Measuring team and individual progress toward meeting performance goals is the foundation of an effective and winning sales process. Productivity factors are established for each phase of the sales process and are consistently measured and evaluated. These include win rates by phase, the elapsed time to execute each phase, the average value of a sale, and the remaining months in the sales year. The productivity factors inherent in the Sales Productivity Index (SPI) are the subject of this blog.
The foundation of a winning sales process
The sales process is designed for salespeople to engage buyers (individual members of the buying team) through a rational process by helping them diagnose a specific problem or issue using the Power Index, and then work to determine what was causing it to exist.
Each phase within the sales process consists of a phase description, which is generic to the process. However, the specific selling activities that must be performed in each phase and the associated productivity factors can be different for each company. This should be configured based on your selling environment and how buying decisions are made. The specific selling activities and productivity factors shown in the Winning at SaaS book are examples of what you might configure for your company.
These are the objectives we’re trying to achieve:
- Improve the sales win rate.
- Compress the sales cycle time.
- Eliminate “no decisions.”
- Accurately forecast new business.
- Measure and improve the key criteria affecting sales performance.
The sales foundation consists of the following four components:
- The sales process.
- The Power Index to uncover buyer needs and issues.
- The Sales Productivity Index (SPI) to measure team and individual progress toward meeting performance goals.
- Sales reporting and pipeline review.
The Tafaro Growth Accelerator sales process which includes a planned system of measurable and repeatable selling steps a salesperson is required to perform. The process consists of five phases: Qualify, Verify, Position, Solve, and Confirm.
Each phase incorporates selling steps and tactics that must be performed before moving a prospect to the next phase. By executing the process, salespeople will improve the accuracy, speed, and efficiency of the actions they can control. As they gain experience with the process, every interaction with a buyer will have greater impact and contribute to the objective of building long-term, profitable customers. These activities are based on scientific research about how people buy and how buyers mentally construct buying decisions.
The Sales Productivity Index
In addition, productivity factors are established for each phase of the sales process and are consistently measured and evaluated. These include win rates by phase, the elapsed time to execute each phase, the average value of a sale, and the remaining months in the sales year. The productivity factors are used to produce the Sales Productivity Index (SPI).
The Sales Productivity Index is a foundational element to the process that will enable you to track and measure sales productivity at both an individual and team level. The SPI shows the importance of everything working together to achieve maximum performance.
The SPI will enable you to track and measure sales productivity at both an individual and a team level. By comparing individual or team performance against the productivity factors that were established when the Tafaro Growth Accelerator was configured, the SPI will show the number of opportunities (by units and value) that are required in each phase of the sales pipeline, plus the times the pipeline must turn, to meet a sales objective (note that the number of times the pipeline should turn is based on the Verify Phase).
In addition, by comparing actual results (actual SPI) against the target SPI, individual and team performance can be measured, the areas requiring remediation can be improved, and the cost of noncompliance reduced.
Tafaro Growth Accelerator workshop helps salespeople align your solutions with prospect needs
The workshop designed around the Tafaro Growth Accelerator™ focuses on teaching salespeople how to personalize and configure the system to align with the unique needs and objectives of your business and your customers’ buying behavior. By exploring foundational elements and principles, your sales team will learn how to effectively identify and nurture leads, engage in meaningful interactions, and develop and execute a sales process that addresses the specific needs of the prospects.
We emphasize value-based selling, where the solutions offered are directly tied to the strategic goals and challenges of the prospect. This approach not only improves the alignment of solutions with the prospect’s needs but also enhances the overall sales effectiveness, leading to better preparation and more successful engagements.
Get started: If you’re ready to get started, schedule a workshop with Steve using the form below.
