When Sales Problems Become Part of the System, It Needs to Change
Growth is usually undoubtedly where a business usually looks for evidence that it is doing things the right way. Then, if, and usually when, it stagnates they begin to realise that they don’t really know where that success came from… or why it stalled.
The truth is that growth can also hide weaknesses in the way a company sells.
Processes that worked when the business was smaller begin to creak under the pressure of more sales. Informal habits that have become accepted working practices and previous ‘short-term’ fixes may have remained in place long after they should have stopped. These less valuable ways of working could well be replacing more efficient and easily scalable practices. At this point, the problem is no longer about one underperforming salesperson, one disappointing month, one team in need of training or one campaign that failed to deliver.
It has become systemic, and the reason for the stagnation is almost invisible to all levels of the business.
This is why I created the sales improvement blueprint.
How Sales Problems Become Embedded
I regularly see this situation, or something similar.
A smaller business starts with the directors, or a small sales team, handling most of the selling. They understand the customers, know how to explain the value of the product and almost instinctively recognise a genuine opportunity.
Then, the business grows, and more people become involved.
New salespeople are recruited and fall in with the old ways of working.
New managers are appointed, and increased marketing generates leads which seem to convert.
The original knowledge that helped the business grow, however, may never be turned into a clear and repeatable process, or it becomes informally embedded as standard practice. People learn by watching colleagues, copying previous proposals or simply working things out for themselves.
The result can be a sales operation built around individual habits rather than an agreed system, or one that is relying on a sort of scattergun approach where enough people make enough calls to generate enough revenue to tick the growth box.
Over time, that can lead to:
- Salespeople giving customers different messages.
- Leads being followed up inconsistently or not at all.
- Opportunities entering the pipeline without being properly qualified and then progressing at the cost of better opportunities.
- Sales stages being seen differently by different people.
- Managers focusing on results without examining the activities producing them.
- CRM systems being used as little more than address books.
- Forecasts based on finger-in-the-air optimism rather than reliable information.
- Training being delivered without examining the process or having the skills in management that are needed to reinforce it.
Individually, all the above, and potentially more similar issues, may look like small operational problems. They become a sort of list of minor irritations to get around to at some point.
When they come together, though, it only takes a few of them to seriously and suddenly restrict growth.
The Warning Signs of a Systemic Sales Problem
One disappointing result does not necessarily mean the entire sales system is wrong. However, if the same problems keep returning, it is time to look a bit deeper.
Indications of systemic embedded issues are easy to spot. The business generates plenty of enquiries, but the ratio of conversion to opportunities is low. The pipeline is full, but the deals repeatedly stall or disappear. Salespeople may be stressed and busy, yet managers cannot clearly explain how that activity is contributing to revenue.
Another very common warning sign is an over-reliance on one or two strong performers. They bring in most of the business because they have developed their own successful way of working. Unfortunately, that way of working does not become part of the company’s wider sales process because it is either not suitable or is siloed into a small group.
Recruiting salespeople can make the problem worse because new recruits enter an environment where expectations, responsibilities and best practice are unclear.
Managers often respond by raising targets, introducing incentives or asking for more from an already busy team. This produces stress and does not address the underlying weakness. If the system is not working, asking people to work harder within it is unlikely to create sustainable improvement.
The problem is widespread and embedded.
Revising the Sales System from Top to Bottom
The Sales Improvement Blueprint was created to address these all too common problems.
You need to be dealing with the sales problem in a wide-ranging and systematic way. A quick fix is no longer on the table. You need a practical four-stage process created around the needs, goals and circumstances of the individual company.
1. Identifying What Is Really Holding Sales Back
The first stage is to establish what is actually happening compared to what appears to be happening.
That means looking past the immediate symptoms and examining the strategy, process, team capability, management approach, pipeline and everyday sales activity. Looking at a symptom and curing it is only resolving that one symptom. The rest are going untreated. We need to be asking bigger questions now.
Questions like:
- Where could opportunities be being lost?
- Who are the right prospects, and how do we target them better?
- Where is the sales message in need of clarification?
- Where could we ensure managers are receiving more useful information?
- What additional skills and support do team members need, and how are they involved in those choices?
- How could we collect and collate more useful and reliable data? How do we make sure that everyone has the same understanding of what is happening?
They may not be easy questions to answer, or even comfortable ones to address, but they are the ones we need to ask.
This creates an honest picture of the current sales operation and identifies how different issues may be connected.
2. Creating a Clear Sales Strategy
Once the underlying problems are understood, the next step is strategy.
A strong strategy defines where growth will come from, which customers should be prioritised, what the company is offering them and how success will be measured.
It also creates alignment. Directors, managers, marketing teams and salespeople should not be working towards different interpretations of the company’s commercial goals.
Everyone needs to understand what the business is trying to achieve and their role in making it happen. To have access to a strategy that works and know their role within it.
3. Building a Practical Sales Process
The strategy then needs to be supported by a process. The aim is not to bury the team in administration. It is to create enough structure to make good sales activity repeatable, visible and measurable. You want your highflyers and individuals to continue to shine, but also do that inside a process that benefits everyone and the business.
A strong process also makes it easier to identify where sales are stalling and what should happen next at any given point. Managers gain better pipeline visibility and salespeople have clearer expectations and customers receive a more consistent experience.
Process is the strategy in action. It is planned and defined so that the whole system is working collectively, and silos are destroyed or incorporated into good practice.
4. Developing the Team and Embedding the Improvement
A new strategy and process will only work if people have the skills, confidence and support to put them into practice.
The final part of the Blueprint strengthens team capability through bespoke, practical training where needed and a solid foundation of ongoing performance development and support.
Managers also need the ability to reinforce the new approach, coach their team and hold people accountable for the right activities. That is how improvements become part of everyday working practice rather than another initiative that gradually disappears.
Creating Growth That Does Not Depend on Luck
When strategy, process, management and team capability are working together, the business gains greater consistency. Sales pipelines become clear, and conversions happen as part of the process, not by luck or individual effort. Soon, new team members can be integrated more effectively, managers can make decisions using reliable information, and growth becomes easier to sustain.
The Sales Improvement Blueprint identifies what is restricting performance, builds the right strategy and process, develops the people responsible for delivering it and helps embed lasting improvement.
The first step is an open and honest conversation about where your business is now, what is holding sales back and what sustainable improvement could look like. If nothing else, it will be a conversation that focuses your perspective differently and helps you consider your next step.
Schedule a discovery chat with me, and let’s see what we can change for the better.
