especially if you are in the outbound selling business.
Don't rely solely on books for your social selling initiatives. Social selling is a very dynamic filed of sales, techniques and channels are changing constantly.
So try staying in touch through blogs and podcasts (if you don't use podcasts, you need to start today!).
You don't have a sales CRM which is mobile capable
Still using legacy tools to track your leads? Don't have a CRM that allows your sales individuals to manage leads on the go? You are way behind your competition!
Invest in a decent CRM software that comes with mobile apps, sales insights and if possible gamification. Your sales team will thank you and you get to move out from the Jurassic era!
Almost all popular CRM tools have a mobile application but only a handful truly allow your sales team to manage the CRM via their mobile phones. So make sure you do your homework before investing in a CRM.
In addition, the CRM will be handy for you to keep an eye on important dashboards on the go or on your way to work.
Your sales hiring process is still not automated
Still relying on a spreadsheet to track all your sales interviews? Don't have a tailored process for each of your job openings?
The best sales teams in the world are relying on recruiting software tools to build their teams. Not only do these tools streamline your hiring they also allow you to replicate success from one job posting to another.
As a sales leader, you need roll up your sleeves and make a one time investment in setting up a sales recruiting process.
The next step is translating your sales process into a recruiting software that can given you valuable insights like what is your most successful recruiting channel. Which organisation has given you the best sales individuals or which background you should be hiring more sales individuals from.
Your marketing team and sales team are still pointing fingers at each other
We have already talked about the inbound method in our earlier posts. One of the imperatives of the inbound method is that your marketing team and sales team share a common goal.
If your sales and marketing team do not share a common revenue goal, you need to rethink your sales and marketing strategy.
Your team does not have a sales coach or a coaching plan
One shot training plans are not effective. Even the best trainers need time to deliver results. The best results are delivered when you have a sales coach that is hands on and works closely with your team. If your team cannot get a sales coach the next best option is to engage them in a series of online training or face to face training sessions.
Not all sales individuals have the same selling problems. Your coaching strategy has to be tailored for each of your sales individuals.
If your team relies exclusively on managers for coaching then you may end up limiting your team's learning. Not to mention you want your team managers helping your team closing large deals directly and involved in streamlining your sales processes.
A sales team that has not changed anything in the last year is a sales team ready for disaster. We have already talked about social selling earlier in the blog, your sales team needs to evolve and adapt continuously.
We are surprised how many sales team are being run by sales leaders that have not gone extinct with their dinosaur cousins 65 million years ago.
You can probably get away with not meeting one criteria on the list but more than that you might want to start working on the list.