As the economic activity tightens, software companies who prioritize sales management and SaaS sales training will gain market share as weaker competitors evaporate.

At Peritus, we love marketing.  We know first-hand how it can feed actionable insights to sales teams and help drive revenue growth.  However, you can’t solve a sales problem with a marketing solution.  Every single client we see that consistently hits revenue targets has one thing in common: a well-oiled, disciplined Sales team.

As macroeconomic conditions tighten, businesses will be increasingly focused on protecting their bottom line. One of the key ways to do this is to closely scrutinize revenue goals. This means that Sales leaders will be under even more pressure to meet their targets. In order to achieve this, they will need greater discipline within Sales organizations. This will require a focus on sales activity as the leading indicator of sales results and hitting revenue targets. The good news is that those SaaS companies who prioritize sales management will be prepared to benefit from available market share as weaker competitors fall by the wayside.

Sales leaders need a methodology for enforcing accountability.

As a sales leader, you know that accountability is key to success. Without it, your team will quickly fall behind and fail to meet their quotas. Unfortunately, enforcing accountability can be difficult, especially if you don’t have a method in place.

To get started you need well thought out series of checkpoints to maintain accountability for the leading indicators like call activity and completed Demo Requests.  By emphasizing activity metrics, you can help your team to understand that sales activity is a precursor to results and coach them on how to achieve their goals. In addition, saas sales training increases performance, making it easier for your team to meet its goals.  As a result, saas sales training and regular checkpoints are essential tools for any sales leader who wants to enforce accountability and ensure success.

An easy-to-follow SaaS sales training and management method.

Monthly Review

A monthly one-on-one sales meeting is a chance for you to catch up on how your team is doing. It’s a more informal meeting than your quarterly or annual performance review, so it’s a good time to ask any questions about your sales rep’s progress or objectives. It’s also an opportunity to share any concerns you have about activity or strategy. One strategy for running monthly one-on-one meetings is to use the GROW coaching model.  The GROW model empowers the sales rep to set their own goals, brainstorm on potential solutions and then accept accountability for making it happen.  The steps in this model are as follows:

• Goal (aspirations) – forget quotas, what are they in it for?
• Reality (current obstacles or situations) – what might prevent them from achieving their goal?
• Options (strengths, resources) – here’s where you brainstorm together.  Be sure to let them know that there are no right or wrong ideas and that they don’t have to commit to every suggestion.
• Way forward (accountability and personal actions – what, when, by whom, and the will to do it?)

Weekly One-on-One

The weekly one-on-one is a short, informal meeting that you use to track activity and measure results.  The point here is to refer back to the Way Forward commitments made in your monthly meeting. You can benefit greatly by crafting an agenda or weekly report and asking reports to track activity and prepare in advance.

Weekly Team Meeting

Team goals, organization wide communication, review of current campaigns/ initiatives.  Work to tie to marketing campaigns, messaging, trade shows, promotions, etc.

At your weekly team meeting, you should touch base on current goals and see how everyone is progressing.  This is also a great time to share any new ideas or insights that could help move the team forward.  You can also use this time to review any current campaigns or initiatives that Marketing is working on. This helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that you’re making the most of your resources. Finally, we use this meeting as an opportunity to communicate with other teams in the organization. This helps to ensure that Sales is aligned with company-wide goals and aware of any new developments. By taking the time to communicate openly and regularly, you can stay focused and make sure everyone is working towards the same goal.

Lunch & Learn

SaaS sales training should be the primary focus on lunch & learn meetings. This can be virtual or in-person.  Focus these meetings on role playing to develop muscle memory through repetition.  Role playing is a great way for salespeople to learn how to handle customer objections, understand customer needs, and practice their product demonstration skills. SaaS sales training that focuses on role playing will help salespeople become more successful in their sales career.  Sales leaders who offer good training do a better job in retaining and attracting top performers.

The Daily Standup

This is a 5-minute review of daily activity goals.  Its part pep rally and partly a reminder that activity begets results as sure as night follows day.  Emphasize that nothing happens until you pick up the phone and engage with prospects.  Any top producer will tell you, that despite tools like Outreach campaigns and marketing automation, there is no replacement for building relationships – and that telephone follow up is the number one tactic to establish long-term rapport.  The primary reason behind this is that conversations (telephone, Zoom, face-to-face) allow for dynamic (two-way) conversations.

Sales team maintenance is dynamic not static.

In any sales organization, there’s always going to be a certain amount of turnover. People leave for other opportunities, or they just don’t work out and have to be let go. As a result, sales leaders need to continually recruit new talent to keep their teams at full strength. This can be a challenge, but it’s necessary in order to maintain a high-performing sales force. The best way to find quality candidates is to tap into your network of industry contacts. Personal referrals are always the best way to find good salespeople. You can also try using online job boards or attending recruiting events. By taking a proactive approach to recruitment, you can ensure that your team has the talent it needs to succeed.

Sales enablement tools contribute to better sales performance.

Sales enablement tools help salespeople to be more effective in their jobs. For example, a BDR Playbook provides:

• Mission statement, company history, and leadership overview.
• BD team overview.
• Call Engagement Kit.
• Comp plan detail.
• Lead qualification.
• Call scripts.
• Value propositions.
• Objection handling.
• Competitive positioning.

This, in turn, leads to better sales performance. In addition, sales enablement tools can help to improve communication between sales teams and other departments within a company. By providing a central platform for sharing information, these tools can make it easier for everyone to stay on the same page and work together more effectively. As a result, companies that invest in sales enablement tools tend to see an improvement in their overall sales performance.  Learn more about how Peritus can help you develop a BDR Playbook.

As the economic activity tightens, software companies who prioritize SaaS sales training will benefit from the failure of weaker competitors.

Recessions punish weak companies while simultaneously creating an opportunity for stronger competitors to gain market share.  A robust SaaS sales training plan will allow you to capitalize on the failure of weaker competitors. The first step is to identify the specific skills and knowledge that your sales team needs in order to be successful. Next, you’ll need to create a training program that will teach these skills and knowledge in an effective and efficient manner. Finally, you’ll need to implement a management methodology to monitor progress so that you can make adjustments as needed. By following this plan, Sales leaders can help their organizations gain market share, even in a difficult economy.