Here are three ways that sales teams can adapt during Covid-19 with a little help from sales performance management software.

1. Keeping your sales team motivated

Many sales teams have competitions surrounding their sales performance goals, and this should be true while working remotely. Keeping your team motivated with additional bonuses and benefits will encourage them to stay focused at work, while also showing them that you understand the increased pressures of working remotely. Your existing sales targets can easily be adapted for remote working, especially if you have effective sales performance management software. Also, try these tips [https://commissionly.io/how-to-build-motivation-during-a-slow-period/] for building team motivation too!

2. Continue listening to customers

Listening to customer feedback is always essential, and if your work practices have had to change quickly, then it is important to understand how your customers feel about your new way of working. Ask your team to gather customer feedback, as it is essential to enriching the customer experience. This could be in the form of feedback sheets or questionnaires, but simple verbal feedback is also useful. This may not normally be the job of your sales team, but remind them how important it is, and implement the constructive feedback that you receive.

3. Increase internal communication

Because you no longer have a centralised place for your employees to gather, you need to ensure that they are still getting the important information they need. Everything from information from head office, all the way to new remote sales strategies need to be communicated in a timely manner. The best way to do this is through digital team meetings, where all the new information can be disseminated to the team quickly and efficiently, making sure no one is missed out.

At Commissionly, we are keeping our fingers on the pulse during these trying times. For more information about how our sales performance management software can help you, schedule a demo call with one of our team members: https://commissionly.io/book-a-demo/

1. Use real-life scenarios

Your salesforce will face different situations during sales. They may meet awkward people who are tough to handle and you can help them be familiar with these problematic situations. Practical activities, such as using real-life demonstrations or simulating conditions (https://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-design/simulation-for-sales-training-advantages), help improve the problem-solving ability of your salesforce. By testing them in these real-world situations, you get the necessary feedback to help your team improve their sales skills and feel more confident.

2. Create a continuous improvement culture

You should never forget that training your staff is a continual process. To meet your sales performance goals, you must use a system where you continuously review the performance of your salesforce on the ground. This action will expose any knowledge gap. Trends always emerge in the market, and you don’t want to be left behind. To help your team learn to adapt, you must also regularly refine your sales training methods. 

3. Identify individual needs

You should evaluate your staff’s training needs to identify problem areas. To do this, you can conduct individual performance reviews, personal interviews, or surveys. The information you get will help you know their weak points. This practice will make your training specific. You will prioritise on the relevant areas that add value to the overall performance of an individual. A personalised approach ensures you help an employee overcome a particular weakness during sales.

4. Use incentives

Your salesforce needs to be motivated to apply the training. You could set up a system that recognises those who succeed in applying the knowledge. It could be a commission-based system that appreciates their efforts. This action will push them to learn the concepts faster and earn their reward (https://www.commissionly.io/our-top-3-tips-to-break-your-sales-team-out-of-a-slump/).

Training will give your salesforce the mental edge they need to push your sales performance goals to a whole new level. So keep at it!

Sales roles are demanding, and at times can be demotivating. Frequent rejection, the frustration of being passed from pillar to post as you navigate companies to find your buyer, having a customer on the hook and losing them at the 11^thhour. It isn’t hard to understand how many sales reps can find themselves in a slump. Here are just a few tips on how you can improve the general morale of your sales team, and as a result, see a spike in employee performance. 

1. Training

Employee training is important, especially for salespeople. Regardless of their previous background in sales, if an employee does not intimately know what they are selling they are handicapped in the process. Invest in your employees, and ensure they are as knowledgeable as they can be about the products or services being offered and the differentiating factors of the company behind them. 

2. Bonus/commission

A bonus and commission are often the key motivators for people within a sales role, as these are often a big contribution toward the monthly pay an employee will receive. Investing in a sales commission software will take the difficulty out of commission, it will automatically show each individual employee what commission they are earning, as well as show the efforts of the team as a whole. Having a system with real-time updates shows employees exactly where they are at any given time and where their peers are, which is ideal for target setting. 

3. Friendly competition

Within a sales environment, a competitive atmosphere is essential to bring out the best in your sales team. By encouraging friendly competition, whether it be with work targets or a sports sweepstakes, this will encourage the right atmosphere needed to drive up those sales numbers. By being able to track their performance and their commission targets, employees will be able to reflect more easily on what is and isn’t working for them within sales.

4. A happy workplace

Finally, making sure your employees are happy within the workplace and feel as though they are valued and appreciated will do wonders for morale, improve retention levels as well as performance.

A strong sense of purpose

Some sales reps are motivated by a strong sense of purpose. They believe in the products and services they are selling and the benefits that they deliver to their customers. They are personally invested and delighted by the satisfaction their customers get from their products and services. Reps who are driven by a strong sense of purpose should be brought into the client feedback loop to champion their clients and provide insight into product and service development. 

