A consumer good company faced a challenge situation in terms of human capital. Despite the company’s growth, its sales division faced challenges in achieving consistent revenue targets and maintaining a high level of performance across the sales team.
The company’s sales team, consisting of both experienced professionals and newer hires, and was responsible for driving revenue through both direct sales and channel partnerships. However, the sales team lacked cohesion, and there was a disparity in performance among team members. Top performers consistently exceeded their targets, but many others struggled to meet expectations.
We interviewed employees from director to sales staffs. We found not only disparity but also a lack of measurement and clear KPI (Key Performance Indicator) to track their progress. There was no structured way to measure individual performance consistently, making a confusion about expectations and accountability.
for salespeople to track their progress. Sales targets were vague, and there was no structured way to measure individual performance consistently, leading to confusion about expectations and limited accountability.
The strategy focused on improving sales processes, enhancing communication, providing targeted training, setting clear expectations, and creating a more motivating environment for the sales team:
1. Setting Clear and Measurable Goals and KPI: Creating sales targets and KPIs for each salesperson. Sales goals were broken down into smaller, achievable targets, such as monthly quotas, conversion rates, and customer retention metrics. These KPIs were tracked and reviewed regularly.
2. Developing Incentive Program: Performance-based incentive program, which included monthly and quarterly rewards for top performers, as well as team-based goals to encourage collaboration. In addition to financial rewards, recognition such as “Salesperson of the Month” was introduced, with employees being publicly acknowledged for their contributions.
3. Training & Development Program: Program was tailored to different levels of sales experience. New hires received a structured onboarding program that included product training, sales techniques, and role-playing exercises. More experienced salespeople participated in advanced training sessions focused on strategic selling, negotiation, and closing techniques. There was also sales coaching and mentoring program.
4. Performance Tracking: A new sales performance tracking system was implemented, which allowed both managers and salespeople to track progress in real-time. The system provided detailed reports on sales performance, including conversion rates, and average deal sizes.