It’s a common discussion being had in management teams universally, sales are soft. So why are sales teams underperforming? Some might attribute it to the effects of the pandemic or maybe it’s just complacency that’s happened over time. Regardless of the why, we can all agree we want to activate our teams again for success.
Activating your sales team involves energizing and mobilizing them to take action and achieve their goals. To do this though, we need to empower them to engage and help remove some of the real or perceived roadblocks in the process. Often this comes down to building clarity and defining the sales process – giving your team a benchmark to track their activity and identify where perhaps they are struggling to close sales.
So, what are some of the characteristics of successful, activated sales teams?
- They know their goals and expectations: Does your team have a clear roadmap so that they understand the goals, targets, and budgets they need to achieve?
- They have defined metrics: What does success look like for your sales team – are there clear leading and lagging metrics?
- They are well equipped: If you asked your team do they feel they have the tools, technology, and resources they need to perform their jobs effectively? This includes your CRM, sales materials and presentations, training, and understanding the marketing plans that support the process.
- They feel supported and connected: Do you encourage collaboration among team members so they can share advice and best practices? Are there regularly scheduled management check-ins to discuss progress, identify areas for improvement, and provide guidance?
Remember, activating your sales team is an ongoing process. It takes work to keep the spark alive.
Activate [ ak-tuh-veyt ] transitive verb:
- to make active
- cause to function or act
- to render more reactive
- excite