If you’re wondering whether your sales force is “good,” basing your measure on quota attainment alone is probably not the best way to look at the issue. In fact, quota attainment just raises more questions: Is the revenue you’re getting the right revenue? Are your salespeople selling the right solutions, to the right customers, in the right way? How comfortable are you that your team would be successful at launching new products, attacking new markets, or calling on a different customer set?
How trainable is your sales team? A “good” sales force is adaptable to changes that occur in the marketplace and to new assignments your company asks them to take on. How flexible is your team when called upon to make necessary changes in their sales approach?
IF YOUR SALESPEOPLE AREN’T ADDING VALUE, WHY DO YOU NEED THEM?
Would you consider your sales force a competitive weapon? All of us want a sales force that gives us a genuine competitive advantage—a sales force that adds significant value to our solutions. But, if that’s the case, then the question becomes: How capable is your sales force at differentiating your products and services…even when they aren’t very different? If your salespeople can’t do that, then how do they add value-and, to be blunt, why do you need them…?