Why is a sales strategy importante

If you are on a boat, let's say a canoe, kayak or rowing boat, it is extremely useful to have everyone paddling in the same way, going in the same direction, at the same speed, not moving unnecessarily to make the kayak move, etc. Of course, each person will paddle with their own nuances. Each person will have their own motivations for reaching the finish line.

But being in sync in terms of approach, speed, etc. is key to the success of the kayak or rowing team. .

[caption id="attachment_88115" align="aligncenter" width="840"] Ils sont tous dans des Kayaks deux places, pas forcément besoin de stratégie?[/caption]

Often, when a leader complains about the weakness of their current pipeline, the length of the sales cycle, the number of opportunities that are lost or unnecessary negotiations, we ask: ‘Have you put a sales strategy in place? Do your sales representatives have a sales plan aligned with this strategy?’

More often than not, the answer is vague or, even worse, a simple ‘no’. Then, the next question is: ‘Have you defined a sales process that everyone follows?’ The answer is invariably ‘no’ or ‘I don't know’. And let's not even mention the other questions that follow: ‘Do you know the milestones of each stage of your process that your sales representatives have difficulty with?’ or the various closing ratios as well as the ‘win / loss / abandonment’ split.

While AI is making the ‘headlines’ when it comes to sales - the end of sales people etc... -, the reality is that very few companies have this basic component in place : a sales strategy. When I talk about strategy, I'm not talking about McKinsey-style slides. But rather an understanding of where the income is going to come from (which channels, for example), what the focus is going to be (acquisition of new customers, margins, etc.), what the vision of the organisation is, in an articulated way that is communicated to the teams (it doesn't need to be ‘sexy’ but it is useful to be ambitious because they are going to articulate this vision to your prospects and customers), what is the timing on which you are focusing to deploy this strategy, what is the breakdown of income according to the products and, by the same token, the underlying activities, the elements that will enable the teams to sell (construction of prospecting lists, sales collateral by product, sector or other, what is the messaging that should be used by the team, etc.

And then translate this strategy in the sales plan of each salesperson with revenue goals. This can then be integrated into the CRM if your CRM is able to measure these goals and the leading KPIs for achieving them.

It doesn't have to be complex, but it helps to clarify many things that are too often assumed to be understood, when in fact they are not understood at all.

Image credit: Ironvision