4 Reasons Why Your Sales Processes Are Going Nowhere and What Can Be Done

Many organizations put a lot of energy, time and focus on creating sales processes.

Once they are mapped out, the sales process becomes the backbone of the CRM, one of the key indicators of sales force performance and the driver of tools to facilitate sales and revenue generating activities.

However no matter how sound the sales process is when being developed and executed, if it gets wobbly in execution and is far from producing results, a few things can be at play.

The 4 main culprits that lie beneath the surface that can undermine a good sales process includes:

1. Customer segmentation across all customer types is off or is lacking

2. The sales processes lack an intuitive alignment with the CRM

3. Sales tools are lacking to gauge sales process effectiveness

4. Sales force competencies are unsupportive of the sales process

Let’s dig a little deeper in each of the above four in the order that most companies tend to troubleshoot these issues.

Spoiler alert: more than likely it is a combination of the 4, however the main driver tends to be the feet on the street lacks either the capabilities, proper business analytics/tools or consistent coaching to execute.

The Four Main Culprits

1. Customer Segmentation Across All Customer Types is Off or Lacking

While segmentation is primarily used to ensure the right customer is receiving the right message at the right time, segmentation impacts the sales process.

In fact, segmentation, along with the targeting strategies, serves as the ‘checks and balances’ for the sales process itself.

If segmentation is not in place, now is the time to consider it. While segmentation is perceived as being more for finding and strategically targeting your customers, it guides the sales process step by step.

For example, if you are sitting on a customer haystack filled with revenue generating needles scattered throughout, no matter how good of a sales process is in place, an airtight sales process leads you to nowhere if the accounts are a moving target.

If your sales force is calling on the wrong customers, does not know who the customers are, or the strategy for each segment is off, a solid sales process is unable to patch this.

2. The Sales Processes Lacks an Intuitive Alignment with the CRM

Segmentation is in place. The right things are being measured. Synergies are flowing between different customer types. The sales process is solid.

If the CRM system—including reporting, analytics, planning tools, call measurement and KPIs—does not mirror the sales process step by step,

The CRM serves as a check point for both effectiveness and ensuring that customers are moving along the sales process.

If it is missing tools, certain reporting features, or is 10 degrees off from the sales process, the CRM is unable to support even the most bullet proof sales process.

3. Sales Tools Are Lacking to Gauge Sales Process Effectiveness

Most sales tools are nestled in the CRM system. These tools include call measurement, stakeholder mapping, reports, business planning, annual strategy and quarterly objective planning.

If your sales force is not measuring call effectiveness as there is no tool to do so (or measuring it incorrectly, there is more here on correctly measuring a call), it is difficult to see how the sales process in moving along. Or where it is stuck.

Likewise, if account planning tools do not link well between the territory business plan, accounts and strategic stakeholders, it is challenging to see whether or not the sales process is working.

4. Sales Force Competencies Are Unsupportive of the Sales Process

Most companies tend to focus on selling skills (clinical selling, health economic selling, consultative/solution selling) and product skills when assessing the performance of the sales force.

However there are critical business acumen skills that should be measured, gauged and coached regularly to ensure the sales force you are sitting on can execute on the sales process.

Long term territory business planning, ability to interpret and apply data to decisions, strategic stakeholder management are the first that come to mind.

So even if you have the business acumen touchpoints well baked across your sales process and CRM, backed by solid segmentation and targeting, if the sales force lacks the capabilities to do it, a collapse can ensue.

Sales force competencies are one of the most challenging parts to assess.

It requires behavioral based competency models (with predictive behavioral analytics to boot) across all skills buckets (product, selling, business acumen and relational skills) to benchmark to evaluate where the gaps are. This includes a process with tools that are uniform across regions to do so.

As a side note, the mix of which sales force competencies drives revenue can vary from region to region (even between countries).

What Can Be Done

As mentioned in the 4 culprits, the spoiler alert main culprit is how a company approaches analyzing what is wrong.

Normally many go to looking at the CRM, then segmentation, then tools. CRM is the first easy target as it is more tangible, hence putting energy into fixing the CRM tends to go first as you can see the results of the fix immediately.

