Scaling up Sales
For any sales change intervention, it is important to define the business model, goals, objectives, and the right structure
For any organization, its sales team is considered to be one of the most critical pillars and, in many cases, a great differentiator. A sales team is the face of the company and delivers the value proposition of the organization to the clients. This team is also the channel for feedback as they provide first-hand direct market observations and insights back to the supporting teams, for them to align their systems; and help in innovating new products and services according to the changing needs of the consumer.
The starting point of calibrating a sales organization is defining the business model, goals, objectives, and the right structure of sales organization, like marketing plan, pre-sales & post-sales structure, social media etc. Such aspects are critical in defining the competencies required by the sales team. At Franklin Covey, DR-GRAC model is used. The model is defined as:
• Desired Results (What is expected from the sales individually and as a team & how to handle any or complex situation)
• Guidelines (how will that be measured and what are the rules and systems supporting)
• Resources (what human, technology, infrastructure resources the team will need to achieve the desired results)
• Accountability (what & when will they be responsible for)
• Consequences (what will the rewards be in success and in failure).
In the change management process, executing an internal assessment of the teams, identifying and filling the gaps so that new goals can be achieved is important. Such gaps can be bridged by hiring new sales resources, training or upskilling the internal sales organization. Any sales team training has to focus on the role, knowledge and skills of the sales teams along with the tools required for them to excel. Such efforts make the sales teams less vulnerable and also enable performance predictability. However, today, the transformational change for sales requires coaching on the job and hand-holding along with training interventions. Especially in B2B models, there has been a need for a paradigm shift — from transactional sales to transformational sales. A transformational sales representative relies on data, ‘moves’ towards a solution along with the potential client, learns how to slow down when required rather than speed, and always looks for a win-win situation. Such a change of paradigm emanates from qualifying needs through understanding and Helping the Client to Succeed.