Process Improvement with a Top Sales Training Program

A missing ingredient in many sales training programs is addressing the sales processes themselves, many of which actually fall in the realm of administrative functions and are therefore ignored by salespeople. However, without a cohesive sales process plan which is understood by the entire sales staff, even a group of top-notch individual salespeople will falter — because there is no real team.

The solution is to tailor these processes to your specific company’s needs, and then conduct training sessions to familiarize both staff and management and get buy-in from all levels – including the C-suite.

It’s no longer enough to focus on the individual salesperson’s skills: here are the 15 best practice marketing, sales and customer relationship processes that ASHER Strategies incorporates into its top sales programs for its customers:

1. Selection (using aptitude assessments) and training of customer-facing people

Put the right people in critical sales and customer service roles by using aptitude assessments. Then train them to excel for their specific roles.

2. Customer-care/account-management policies

Keeping customers happy not only guarantees repeat business, but also increases referrals. Asher’s process improvement does not stop when the sale closes because we know it costs six times more to attract a new client than it does to keep an old one.

3. Customer-feedback process

Your customers will explain to you how to do your job better, if you listen to them.

4. Strategic planning

Goals, objectives, mission statement, and tactical plans must all align, across all layers of management and departments. If your company presently struggles with this, we have a solution.

5. Strategic marketing

Branding, positioning, market segmentation, business intelligence, and growth strategies are key activities in this process area — all critical work to feed the sales team quality leads.

6. Internet Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

There are many myths surrounding this topic, and plenty of snake-oil salesmen too. It’s actually not that hard, but excelling in SEO and social media marketing requires some research and a plan to follow — which ASHER can help you develop.

7. Using CRM strategies to become customer-centric

Use powerful Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools to make managing customer expectations a much simpler affair.

8. Management of salespeople

Not every salesperson makes a great sales manager. Test for aptitude and then train on recruiting, interviewing, goal setting and incentive programs.

9. Customer-focused newsletters

Good old-fashioned newsletters delivered through first class postage have ironically become more effective as many companies have switched to e-mail only. Make sure your company is using both of these money-making tools effectively.

10. Marketing messages

Examine your marketing messages to guarantee they answer both the logical and emotional questions most buyers have and differentiate you from the competition.

11. Prioritization of opportunities

This sales process involves analyzing the ROI and probability of success for each deal, allowing your sales force to focus their efforts on the better opportunities, rather than chasing unprofitable or unrealistic ones.

12. 20-step new-business capture process

This is how the top organizations pursue large, new business opportunities. If you do not have a formal process for this, your company is at a disadvantage and probably bidding on the wrong jobs.

13. Sales process

We teach an easy-to-follow, 10-step sales process which will get even the greenest salespeople up and running.

14. Presentations

We teach an easy-to-follow, 10-step sales process which will get even the greenest salespeople up and running.

15. Proposals

Asher’s training in this area addresses how to put together effective executive summaries and other key points to have your proposals seriously considered.

Look back over the above list. Does your sales training program address these all-important processes?

If not, imagine what would happen if it did and your processes were all aligned to allow your sales organization to run at full speed, capitalizing on every lead with a superb sales force.

Let us work with you to make this happen. Contact ASHER Strategies to begin your company’s road to dramatically better sales results with our top sales training programs.