How do you identify the root causes of sales performance gaps?

1 Define your goals and metrics

Before you can measure the gaps, you need to define what you want to achieve and how you will track your progress. You should align your sales goals with your business objectives and your customer needs. You should also choose relevant and realistic metrics that can reflect your sales performance, such as conversion rates, average deal size, customer retention, and satisfaction scores. These metrics will help you compare your current and desired outcomes and identify the areas that need improvement.

2 Assess your sales competencies and skills

The next step is to assess the level of competencies and skills of your sales team. You should identify the key competencies and skills that are required for your sales process and your target market, such as product knowledge, communication, negotiation, problem-solving, and customer service. You should also evaluate how well your sales team demonstrates these competencies and skills in their daily activities, using methods such as observation, feedback, tests, surveys, and self-assessment. This will help you determine the strengths and weaknesses of your sales team and the gaps in their knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

3 Analyze your sales resources and support

Another factor that can influence your sales performance gaps is the availability and quality of your sales resources and support. You should analyze how well your sales team is equipped and supported with the tools, systems, processes, and information they need to perform their tasks effectively and efficiently. You should also examine how well your sales team is aligned and coordinated with other departments, such as marketing, product development, and customer service. This will help you identify the gaps in your sales infrastructure and environment that can hinder or enhance your sales performance.

4 Identify the root causes and prioritize the gaps

Once you have collected and analyzed the data from the previous steps, you should be able to identify the root causes of your sales performance gaps. These are the underlying factors that explain why the gaps exist and what needs to change to close them. For example, the root causes of your sales performance gaps could be related to insufficient training, outdated systems, unclear processes, mismatched incentives, or poor leadership. You should also prioritize the gaps based on their impact, urgency, and feasibility. This will help you focus on the most critical and achievable gaps and plan your improvement actions accordingly.

5 Design and implement your improvement actions

The final step is to design and implement your improvement actions based on the root causes and priorities of your sales performance gaps. You should tailor your improvement actions to the specific needs and goals of your sales team and your business. You should also involve your sales team in the design and implementation process to ensure their buy-in and commitment. Some examples of improvement actions are providing training, coaching, mentoring, or feedback; updating or introducing new tools, systems, or processes; revising or clarifying roles, responsibilities, or expectations; or rewarding or recognizing achievements or behaviors. You should also monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of your improvement actions and adjust them as needed.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?