Improving sales efficiency is a complex and time-consuming process. Each business has its own ability to improve this indicator, but there are general principles that any entrepreneur should take into account.
Consider the sales cycle. The fact is that the time from creating a product or providing a service to making a profit is different for each business. The longer the sales cycle, the more costly an enterprise is considered, but its profitability and reliability are generally higher. Therefore, methods of increasing efficiency must be built on the basis of this indicator.
For example, if you are building websites, your sales cycle is 7 days on average. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop such a proposal scheme so that it is effectively implemented within this time frame. On the first day, you can provide the client with design options, on the second, show the functionality, and so on.
Sales department structure
You can use different structures depending on your goals and circumstances. You may need to split the sales department into several sub-departments dealing with different groups of clients (optimal for financial and credit institutions).
The number of employees also plays an important role. There are two main concepts:
- A large number of employees with average efficiency;
- A small number of highly qualified employees.
The first option is most suitable for firms with a large number of sales and standard products (for example, trainings or grocery products). The second option is suitable for those who sell unique expensive items (for example, equipment for any production).
Employee motivation
You cannot save on the sales department, as this will only reduce your profits. As a rule, investments in this part of the business pay off 4-5 times. Therefore, it is necessary to motivate employees in every possible way, including financially. You can run a competition, or you can simply stimulate the number of successful sales.
In the first case, a contest in the style of "employee of the month" is suitable. The person who has concluded the largest number of contracts receives a good bonus or a ticket. In the second case, you can assign payments based on the amount of work performed. These methods combine perfectly.
Trainings and internships
For the sales department to work more efficiently, it needs to be constantly trained. The best option is to conduct trainings within the company. You can invite a specialist who will show employees exactly how they can improve sales efficiency and what results they can achieve.
Don't forget to send employees to refresher courses. This will help maintain competitiveness and increase profits.
