At the height of Covid the client called us to help them steady the ship in a very turbulent time in their business. Players in their industry were closing shop and those that were continuing most had very low sales.
Their industry that relied on office spaces and learning institutions was crumbling. To make it worse the company lost its long serving sales manager and two of their top sales people. It looked gloomy.
When they evaluated their options, they called us to explore if we could help them. We didn’t know how much we could help in their circumstances but they had more confidence in us having enjoyed our sales expertise in the years past.
We had length discussions about their plan that had been rendered irrelevant by the changing circumstances. But their goals for the year remained intact. None of their sales numbers was to be adjusted downwards. They had to achieve their targets with or without Corona.
Our broad involvement entailed supporting the existing salespeople to adjust their sales mentality and approaches in the Covid environment. I was to help them identify a sales manager from within its current business managers as well none of us recruit new salespeople to replace those who had left.
We picked the company accountant to be the new sales manager. We aligned his financial background and personality traits to what was key in managing the sales function. We trained him in the essential skills of managing a sales team in a crisis as well as how to navigate sales in the environment. He was a fast learner and he settled very well. He became a highly sought-after resource by even the most experienced salespeople to guide and support them in various areas they were stuck in the sales cycle.
We had one on one coaching sessions with individual salespeople where we helped each of them define an individualized plan to achieve their sales targets. We hired two new salespeople, onboarded them into the role, and had a number of sales training sessions with the whole group. We had monthly appraisal sessions with each team member.
On December 22nd, 2020 the company had an end-of-year activity where we celebrated achieving 94% of its target for the year. Not a single person was laid down because of COVID. There were no salary cuts. Every salary was paid on time and all suppliers paid.
Above that, we had built an inspired team that knew exactly what to do.
We don’t take all credit for this success. The business leaders believed it could be done. The staff was willing to play the part. This is critical because we are not magicians. Our approach is a collaborative one.
We work to ensure that there is buy-in by every person who will play a role in achieving the goals we want to achieve. That is why in our sales planning workshops we ask for representation from delivery drivers, machine operators, senior managers, salespeople, directors, and sometimes even customers so that everyone’s ideas are taken into account. They say a chain is as strong as the weakest link. This is also true in sales plans. The weakest link determines how much you can succeed.
In 2021 we are seeking to work with other businesses that have great products/services and high market potential but have yet to perform at their highest levels. We can happily discuss your sales situation.
Our sales experts are available to talk to you about your sales situation and give you free advice on what you need to do to resolve them.
Growth Partners is a sales consultancy firm will help and support you to achieve your highest possible sales results as well as address various sales challenges that stop your business from performing at its best.
We will help you identify and remove sales performance bottlenecks, optimize returns from your sales resources and identify unutilized and non performing sales assets in your business.
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