How to Build a Successful Sales Strategy

Whether you’re selling cutting-edge software or the best cupcakes in town, you need a streamlined sales strategy to hit your revenue goals. A good strategy keeps your team focused on delivering value to buyers instead of spending time on admin tasks like setting up processes and sales tech stacks.

A great high ticket closing strategy starts with defining your ideal customer archetype. From there, it sets revenue goals that align with your company vision.

Analyze Your Previous Sales Records

A good sales strategy is built on solid data, which requires an in-depth analysis of your previous results. This allows you to determine what worked and what didn’t, so you can improve your current plan based on real data.

It’s also a good idea to set sales KPIs, or benchmarks, for each of your reps. The SMART model is commonly used for setting these goals, which means that they should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable and Relevant. This prevents handing out arbitrary quotas that will only demoralize your team.

If your company sells multiple products, you can use historical transaction data to identify which ones are most effective in closing deals with your clients. This can help you narrow your product portfolio, too. If one of your products isn’t performing well, consider using structured customer interviews or surveys to find out why. Then, focus your efforts on the products that your customers want and need. This will increase your revenue and make your business more profitable.

Focus on a Small Audience

Whether your team is selling cutting-edge software or the best cupcakes in town, a streamlined sales strategy will help them meet revenue goals and provide a better customer experience. The first step in building a sales strategy is to select the right market segment to focus on.

This can be done using audience research and buyer personas. These tools allow sales reps to focus on the audience that needs your products and create content that speaks directly to them.

Without a sales strategy, business owners can set unrealistic growth expectations for their regions or individual reps. This leads to poor morale and increases the likelihood of bringing in customers who aren’t a good fit for your business. Creating a sales strategy gives you clear revenue goals that everyone understands and works toward together, helping you avoid a shipwreck. Getting there takes time and effort, but the results are worth it.

Gather Feedback from Your Audience

Whether it’s requested or unrequested, feedback from your audience is critical to improving your sales strategy. You can collect it via polling, surveys, or even just by observing their behavior during your presentations. For instance, the less time they spend looking at their notes or at the EXIT sign at the back of the room, the more they’re communicating to you.

Use this feedback to improve your presentation’s content and delivery. You can also leverage it to create a reliable sales process that eliminates unqualified leads from your pipeline.

For example, you might use revenue benchmarks to boost team morale and provide a clear number everyone can aim for. Or, you might use SPIN selling methodology to help your reps build trust with clients and close complex deals. For both of these, it’s important to communicate the results clearly so that your team can understand what they’re doing right — and what they need to work on.

Set Goals

When you’re ready to set sales goals for your team, it’s essential to ensure they are both realistic and achievable. Start with the annual revenue target that you want your company to hit, then work backwards to determine how many sales, demos, SQLs, calls and other activities will be needed in order to achieve this goal.

Next, make sure the resulting sales goals are attainable for your team members to accomplish based on their skills and abilities. Setting a large goal that is impossible to reach will only discourage your team and lead to failure. You can also break up your overall sales goals into smaller increments that are easier to manage and track. This will help you and your team feel more comfortable with the goals they are trying to achieve. For example, one common sales goal is to reduce the amount of lost business due to no-decision losses. This can be accomplished by training your team on when it’s best to nudge hesitant customers further along in the sales process.