SBI research indicates that 44% of satisfied A-player sellers are pursuing new roles. These are the people who claim to be happy and good at their work. Given the uncertain market, this signals a feeling of insecurity and untapped potential.
During Annual Planning, sales leaders will be looking backward, forward, and all around to understand what is and is not working to adjust for next year. Some of those adjustments can be implemented earlier to realize the benefits this year, while others will take some time. Creating an environment of peak commercial productivity is the answer and there are two components to consider – performance conditions and talent.
Performance conditions can be equated to a golf course. The quality of the greens, placement of the hazards, and the combination of hole types, create an environment that contributes to a round being enjoyable or not. But it also impacts the performance of the golfer. If the tee box isn’t maintained or the fairways are rutted, it doesn’t matter how talented the golfer is, their performance will be impacted by the poor conditions.
It's the same in a selling organization. The effectiveness of each seller is impacted by the accounts they are responsible for acquiring or developing, the territory they cover, the enablement tools that they have, and the quota they are tasked to achieve. If the conditions are not optimized for the organization or aligned to support success, it doesn’t matter what the seller has done in the past, they will have a difficult time achieving their revenue targets.
On the other side of the commercial productivity equation is talent. This is where the golfer needs to know which club to choose, the intensity and angle to hit the ball, and when to trust their instincts. For a seller, it’s important to have the tools and understanding of those tools to be successful. In addition, it’s very often that sales teams have innate talents of which they are not even aware. For sales leaders, this means finding ways to tap into those talents to hone skills that will drive greater sales performance.
During the annual planning process, GTM leaders will be evaluating the performance conditions of the organization. Identifying the opportunities for growth and clearing away risks. Some of those opportunities will be captured through updated account maps or new product offerings. At the same time, sales leaders determine the specific skills, behaviors and knowledge that need to be honed to meet annual planning benchmarks.
This is where sales training becomes an important step in the annual plan execution stage. Providing a team with the opportunity to hone their skills in areas such as prospecting, negotiation, selling to executives, or managing pipeline is a proven way to deliver on annual sales objectives by driving sales performance.
An organization’s ability to achieve its annual goals relies on its ability to unlock commercial productivity and that means possessing superior operating conditions and front-line capabilities that include well-honed selling skills.
You can read more about customized sales training services here.
