Sales Mistake No 4: Focusing on results and ignoring activity

Results matter! Sales revenue pays the wages and keeps the business afloat, we all recognise that. Sales managers should be constantly tracking the level of sales achieved. So what is this week’s Top Ten Sales Mistake all about?

Well, “if you want to fatten a pig, you don’t keep weighing it.”

If “activity x performance = results”, then measuring results should follow, not precede, the setting of activity and building performance. It’s like weighing the pig before it’s been fed.

In our experience, top performing sales managers focus their attention on their sellers’ sales activity (at the same time as coaching their performance). This is especially valuable for new recruits who are still learning how to perform.

Depending on your business sector and sales process, activity may fall into the following categories:

• Identifying and researching prospects
• Contacting prospects to qualify them, either in person or by phone.
• Conducting meetings/discussions with qualified prospects to identify needs/issues.
• Making recommendations of product to meet the needs or solve the issues.
• Developing proposals, pricing products and services.
• Following up contacts with prospects to progress the sales process.
• Helping the prospect make their decision (closing)
• Identifying learning lessons from each sale achieved or lost.

Try identifying the activities that are critical to your own sales process, and then setting your activity targets around those. If you are unsure about which ones are critical, feel free to call us and I’ll help you to identify them.

Once you start regularly reviewing your activity targets with your sellers, you’ll be amazed at how quickly this will translate into sales success.

Feeding a pig regularly really will get it fatter a lot faster than constantly pushing it onto the weigh scales!