Smoothing Out Sales Performance

Feast or famine.

Great quarters followed by poor quarters.

It’s the bane of tech salespeople all over. Especially those focused on complex sales where the sales cycles are longer.

Is uneven sales performance just the nature of the beast? Or is it something we can correct? And if so, how?

Usually fluctuating sales performance isn’t caused by a lack of skill or product knowledge. It’s a pipeline problem. The number of active deals at different stages in their decision processes varies too widely.

The only way to close deals each quarter is to be opening new deals each quarter. Without a pipeline balance you’ll never achieve revenue balance.

Digging deeper, if pipeline irregularity is the problem, what causes that?

Two factors are the most likely culprits: Weak or non-existent systems or weak self-discipline. We either don’t have a reliable, high-performing process to follow or we lack the doggedness to follow it. And much of that lack of resolve is driven by fear of failure.

The good news is that much of that fear of failure can be reduced significantly when you have a good prospecting system.

If we’re going to have consistent revenue flow we need to have consistent prospect generation. And that means prospecting each month, no matter how busy you are.

But it’s easy to fall into the trap of doing it inconsistently. When we start out, our pipeline of prospects is empty so our focus is on filling it. Once it fills up, the pendulum shifts and our efforts are on working and closing the deals we uncovered. We get so busy doing that we shut off the pipeline replenishment part. And our pipeline drains out again.

If we’re going to smooth out our sales performance, we’ve got to smooth out our prospecting efforts. When your pipeline is empty, absolutely focus on filling it. Blitz prospecting is a valid strategy. But once you do fill it, don’t turn that faucet completely off. Keep it open just with less volume.

Here’s how that looks in practice:

No matter how busy you are, carve out two or three 30-minute sessions EACH week to find new prospects and nurture those who fit your profile but aren’t quite ready.

Below is an example you can follow. Just tailor the numbers to your situation:

Week 1

(1.) Create or reconfirm your Ideal Prospect Profile (characteristics of the best potential fits)

(2.) Create your Suspect List for contact, prioritized by how well they fit your IPP

(3.) Research 3 organizations on your suspect list and 3-4 individuals in those organizations

(4.) Create customized messages for each person

(5.) Send custom emails to those individual you researched

(6.) Follow up with customized phone calls 2 days later

Week 2

(1.) Follow up with emails and phone calls to those you reached out to the previous week but have yet to talk to

(2.) Research 3 new organizations on your suspect list and 3-4 individuals in those organizations

(3.) Create customized messages for each person

(4.) Send custom emails to those individuals you researched

(5.) Follow up with customized phone calls 2 days later

Week 3 (and beyond)

Repeat the week 2 process.

Essentially what you’re doing in this example is reaching out to (and following up with) 150 unique organizations at a rate of 3 per week. Modify those numbers up or down depending on your need. 

If you don’t have a consistent prospecting system today, try this one. What’s nice about this system is it’s easy to follow and after 4 weeks it can develop into a habit.

If you’ve been following me for some time, you know that I’m big on systems. Good systems not only save you time and energy, they help reduce fear, and make habit-forming easier. And, they can be measured and improved upon. You should have systems for every major part of your  job.

If you love working deals but hate prospecting, use a system like this so you can do more of what you love. 30 minutes of “pain” is a pretty good trade for 8 hours of more fun activities each day.

Have a great week!

Bob

P.S. If you’d like to hone your prospecting system or work on your prospecting skills, as an individual or as a sales team, reach out to me: [email protected] and I’ll give you a hand.