How a Sales Team Assessment Can Help Your Business Improve Growth

The Sales Team Evaluation is a process that helps sales leaders better understand which salespeople are excelling and which need some support. If you have a fully staffed sales department, but you’re wondering if you have the right people in the right roles, this article is for you.

A successful sales team is a critical component of any company’s growth strategy. Without a well-functioning sales team, no company can reach its true potential. A Sales Team Evaluation allows sales leaders to assess which members of the sales team are underperforming (and why). 

It also allows us to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each individual team member, and suggest ways to help them improve. A Sales Team Evaluation can also help sales leaders discover which sales processes and strategies are working, and identify areas where they can be improved. 

Finally, a Sales Team Evaluation can help sales leaders develop and implement a clear growth plan that is aligned with the overall strategy of the organization.

If you’re a sales leader, ensure your team is on track and ready to meet any new demands…start by taking an inventory of what you already have in place and how it’s working.

What is a Sales Team Evaluation?

Sales Team Evaluations are designed to uncover problems that prevent a sales team from performing at its best. It’s designed to help you identify what you should do to get your sales team back in tip-top shape. Oftentimes, businesses think they need to hire (or fire!) someone in order to achieve the results they want, but that isn’t always the case…

An audit reveals what needs to be done to move the needle on your growth. You’ll also receive actionable insight into the types of opportunities your sales team is missing out on, as well as the steps that your team must take in order to become more efficient and more successful. 

Think of a Sales Team Evaluation as an exercise in identifying what needs to be done to grow your business… 

It’s a road map to growth.

What does a sales team need to be successful?

For a sales team to succeed, it needs a strong sales process and the right salespeople in the right roles. Salespeople, like everyone else, require structure to become more productive. Sales managers should provide the necessary leadership to successfully grow their salespeople and manage the sales process. 

Sales leaders need to provide the roadmap for a sales team and ensure the team is properly trained. Without the right guidance and support, a sales team will become disorganized and ineffective.

An effective sales team needs to know what type of customers are being targeted, what questions are being asked, what their unique selling points are, what type of communication methods should be used, and more. A sales team should be working with their company’s sales management team to create sales strategies to target specific markets and sales objectives.

If any one part of this system stops working, you will have challenges on your sales team that will most likely reduce your revenue and mitigate growth. That’s why conducting a periodic sales team assessment is vital to maintaining a healthy and thriving business.

How can a Sales Team Evaluation help your business?

Sales teams, like any other group of people, will behave in ways that are both beneficial for, and detrimental to the group. Therefore, your sales team needs to be aware of their strengths, weaknesses, tendencies, skill sets, and other personal characteristics so you can take advantage of them…or avoid them if necessary. 

Additionally, most people that come to us looking for this type of post-hire support do so because they think they have a problematic employee or team.They think we’ll be the “bad guy” and tell them to fire the “troublemaker.”

And sometimes, parting ways with a wayward or ineffectual employee is the best path forward, but not always. Working with us on a Sales Team Evaluation will let you know for sure what your next move should be. Plus, we’ll show you the data and metrics that will help you be confident in your decision, no matter what it is.

Sales Team Assessments: Does your business need one? 

If you’re asking, then you probably do!

Sales is a high-pressure environment, which is why it’s so important to have the right tools and a solid system in place. It can be tough to recognize when your team needs help and how to get the most out of your existing resources. 

A Sales Team Evaluation helps you identify where your team is strong and where it needs some work.

When you’re not fully satisfied with your team’s metrics and performance, and you’re unsure why, a Sales Team Evaluation is the ideal way to evaluate where your team could improve. It can also help you determine if you need to make some changes to the structure of your team.

The Sales Team Evaluation questions we ask…

Our process starts with an assessment to see where your team currently is, what their metrics are, and what type of activity and growth the business is hoping to achieve.

We evaluate the salespeople as individuals, paying particular attention to their skill sets and motivations. We also evaluate your sales leader, especially their processes, and how they interact with the entire sales team.

We speak with everyone involved with “the numbers.” Sales leaders.  Management. The CEO. The accounting department. Human Resources. We analyze your process, training, and your entire sales organization.

The goal is to get a holistic view of your sales team and their processes so that we can make an educated recommendation to you about how you can improve the team’s performance and cohesion.

Our Sales Team Evaluation results in a detailed Sales Organization Evaluation that gives you the information you need to more fully understand the four key elements of your sales team: 

• People
• Process
• Sales Skills
• Leadership

We follow it up with a one-page list of recommended next steps so that you have an immediate, actionable checklist to follow on your own, or with some further support from the Improve Growth team.

Conclusion 

The Sales Team Evaluation helps you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your sales team. This important information reveals insights into what your sales team could be doing better, where they may need to improve, and what additional training they may need.

It is the first step we recommend our clients take before they start looking to hire (or fire!) a salesperson…often businesses do have the right team in place. They may just need to move team members to a different position, try a new way of motivating them, or offer them some training.

And in some cases, transitioning underperforming salespeople out of your organization may be the best choice. Don’t worry, if that’s the case, we will let you know.

Your sales team needs to perform if you want to hit your revenue goals. That’s why having an in-depth Sales Assessment Audit is so important. 

It provides insight into which areas of your sales strategy you need to focus on, and what your sales team members need to work on to get you the results you want. 

And most importantly, it tells you how to fix the issues we uncover. 

To find out how a Sales Team Evaluation can help your business Improve Growth, contact us for a one-hour discovery call that will help us determine if this solution is a good fit for you and your team.