Accountability and ownership

When people are involved in setting their own goals, they are more invested and more likely to achieve them. As much as the company will always have its overarching goals for the sales department, it is essential to allow individual reps to create sales goals that are SMART and map out their own plan to achieve success. Having personal targets that are aligned with the company’s goals helps to improve motivation and attainment. 

Autonomy

Whilst management at varying levels is required in most organizations, ‘micromanagement’ is often one of the reasons given when people chose to leave a position. Innovative, fast-moving business are recognizing the importance of self-management – working our clear goals with employees and giving them autonomy to deliver. Giving your sales reps some control over their own time manage, their daily schedules and the tools and techniques they use, without the need for a lot of bureaucracy may enable them to sore. 

The rapport between sales reps and managers

Managers and sales reps should work together to define best ways of work in term of communication, how they intend to handle supervision and feedback. For some reps, having a quick meeting with their manager every day is quite motivating while others find the weekly sit-down more helpful. It’s important to find out what works best for your team and personalizing the approach for each member in order to get the best out of them.

At Commissionly we offer a cloud-based sales commission and sales compensation management web app to help you motivate your sales team by using a commission-based payment structure. With a well-structured commission coupled with non-cash incentives, you can be sure that your sales team will deliver impeccable results.

Why that next call should be different

If a salesperson is making regular calls to established customers, then another saying should be front of mind. And it’s this: familiarity breeds contempt. However, this can be a bit harsh, so perhaps it should be adapted to: familiarity can breed indifference.

More of the same-old, same-old

There are many salespeople who are satisfied with a call to such a customer where the previous order is repeated. They measure this as a success – and it’s fair to say that, on occasions, this might be the best outcome that can be achieved. However, that isn’t the same as being in a comfort zone where this is simply the salesperson’s expectation.

Adding something new to a call

In the scenario just described, there can be a comfortable relationship between buyer and seller. Until, that is, another salesperson arrives on the scene behaving pro-actively. This individual is offering something new or different. This might be no more than paying proper attention to the client and their needs, rather than taking them for granted. 

So, what might the something new be? It could be a product or service, or an improvement on what’s currently on offer. However, it might be no more than taking time to ask questions of the customer, to find out how their business – and therefore their needs – might have changed or be changing.

Changing expectations and outcomes

By the simple showing of interest, rather than just taking them for granted, a salesperson can move their relationship up a notch with regular, or infrequent, customers. Even for a first-time call, the level of genuine interest shown can be a game-changer! Author Maya Angelou said it well when she suggested that “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 

The Commissionly cloud-based sales commission software app can offer evidence to managers of where the same-old is being accepted or an improvement is being striven for. To find out more about keeping a close eye on performance and more…

Not consulting stakeholders

A big mistake is giving the job of creating sales goals to one person and expecting them to complete it in isolation without consulting with other stakeholders. It’s important to find out how the needs of customers will impact your sales in the coming months, while also maintaining an awareness of the competition and the way their plans and marketing could impact you. Sales goal setting is a team effort, so make sure you have everyone pitch in.

Looking backwards instead of forwards

Although the sales history of your company can shed valuable insight into future trends, it’s important to be focussed on forecasting rather than reporting on what’s already happened. When it comes to sales goals, they need to be firmly grounded in where you’re going, not where you’ve already been.

Not giving employees an incentive to work harder

Your sales staff thrive on the commission you give them, the promise of earning more driving them to do a better job and earn more money for your business. However, by promising all your staff an increase in salary every year regardless of your financial situation, they may lose some of that enthusiasm. This could skew your sales targets, as your top performers may not perform quite as well. Make sure you reassess any commission or pay increases each time you set new goals and base them upon the current financial climate.

No room for flexibility

You might think that setting a goal and sticking to it is a good thing, but extreme rigidity actually limits you. You need to make sure your goals remain achievable and adapt as you realise which targets you’ll be able to meet and which you won’t. There’s no sense striving for a goal just because you set it at the beginning of the year if there are other areas that could benefit more from your time and energy.

Commissionly gives your salesforce real-time updates on performance, serving to motivate and challenge the whole team to achieve. We also provide insights and intelligence to your financial managers and leadership teams, helping you to forecast and strategically plan for the future. We work with SMBs and larger businesses around the world to help them to work smarter and achieve more.

To book your free demo or start a complimentary 14-day trial of our sales commission software simply contact our team anytime.

Tip #1: Revisit your sales roadmap and reset expectations

Anxiety can get the better of all of us sometimes, but salespeople can be particularly prone to it when they feel they can’t hit their targets. When this happens, and they push even harder to sell, the anxiety can paradoxically make their sales performance worse. To help this, try revisiting your annual roadmap and show your sales team that it’s okay to go through a lull in sales – especially if it’s early in the year. 

Tip #2: Give your sales team well-defined goals

One issue that can lead to a sales slump is a lack of clear goals. If your team doesn’t know exactly what they should be aiming for, it’s very difficult for them to judge how well they’re doing. This can then progress to a lack of confidence in their own skills – even if they’re excelling at their job! If you can help them to create sales goals, and perhaps do some commission tracking to keep them focused, you’re certain to see better results. 

