Direct Sales Challenges We Solve

The direct sales organization is an important and must investment for any start-up or small software company.  Often, the sales team is considered to be the company's "eyes and ears" into customers' environments. Competitors always want to win every sales battle they enter. Therefore, failure is not an option for the sales team.  Every company must drive to have the best performing sales organization, by providing all the necessary tools to make their sales efforts efficient and successful in order to win and produce Consistent, Profitable, and Repeatable results, the "CPR" needed for survival by avoiding sales opportunities sudden deaths!  Often, startups and small software companies need to be reminded that sales success is a team sport.  Also, it is equally important to ensure that all other functions in the company, regardless how small or large in size they might be, are also contributing to sales success.  This includes the functions of marketing, product development, finance, professional services, sales support and executive management.  In other words, the entire company must become sales driven and sales focused.

 

Top 20 Direct Sales symptoms, each requiring immediate attention:

  

1. Sales forecasts are wishful thinking rather than solid projections based on actual events in the sales cycle.

2. Sales cycle is unpredictable or too long;  never know the next steps or when it might close.

3. Each sales cycle seems to have a path of its own; sales cycles have little or nothing in common.

4. The sales team is always busy with lots of activities, but little or no results.

5. During the quarter sales reviews are always positive, but the end of the quarter is often a surprising disappointment.

6. If there is a sales process, it is not working and no one can articulate it.  Or, there is no sales process!

7. Sales activities are often reactive and not proactive. Sales efforts seem to be driven by competitors.

8. Company goes out of its way to listen and help prospects, but rarely wins.

9. Competitors are very hard to beat.

10. Dropping prices to below margins as attempts to win deals at the last minute, yet still end up loosing.

11. The lost opportunities are larger than those won.

12. Sales team's morale and motivation are generally down.

13. Customers are little or no longer engaged with the company and its solutions.

14. Costs of Sales and Marketing are very high when compared to sales results produced.

15. Sales team always complaining about what it doesn't have and must have in products, services or support.

16. Sales team's activities lack efficiency and can be improved.

17. Sales organization needs a clear direction and operation plan.

18. Sales team seems to chase the wrong prospects and profiles.

19. Customer Relationship Management System's (CRM) data seems to be meaningless and useless to produce accurate forecasts.

20. Management is frustrated with chronic and poor sales performances; loosing sleep over it.

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If you are absolutely committed to improving sales results and bottom line profits, please contact us so we could address your questions, evaluate the challenges, and propose our recommendations to help you achieve total sales success.