Sales Management: Do you have a sales management interview process that defines which sales candidate has the best ‘Right to Win’ for the sales position that’s being interviewed for?

In sales organizations located in competitive industries, the sales employee turnover water runs deep; averaging 30-70% per year. That results in a measurable hard-dollar cost, something you can actually put your finger on. But with the proper strategies, process and support tools that cost can be minimized with great returns. And it all starts with the interview process.

Sales Representatives: Do you have an interview strategy to diagnose if the company you are interviewing with is the right ‘Career Vehicle’ for you to make the money you want and get the recognition you deserve? Because it you don’t, you may find yourself in that sales employee turnover pool of 30-70%. And that’s not what you want on your next resume.

So let’s take a look at a way for ‘Both sides of the Table’ to discern if the sales position available is a mutual marriage for long term success.

It’s done through identifying Key Performance Indicators (KPI); individual gateways that directly effect the outcome of a particular process. Then they measure the competency ratios in line with them.

A good Key sales performance indicator example in the sales process might be how many times you advance the first sales appointment to the next phase, whether that’s a demonstration, a site visit, a survey or a proposal. Another KPI is how many times you gain a new customer once the first gateway is passed. And when you do gain a new customer, what’s the average revenue you achieve? That’s certainly an important KPI. Because if your average revenue per sale is 40% less than the average peer KPI, you might want to find out why and take focused action to improve it, as you’re leaving money on the table.

And what about the length of a sales cycle in days? Is that conditional or do you have a degree of control over it? If you have a team member that has an average sales cycle 30% shorter than the peer group, uncover and assimilate those best practices out to the rest of the sales team. Less time, more results. That makes ‘Sales Cycle’ a valuable KPI.