Adaptive Sales Teams
Design, Build & Grow "Recession Ready" Sales Teams
Sales 2.0 Is A Failure
FACT #1: Sales (revenue generation) is THE LIFEBLOOD of every company. It is the engine and fuel.
FACT #2: Many B2B companies fail because leadership does not prioritize this critical function.
FACT #3: Technology is, ironically, genociding sales effectiveness.
FACT #4: Many B2B organizations have developed an unconscious "anti-sales" (collective) mindset.
For many, they'd rather accept mediocrity or even go out of business than be "salesy"... whatever that means.
Let's get real, prior to the pandemic, Sales Teams were riding the gravy train. Selling conditions were, for the most part, not that challenging. More accurately, few business-to-business offerings required true selling skills.
Sales teams were/have been (mostly) filled with glorified order takers.
Despite that, during this period, sales effectiveness numbers tracked a 50%+ failure rate for "modern" sales teams (e.g. 5+ out of 10 reps never met their expected sales production numbers).
During the pandemic, B2B sales teams were forced to further integrate digital technologies into their sales processes. As Virtual Selling gained traction, sales under-performance got worse. The result: Sales Technology has atrophied many sales team's priorities, skills, mindset and, ultimately, their results.
Enter the current recession.
Inflation, increased interest rates, rising wages, supply chain issues… these are a few of the many ominous conditions organizing on the horizon. Many predict this will be a "Super-Recession" or, perhaps, a depression.
The main question Sales Leaders absolutely need the answer to is: Can (or better yet, will) your Sales Team "weather the storm"?
Will they survive? Or, will they thrive?
Do you think this all just hype?... That things will go back to "normal" after _______________ (< fill in the rationalization) ?
Maintaining this level of denial ensures catastrophic future results.
"Modern Sales" Is A Failure
So you did what all of the "experts" and "gurus" said to do and you're still struggling with consistent sales, profits and growth...And now, a "Super-Recession" looms.
What's next?
Why You Need to Be Adaptive (Even If You Think You Don't)
Sales Leaders confess that they are still struggling to get Virtual Selling to work for them; companies that relied on face-to-face interactions for sales activity (lead generation, prospecting, selling, and support) now have heightened operational complexities and deteriorating performance challenges.
Consider your business: does your momentum seem to have stalled?
Be honest. Do you feel like your company is going backwards or treading water rather than experiencing growth?
For “some reason”, are you unable to make it past that next million-dollar mark?
Aside from your capabilities as a leader, the next most likely stumbling block is your sales team.
The currently accepted model of encouraging sales people to wander the technocratic wasteland while "digitally chasing" dead opportunities is probably causing your people to fail repeatedly.
As a result, your reps are likely telling themselves untruths about how buyers “misbehave” and the industry is "not doing any business right now." or the most famous of them all: "Cold calling is dead".
Specifically, your business is hemorrhaging leads, market share, and revenue.
As a result, these distorted narratives lead to under-performance and ultimately, sales failure.
Well, "that’s sales", you may say. "Sales reps have always operated this way."
Not necessarily true.
What if, instead of being out on an island, all by themselves, your reps worked cohesively, together, as a high-performance remote sales team?
How would that look?
How would that work?
Successful Sales Teams Depend On It
Imagine sitting at your desk on Monday morning, knowing your sales team already has a list of hot leads to work on. Each of your reps is an expert in one specialty area of sales (or marketing), and they work as a team to close deals together.
Multiple salespeople are engaged with team-selected prospects and work together to qualify and convert them to paying customers. Communication among team members accurately reflects the conversations your reps are actually having with leads and prospects.Every well-qualified prospective client is receiving timely attention from the team, and lead generation never stops. The data in your CRM is accurate, complete and up-to-date, and teammates use it to guide their actions.
There is a built-in system of accountability: the sales team meets regularly to plan, get help, report progress, make adjustments and review goals and results. Everyone is dedicated to being the best salesperson they can be, and self-improvement is built into your team’s day — no additional development budget necessary.
This isn’t a typical sales force; this is a portrait of a high-performance sales team, one made possible by a revolutionary idea: Team Selling.
It means that each new sales opportunity belongs to the team, not to an individual rep.
It means that each salesperson is working in a role that plays to their inherent strengths.
Working as a connected, remote team increases engagement for your reps, while bringing down turnover.
Because it is adaptive, your sales force can adjust to change quickly. And because both group and individual accountability are essential parts of Team Selling, your entire sales force becomes a high-performance sales organization.
Let's Have A Conversation
Whether you've ever considered evaluating your sales organization or are currently attempting to implement another strategy, the Adaptive Selling framework provides a complimentary solution for overcoming the majority of modern selling's common shortcomings.
Take the next step and learn more.
It's complimentary (free) and will provide useful,
actionable information for your sales team's success.