Elevating Sales Performance: 6 Simple Tweaks for Big Impact

Introduction

I’ve published newsletters and blog posts recently about overhauls and full-fledged transformations, but today, I want to talk about some minor tweaks that can deliver significant improvements in sales force performance.

So, in this article, I’ll explore fostering a relentlessly customer-centric culture, refining your ICP and optimizing territories, sharpening sales messaging, deepening discovery skills, training sellers on buying process exit criteria, and enhancing manager coaching skills.

You probably don’t need to be reminded that simple doesn’t always mean “easy,” but these tweaks are not rocket science. They just need to be done and executed well. If you do that, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the cumulative results you’ll achieve.

Create a Relentlessly Customer-Centric CultureBuyer Acumen Wheel

At the center of every successful sales organization is a deeply ingrained customer-centric culture. This isn’t just about emphasizing the importance of customers; it’s about making them the focal point of every action and decision. It’s about being “other-centric.” Encourage your team to view the world through the lens of your customers. Foster empathy, active listening, and a genuine understanding of their challenges. Research them. Create a Customer Advisory Board. The desire to feel understood is one of the deepest-seated human needs and it applies in business, as well. It’s a tweak that pays dividends, as the authentic connections and demonstrated understanding and caring will resonate with your buyers and customers. They will be more likely to view you as a trusted advisor and become long-term partners.

Ensure the Right ICP and Optimize Accordingly

As an extension of that culture, identifying and refocusing on your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is a fundamental step. Which personas or archetypes are your common buyers, and what are their roles, goals, COIN-OP (Challenges, Opportunities, Impacts, Needs, Outcomes, and Priorities), buyer’s journey, buying process exit criteria, and other factors that make up their profile. Clearly articulate the common problems that they experience, which you can solve.

Then, ensure your team understands your ICP and optimize territories and sales approaches accordingly. If you employ account-based tactics, align your Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and Sales (ABS) strategies with the ICP, ensuring a concentrated effort where it matters most. This minor tweak not only maximizes efficiency but also enhances the likelihood of engaging with prospects who align with your solution and growing your current accounts.

Sharpen Sales Messaging with the POSE Model

Once you adjust your ICP, especially COIN-OP and the problems they experience that you can solve, refining your sales messaging is a pivotal downstream task. The POSE model is your secret weapon for this. Craft problem-centric messages that highlight the challenges your ICP faces and prepare to confirm your prospect is experiencing the problem. Transition seamlessly into Outcome-focused narratives, showcasing the positive change your solution has delivered for others like them and whether those outcomes would help your prospect. Mention your Solution, briefly, to tie how it solved the problem and delivered the outcomes. Finally, simply ask whether it makes sense to Explore this further. This tweak ensures that your sales messaging is not just compelling but highly targeted and engaging, increasing its impact on your audience.

Deepen Discovery Skills

Situation Assessment Framework

The art and science of discovery is the backbone of successful sales interactions. A minor tweak in deepening your team’s discovery skills can lead to a profound impact. Train your sellers to use the Situation Assessment Framework with COIN-OP to detail their current and desired future states. Ask probing questions to “peel the onion,” uncovering not just surface-level challenges but the root causes. Equip them to navigate through complex buyer landscapes, understanding the intricacies of each decision-maker’s concerns. The ability to uncover hidden needs and motivations positions your team as trusted advisors, paving the way for more meaningful engagements and higher win-rates. Note: as part of discovery, incorporate opportunity qualification, properly. I often say that selling is simply finding people who have problems you can solve, who want to solve them, and have the means to do so. Instill this mantra into your sales force with masterful discovery, and watch your win rates skyrocket.

Train Sellers on Buying Process Exit Criteria

Identifying, clarifying, satisfying, and confirming satisfaction of buying process exit criteria is a nuanced but highly effective tweak. Marketing should develop their buyer engagement collateral from the persona and ICP research, and you should equip your sellers with the skills to understand and influence each decision-maker’s criteria for progressing through the buying process. This involves a deep understanding of the customer’s decision-making journey, ensuring that your team is adept at guiding prospects through each stage. It’s a subtle yet impactful tweak that aligns your sales efforts with the customer’s buying process, resulting in smoother and more predictable sales cycles. Remember that in some stages, all of the decision makers may have the same exit criteria, while in other stages, they may vary. Get this right, and win rates improve even further.

Prepare Managers to Coach Effectively

The Sales Coaching System

Great coaching is the glue that binds these tweaks together. Equip your sales managers to coach their teams effectively on customer-centricity, ICP alignment, messaging, discovery, and navigating the buying process. Provide training that empowers managers to identify individual strengths and areas for development, offering targeted guidance for improvement. Effective coaching ensures that these minor tweaks become ingrained habits, leading to sustained excellence in your sales force.

Closing Thoughts

Of course, there is a lot more you can do to optimize your sales force and radically improve revenue plan attainment, quota attainment, and win rates. But as you navigate the intricacies of modern sales, remember that sometimes, the most significant impact can comes from seemingly minor tweaks. Fostering a relentlessly customer-centric culture, optimizing territories and approaches based on your ICP, refining sales messaging using the POSE model, deepening discovery skills, training on buying process exit criteria, and preparing managers to coach effectively—these are six simple tweaks keys that can unlock exceptional results.

If you have questions, issues, or just want to share successes, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me and let me know.

Thanks for reading, be safe out there, and by all means… let’s continue to elevate our sales profession and #MakeAnImpact With #Enablement! 

Mike

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About Mike

Mike Kunkle is a recognized expert on sales training, sales effectiveness, and sales enablement. He’s spent over 30 years helping companies drive dramatic revenue growth through best-in-class training strategies and proven-effective sales transformation systems – and he’s delivered impressive results for both employers and clients. Mike is the founder of Transforming Sales Results, LLC and works as the Vice President of Sales Effectiveness Services for SPARXiQ, where he designs sales training, delivers workshops, and helps clients improve sales results through a variety of sales effectiveness services. Mike collaborated with Doug Wyatt to develop SPARXiQ’s Modern Sales Foundations™ curriculum and also authored the SPARXiQ’s Sales Coaching Excellence™ course. His book, The Building Blocks of Sales Enablement, is available on Amazon and The Building Blocks of Sales Enablement Learning Experience is available through FFWD.

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Mike Kunkle