Setting the right sales goals isn’t easy and both individual and department-wide sales goals present unique challenges. A variety of internal and external factors can prohibit your ability to hit your sales targets but having a process in place makes goals more achievable. 

 

 

A solid sales strategy plan helps teams convert more prospects into paying customers. Here are six tactics you can incorporate into your sales strategy and processes to reach your 2020 sales goals. 

 

 

Audit Your Sales Pipeline 

 

Even if you’re hitting your sales quota, regularly conducting a sales pipeline audit will still be constructive. Teams that don’t conduct pipeline audits may continuously miss sales targets, which can lead to reduced employee morale. The goal of administering an audit is to find what’s working and fix anything that needs to be improved. From there, you’ll have the ability to optimize or eliminate weak links and build upon your strengths. 

 

Pipeline auditing is advantageous to sales managers and executives who are eager to understand their sales processes and pipeline at the micro- and macro-level. Both sales and marketing should be involved in the audit of your sales pipeline as both teams are revenue-generation focused and must work together to generate leads and establish healthy growth. Analyzing monthly, quarterly, and yearly performance will enable leaders to understand how to pivot strategy to meet goals. Here is a high-level overview you can use to get started: 

 

• Assess sales processes:  What are your current strengths and weaknesses? What is the lead handoff process from marketing to sales? Could that process be more streamlined? Are there any areas in your sales process where there are missed prospect opportunities? If so, identify all gaps and determine the necessary solutions. Also, make sure all teams are aware of the updates. 
• Evaluate sales technology: Does your team currently have all of the tools they need to succeed in their roles? Are there gaps in your sales pipeline that could be improved with the right technology? Evaluate what tools your business needs to reach its goals. 
• Review sales enablement materials: Review your existing sales enablement materials to ensure your sales team have the collateral they need to conduct meetings with prospects or to hand out at in-the-field events. 
• Judge the quality of leads in your CRM: Rate the quality of leads within a time period. Is marketing handing off leads to sales too quickly? Does sales have a backlog of prospects to contact?
• Audit reporting: Ensure you have the sales tools and metrics you need to optimize your success and make more informed business decisions. 

 

 

Use Emotion-Based Selling Tactics  

 

It’s important that your marketing and sales staff uses emotion and logic while engaging with leads and prospects online and offline. Dale Carnegie once said, “When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion.” What he meant was buyers are more likely to make decisions based on how they feel about you and the product, rather than by logic. In fact, award-winning sales blogger Geoffrey James says every buying decision is ultimately a combination of these six feelings:

 

• Greed: “If I make a decision now, I will be rewarded.”
• Fear: “If I don’t make a decision now, I’m toast.”
• Altruism: “If I make a decision now, I will help others.”
• Envy: “If I don’t make a decision now, my competition will win.”
• Pride: “If I make a decision now, I will look smart.”
• Shame: “If I don’t make a decision now, I will look stupid.”

 

 

Focus on Customer Conversions

 

Every tactic that marketing uses to attract, engage, and ultimately close new business is designed to convert prospects into customers and gain ROI. Increasing conversion rates at every stage of the prospect lifecycle is an effective method to drive revenue. Here are a few tips to fuel higher conversions:

 

• Use reporting to determine strengths and weaknesses
• Determine which campaigns or channels yield the highest conversions and optimize spend accordingly 
• Optimize ads and landing page copy 

 

 

Build Your Network

 

It’s likely you’ve heard the phrase, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Building a successful network helps sales professionals stay up to date with the latest selling techniques, while potentially reaching and engaging with new prospects. Social networking sites like LinkedIn, Plaxo, Ecademy, and Focus are excellent platforms to engage with people in your network and solicit new prospects. Posting industry-related articles on LinkedIn, Medium, or other sites is another tactic many professionals use to build their individual credibility. Additionally, your company could host networking events to build your sales representatives networks. 

 

 

Earn Customer’s Trust

 

People don’t trust companies anymore. In fact, according to Hubspot, 55% of people don’t trust the companies they buy from as much as they used to. In today’s society, consumers are much more likely to trust a review on a third-party review site, or advice from their friends, family, or coworkers. Here are a few tips to garner more trust from your customers: 

 

• Ensure sales reps are product and industry experts
• Don’t make promises that can’t be kept 
• Establish real, human connections
• Invest in sales training programs

 

 

Outsource Sales Efforts

 

Many companies hire a third-party sales team to fuel all or part of its sales engine. By outsourcing their sales efforts, businesses can hire experienced staff without employing in-house employees. An outsourced sales team will use your ideal customer profile, buyer personas, and targeting criteria to engage with your target audiences and work with you to drive sales and reach your designated goals.