This is farther than the truth.

Because as you will see below, no matter what changes are made in the CRM system, how solid the segmentation is or what brilliant tools you have…

If your sales force does not have the business acumen capabilities to execute, the sales process only treats the symptoms and cannot provide the cure.

1. Identify Which Sales Competency Mix Drives Revenue, Benchmark and Coach

While it is easy to look at segmentation, tools, targeting and the CRM, overlooking the sales force competencies and how they facilitate the sales process may leave you out in the cold.

If you have stellar reporting features and business planning in the CRM, if the sales force is unable to interpret data and apply it to business planning (whether 3 year plans, yearly objectives down to the call objectives), the sales process is unable to fix this.

When you roll out a CRM system (or new functionalities), and the uptake is spotty, odds are the sales force lacks the competencies to utilize it across the sales process.

As mentioned earlier, sales force competencies are more than product skills or selling skills. Business acumen is the critical factor which includes a diverse set of skills in itself.

When you know the mix of competencies across all skills buckets (product, business acumen, selling, etc.), it creates the north star that IS the backbone of the sales process.

And when you benchmark against and consistently coach against the competencies, you clearly see what needs to be developed, what is missing, as well as the competency mix drives results down to the country level.

Essentially, the competencies guide the sales process, serves as its checkpoint, which in turn drives the CRM system and the tools required to facilitate the sales process. For a CRM alone cannot fix competencies that are missing or underdeveloped.

And the beauty of it all, sales competencies that are identified, coached and measured can point towards potential segmentation and targeting inefficiencies.

2. Double Check Your Segmentation, Segment Strategies and Targeting (and if there is none, make like a tennis shoe and ‘just do it’)

If you have segmented, double check your cut off points across all customers (whether key accounts, strategic partners, etc). Ensure that what you measure is on target as opposed to how your measure.

Make sure these cut off points line up across different customers (key accounts, prescribers, etc) so that you create synergies across customer bases, including making sure the segment strategies and targeting activities facilitates these synergies.

For example, you may have identified strategic partners that can drive revenue (and be a potential buy out partner) in unimaginable ways.

Yet if the Key Account segmentation, strategies and targeting is lacking alignment to support the strategic partner initiative, no matter how bullet proof the sales process is, the sales process is unable to fix it. If anything, the sales process

If segmentation is missing, more can be found on segmentation is here.

3. Sound Check the CRM System and double check your tools (and if there are none, create them… carefully)

The sales force has the competencies to execute. The segmentation is finely tuned and synergistic across the customer base. Yet it feels like you are 17 again, trying to learn how to drive a manual car. It is stop, go and sputter.

Look under the hood of the CRM.

Are the tools matching the sales process? Are they intuitive to the sales competencies, including facilitating and measuring thee competencies across all buckets?

For example, while the CRM may have the best reports and account planning tools, if the CRM lacks the ability to capture call performance measurements (which is a sales competency and should be a part of the sales process), the ability to assess what went wrong and what needs to be changed will be lost

Bringing It Together

No matter how solid a sales process is, if the sales force lacks the competencies, the CRM is missing intuitive tools or if the segmentation is spot on, the sales process may collapse.

If the business performance is lacking, new CRM functionalities are released and nothing is changing, you can rule out sales process as the driver with the following touchpoints:

1. Ensure the sales force has the competencies across all skills buckets (product, selling, business acumen and relational skills) with a solid, holistic and diverse behavioral based competency model with tools to benchmark, asses and coach against

2. Look under the hood of the CRM and ensure the tools are intuitive to the sales force competencies and support the sales process

3. Double check segmentation across all customer types and ensure the cut off points and targeting strategies create synergies across all customers

When the three above points are aligned, then you check the sales process for black holes or inefficiencies to ensure high performing execution from the ground to the top.

After many years in the biotech / pharma / medtech / healthcare AI sectors in various international commercial roles, Jen continues her entrepreneurial passion in helping small companies, niche companies, new to market and start ups harness the power of smart commercialization strategies and tactics to increase business performance.