Entrepreneur Resources Your source for small business information
Many businesses rely on their sales teams to bring in new clients and customers. It might be that your business does too.
But if your sales team aren’t hitting the targets you have set them, you have to ask the question why.
Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why sales teams underperform.
#1: A lack of training
As with any position in a business, training is paramount where skill gaps exist. If members of a sales team lack people and negotiation skills, and if they struggle to close deals, perhaps because they are taking the wrong approach, they won’t perform as they should.
To counter this problem, business leaders should organise training for their employees so they have the skills needed to perform. With professional sales coaching, skills gaps will be filled and employees will be better equipped to bring in new customers to the business.
#2: Lack of motivation
Any employee can become unmotivated. There are all kinds of reasons for this, from a lack of encouragement from their superiors to feelings of dissatisfaction if they feel they are being underpaid.
Sales teams can lack motivation as a consequence of these factors but there are other reasons why they can feel unmotivated. If they have been given the wrong leads, for example, they will start to lose motivation when they continually struggle to close deals. And if they are given unrealistic targets to meet, they will also start to lose motivation when tiredness and stress kick in.
The answer? Business leaders should talk to their sales teams to find out what the problems might be. When solutions have been found, productivity will rise and more sales will be made.
#3: Insufficient tools
Gone are the days when the only things sales teams had at their disposal were telephones and a paper file with the names of potential customers. Today’s sales teams use CRM systems to track leads, sales prospecting tools to gather potential customers, and scheduling tools to arrange appointments with prospects.
These are just a few of the technologies that can make the life of a sales rep so much easier and they can help them meet their sales targets too. As such, it would be unwise for business leaders to dismiss the tools that are currently available.
Of course, when the correct tools are in place, the sales reps need to know how to use them properly. A lack of technical know-how can be another reason why sales teams underperform, so circling back to our mention of training, sales tools training should also be considered by business leaders looking to improve their teams’ performance.
#4: Lack of product awareness
If sales reps don’t know much about the products or services they are selling, they are hardly likely to persuade prospects into buying. Customers will be unconvinced by the sales patter if the person they are speaking to is unable to answer questions or go into detail on what is being offered. Therefore, it’s important that the sales rep knows what they are talking about.
The blame here largely lies with the business manager as they need to educate the sales team on the product/services being sold. When the team is clued up on what they are selling, they will be better able to communicate with their prospects.
Finally
These are just a few of the reasons why sales teams underperform. If your team isn’t hitting their targets, you might want to consider the reasons we have detailed here. You should then take the steps needed to turn things around in your business if you can relate to any of the points we have made.
