Identifying key sales drivers and being able assess the health of those drivers is critical in building and successfully managing a sales force.  There are many staffing executives who believe that most sales issues begin and end with the quality of their sales force.  While the quality of sales personnel is an important factor it is not the only one. By not appreciating the other drivers, managers are vulnerable to making to poor hiring decisions, causing unnecessary turnover and consistent underperformance.

The book Building a Winning Sales Force defines these drivers within five different categories.    This blog will discuss those categories and why they all play an important role in the execution of your sales strategy.

Definers: A successful sales organization has clearly defined sales roles

Definers determine how your sales organization should be structured in terms of size, territories, and specific roles within the sales organization.  Definers are determined by the value proposition you are bringing to the marketplace and buyers you are targeting.  If you do not have your value proposition or buyers clearly defined then you have no sales strategy and therefore no way of knowing what drivers you may need.

Shapers: Hiring and developing the right people

Now that you know what your sales organization should look like you can now move to hiring and developing the right sales people.  Hiring sales people is not just a question of skills and experience, but of the right cultural fit. What is the right cultural fit?  Well that is something you need to define up front, because if you don’t your employees will, and you end up losing control of what you want your company to become.  Effective sales training is another important success factor of this driver.

Enlighteners: Giving your sales people the information they need to succeed

This driver focuses on processes and tools to allow you sales team to compete for customers, by providing them the information they need.  This driver is often overlooked by sales organizations that see process and tools as just something that slows their sales force down, which can be true if the tools are cumbersome and the processes too ridged.  However, great sales organizations know how to balance entrepreneurship with just the right amount of structure to compete.

Exciters: Inspiring and motivating your sales force

When it comes to inspiring a sales force there is nothing more important than a compensation plan that is aligned and strong sales management that couples motivation with accountability.  This driver focuses on ensuring that an organization has the elements necessary to motivate your sales people to achieve.

Controllers: An effective sales team is effectively managed

This driver focuses on the day to day sales management to ensure your team stays on course.  This driver includes the metrics and management procedures a company uses to focus and guide their team to greater success.

So before you choose to solve your sale woes by finding that elusive rainmaker, challenge how you manage, coach, and enable your team.  You never know you may have a rainmaker in the making and just don’t know it yet.