Tip #3: Incentivise in the right way

Once you’ve got sales goals set the way you want them, you also need to consider how to keep your sales team on target. The answer to this is, of course, incentivisation – but how do you go about this? You’ll know your team better than anyone, naturally, but financial incentives in the form of commission are often the most effective solution. By tracking progress on a sales commission dashboard, your team will be able to stay focused and maybe even get some healthy competition going with their teammates! 

If you’d like to avoid the dreaded sales slump, it’s a smart idea to invest in sales performance management, which is exactly what Commissionly was created for. If you’d like to learn about our cloud-based sales commission software, simply contact our team anytime.

But whatever your reasoning may be, sales commissions are a critical element when it comes to devising a strong business plan. Here are three reasons why sales compensations are invaluable for corporate growth:

1. Motivate workers to make more sales

You may expect your employees to be committed to the future of the organisation. While this can be effective, you still can’t hope for workers to always perform at their peak with nothing but company goals to motivate them.

Your employees, like all humans, are certain to have their bad days. This is especially true when it comes to sales and marketing, where workers can face rejection and extreme competition throughout the day.

The stress factor can run high while they continue to make call after call while you figure out how to calculate sales targets based on their performance. A sales commission system can encourage sales representatives to focus on meeting specific sales goals, and enjoy rewards that they can grow and monitor through the business sales commission software.

2. Enhance team performance

A healthy and competitive work environment is essential for sales representatives to work towards the future together as a team. By fostering a competitive workplace that doesn’t clash with the company culture, employees are incentivised to perform their best when working towards achieving common goals.

This means that the sales goals met by each individual worker must come together to form unified targets that contribute to both departmental and overall corporate goals.

3. Analyse and recognise performance

Today’s sales departments are highly competitive environments where employees are happier for the value-based acknowledgement they receive from their peers. By recognising the sales performance of your workers, you pave the way towards better customer service, engagement and productivity. And since strong sales performance management can boost employee performance, it can actually be the difference between a successful and a losing marketing department.

Commission tracking software can play an important part in this, as it can be used to study the output of individual employees and create sales goals for the future.

Let’s look at why improving the way you communicate could give your sales team a boost:

1.) Don’t forget they’re human

When you’re managing a fast-moving sales team, it’s natural to focus on performance. In doing so, the team can become a lot like a machine, but it’s vital to remember that in reality, you’re dealing with a group of human beings.

They get tired, they get stressed, they have needs – and by addressing them with good communication, you can improve the sales team’s performance. Be sure to take the time to speak to each of your salespeople individually – and not just about their work.

2.) Ensure sales goals are clear and concise

There’s nothing more frustrating for a salesperson than an unclear or nebulous goal – and because salespeople tend to be goal-focused, this can result in stress and a reduction in performance.

When communicating with your sales team, ensure that you’ve been clear about what their goals are and what success looks like. If this means you need to work with them to create sales goals which work better for them, so be it – it’ll benefit your bottom line, after all. 

3.) Double-check they’ve got the tools they need

Another key to supercharging your sales team via communication is to make sure they have the tools and materials they need to succeed. If they’re pitching to a prospect and they don’t have the correct printed materials or resources, it could result in lost business for you – and this could have been avoided with better communication.

It’s a smart idea to set up a central location where your sales team can find all necessary collateral they need to make those sales.

If you need a little help meeting sales targets or motivating your sales team, consider a compensation software like Commissionly. With an easy-to-use design that’s accessible to all, it makes communication with your sales team an absolute breeze.

Avoid full commission

There are some circumstances where this type of structure works but, for the most part, full commission is typically only beneficial to sales staff that can’t get other sales jobs or someone that doesn’t require a full time income. Do you really want to entrust your sales to these types of salespeople?

Reward positive behaviour

Some compensation packages fail because employees that miss targets, and don’t meet their employment requirements, continue to receive commission for their sales. This basically means that they are being rewarded for failing.

Offer incentivised rewards for behaviour that you want to see repeated. This also means targeting the goals that are important to your business – if you want to attract more long-term business, offer additional compensation for customers that sign up and stay with the business for the next 6 months.

Choose the right commission level

Commission rates can vary from 1% to 10%, as a typical rule. Use existing sales figures and bear in mind that a good rule is that your top salespeople should be earning as much from their commission as they do from their basic salary. Use this guideline to determine the amount of commission that you pay. 

Pay quickly

Paying commissions quickly will feel like an additional bonus to your salesforce. The perception of reward is greater when the reward comes hot on the heels of the success. The brain recognises that it is being rewarded for the recent action it performed, so people will be more inclined to make additional sales and reach additional goals, if you pay quickly and reliably.

Be transparent with your team

Whatever commission rate, payment terms, and other commission structure you decide on, ensure that you communicate the details with your team. You can also use your sales compensation software to provide individual reports to every one of your sales team. Regular reports enable your salespeople to identify their strong and weak points, so that they can make improvements, or continue to provide the best results for their efforts.