When your sales team loses focus, there’s often a breakdown in tools, processes or content. Often the culprits are cumbersome administrative processes and a lack of internal alignment around message and sales execution. Bottom line, you need your reps spending as much time as possible selling.

Here are several action steps you can take to ensure your team is focused on the high-value activities that move the needle.

Ensure a Clear Sales Process

The best thing you can do to help your sales team refocus is to ensure they have a simple, predictable and repeatable sales process to work with. When reps don’t have clarity on what to do and when in the sales process, they’re bound to work less efficiently as they maneuver through creating their own qualification and sales stages. Your managers are also wasting time trying to figure out how to best help reps move deals forward or sometimes more importantly, qualify them out.

Streamline Planning and Forecasting Activities

Accurate forecasting and sales planning increase the odds of your team hitting their quotas. A structured, streamlined and consistent approach for forecasting simplifies this important planning activity for reps. Less time trying to decipher uncertain processes means more time spent working to achieve them. The ability for a manager to look at a dashboard that tells him/her everything they need to know about pipeline and current opportunities is invaluable.  Ensure your reps and managers have access to consumable information that is easy to understand and utilize in planning and executing sales.

Structure Coaching and Feedback Processes

Similarly, front-line managers are able to dedicate more time to coaching reps toward quota attainment with a streamlined operating rhythm. A concise, predictable approach to coaching reps to success ensures that reps spend more time selling and managers spend more time focused on helping reps close deals.

Conclusion

Giving your team a greater sense of control with a manageable selling process is the key to helping them refocus. Streamline processes for both reps and managers, structure coaching and feedback systems for consistency, and monitor activity throughout the pipeline.