Make Your Sales Team a Profit Center

We’ve known for a long time that ‘profit’ isn’t a dirty word. Everyone wants it. It’s the engine that drives the entrepreneur in all of us. I’ve met plenty of enterprising owners who have created profitable companies with products and services that provide unique value for their clients. Most organizations invest in equipment and technology to create ‘profit centers’ to maximize efficiency. Over time companies add sales people to help speed up the rate of return on those ‘profit center’ investments.

But what if we treated our sales staff as a ‘profit center’? While it’s nice to know that each salesperson is generating sufficient ROI, we’ll need vital processes in place to generate exponential profit-making power. The investment is time, effort, and commitment on your part.

Here are 5 key processes to implement today:

1. Adopt a company defined Sales Process:
Having a company defined sales process is solid gold. Ask 6 different people what their sales process is and you will get 6 different answers. This makes the task of managing more difficult than it needs to be. Treat your sales process like a ‘common business language’ that everyone can agree on. The process must be repeatable, transferable (from one person to the next), and trackable so you can start holding salespeople accountable in a productive manner.

2. Bring life back to your Sales Meetings:
Are your sales meetings a replay or recording of the last meeting? Are people consistently late or disinterested when attending? A sales meeting either weekly or monthly must have a clear agenda. Let your people know well in advance what will be expected of them. Set a clear time frame for the meeting and stick to it and as always there must be key action items to take from each meeting.

3. Stop avoiding the Performance Review Process:
No yearly review = My manager doesn’t care…at least that’s what your salespeople might think. If this isn’t getting done, make it a priority. Set a process in place so it doesn’t become a last-minute thing or an item that shows up on your ‘to-do’ list all the time. Also, separate the review process from the yearly merit raise or compensation review. It will allow the conversation to focus on performance.

4. Stop the guesswork and develop a process for Goal Setting/Forecasting:
Sales forecasting doesn’t have to be a mystery. “It’s like throwing darts at the board”, is what many salespeople say. Developing a strategic territory and account planning process removes the guess-work and puts control back in the sales persons hands. A good sales leader only needs to manage the process with this one.

5. Develop a professional Hiring Process:
Your radar should always be up for the right person to help your business. A good process should include objective assessments, interviewing strategies, proper background checks and of course a defined on-boarding program. Your hiring process should make you feel confident that you’re making the right hiring decisions for all parties involved.

Developing and implementing these processes starts with you, the manager or sales leader. Implementing fundamental processes will allow you to get the most from your newest ‘profit-center’ and Sell Strong all the time!