Enterpreneurial Manual: Deploying a successful sales strategy and winning the sales numbers game
We have heard it before, from sales gurus, sales managers, to entrepreneurs, that sales is a numbers game. Before you even consider setting up a business, the first thing you will be required to have is a strategy. Above all considerations, you will be required to make your strategy align to your revenue goals. Initially, it may be demanding to to do this, but a well-crafted and thought-out strategy is key to experience increasing revenue. Take time to evaluate your business environment and market. Research on special areas to employ a killer-strategy, sources of opportunities and generation of sales revenue, weakness of the existing market place, what the business competitors are up to. Look deep within the market and outside your enterprise to employ a killer strategy, monitor market dynamics to inform your curiosity as you deploy your strategy to get high revenue.
There are four areas that should inform your quest for high business revenue.
Strategy, Structure, People, and Process
As we have witnessed, a clear and powerful sales strategy is important. On the path you’ve set for your business, important questions similar to the ones below needs to be asked
I. Strategy
It all starts with a clear, powerful sales strategy e.g. What’s your sales strategy How are you going to market yourself? How are you going to slay the dragon? What market opportunities or weaknesses are you going to exploit? What competitors are you going to take out? What new markets are you going to penetrate? What industry changes are you going to leverage, etc.?
II. Structure
Executing a business strategy on a firm framework is core to successfully building a revenue plan. Without a solid framework, by the time you start your business, your strategy will be dead in the water. The idea is to make sure that your structure supports your strategic efforts. Your structure needs to answer questions and make sure the answer delivers for the strategy. Important questions. Does your strategy require inside or outside sales? Does it require hunters or farmers? Does it require content and new web support? Does it require alternative compensation plans? Does it require new territories? What does your strategy require to be successful? Your structure needs to answer those questions and make sure the answer delivers for the strategy. Structure includes sales operations and sales enablement as well. It’s all the things that enable your strategy to take flight.
III. People
The most important aspect of driving revenue and often the most forgotten. This is the biggest problem most sales organizations face. If you don’t have the right people in the right roles nothing gets done. People are the core to execution. Making sure you have the right people in the right roles is critical. If the people part isn’t correct, nothing else matters. Making sure you have the people part right is at the heart of increasing revenue. Make sure your plan has a people element that makes sure you have the right people in the right roles, that they align with the strategy and are motivated to get things done.
IV. Process
To make sure everything is running smoothly, to ensure velocity and efficiency and to avoid wasting time, effort killer processes have to be in place. A bad process is like throwing a monkey wrench into the gears. Poor processes can impede time for marketing and execution of your strategy slowing things down in the process. When processes aren’t working correctly or they don’t exist, the ability to achieve your goals is severely hampered. Take a good look at your processes. Implementing light, functional, effective processes is like supercharging your car. It makes everything go BOOM! Take a look at all your processes and make sure they improve your teams’ ability to sell. Make sure they align with the strategy and structure as well as empower the people. Growing revenue is more than just a handful of efforts, but rather a targeted, precise, aligned set of objectives across these four areas. If a sales organization isn’t delivering you will find the problem in one of these areas; the strategy isn’t sound, the structure doesn’t support the strategy, the wrong people are in the wrong roles or the right processes aren’t in place. When all or any of these four are out of whack, then driving revenue is almost impossible and you can kiss growing revenue goodbye.
