Most managers think they know how to set sales targets and quotas, but did you know that the formula should change depending upon the time of year that you are in? Buying habits change throughout the year, and when it comes to Christmas, more people are likely to spend money.

Knowing this, managers should adjust their sales goals at Christmas. Setting individual targets for each employee can help to maximise their motivation and performance.

But how do you know what types of goals to set?

Jump on Christmas sales

If you know that sales usually increase by 15% over the Christmas period, then it’s a fair assumption that your individual performance targets for employees can increase by 15% too. In order to understand such fluctuations, requires looking at the sales data over the past five years, to get an accurate value. Looking at sales data for the previous year will produce less accurate information to work from. It’s also worth comparing data across the whole industry. So take a look at this BBC article as a starting point!

Do something different this year

Are you doing anything different this year to boost sales? For instance, a boxing day sale or a Christmas promotion. These possibilities need to be taken into account. Do some research as to whether other businesses promotions have increased their sales. If there is a trend, then consider incorporating this into your sales goals.

Remember that many stores are likely to experience increased footfall over the Christmas period too, so this may give you a sales boost. Consider your conversion rate, and use this to estimate how many customers you can encourage to buy.

Focus on employees

Remember that employees are likely to be in a different mental space during the Christmas season. Staff who love Christmas can easily get their customers into the festive spirit. These are the best people to have on shift. Other sales team members may be feeling under pressure because they have families that rely on them. So it is important to consider their needs over the holiday time. An employee that is stressed by things going on at home will be less productive.

After having considered all of these, you may realise that you require a more accurate and metric-driven plan. If this is the case, then you need Commissionly! Our easy to use system allows real-time information to be used to calculate sales goals, targets and performance management, all which can help your business thrive. For more information, take a look at Commissionly today!

The sales commission dashboard is fast becoming the most popular way to track and analyse sales. The benefits this little tool can bring to your business far outweigh the time it takes to implement. More importantly, when using a sales dashboard, teams report better workflow and a more knowledgeable approach to sales.

Will it work for you? The following are the most impactful benefits that come with using a sales commission dashboard.

On the spot analysis

Analysis is a great way to move your sales strategy forward. It is essential to a good business plan. Whether you are a team leader or a CEO, you will come to rely on it when decision-making. But analysis usually takes time, creating a gap in the flow between the data and your company’s reaction. This gap costs you profit: sales dip and your commission staff drag their feet. A sales commission dashboard solves this problem. Because it offers real-time analysis of commission, sales and staff performance, your company’s reaction to changing sales will be lightning-fast and the best it’s ever been.

Comprehensive management

Performance management is key to a sales company running on commission. Sales data can vary wildly between staff, with down-turns quickly snowballing. Therefore, it is key that you keep tabs on how your sales team is performing. The sales commission dashboard is an excellent way to compare the sales contributions of individual staff. It allows you to react quickly to a dip in sales performance and buoys up your sales data. More than this, it allows you to respond to high sales performances quickly, which is encouraging for sales teams. This results in a virtuous circle of positive competition, and better sales.

Optimising your forecasting data

Forecasting is ever-present in every sales meeting. The sales commission dashboard is an easy way to sift data, move analysis forward, and present a persuasive set of forecasts to the team. It is necessary in providing an easy guide to future sales techniques, and in setting meaningful goals for your team.

Most sales managers spend a lot of time thinking about how to set sales goals. This is important, of course — but many don’t consider how their sales process fits into this task. If this sounds like you, here are five reasons you need to work on your sales process:

1. It provides your team with a framework to meet their sales targets

Whilst it’s important to allow your sales team some flexibility, an established framework makes your team more efficient. It gives them repeatable steps to follow — guiding the customer from a prospect to a sale.

2. It quickly integrates new members of staff into the team

A defined sales process minimises the time it takes to get new salespeople on board. They can observe the process in action, and quickly identify how they will fit into the business.

3. It defines how software fits into the equation

Software, like our sales commission software, can improve your sales process. It reduces time spent monitoring, tracking and calculating commission — freeing up more time for your team to focus on revenue-generating tasks. When you have a defined process, it’s easy to identify to see how software can help.

4. It helps identify areas for improvement

Similarly, a defined process helps you identify areas for improvement across the entire team. Are there any sticking points? Where are most prospects leaving the process? How can you tighten it up even further? All of this will help you learn how to set sales goals that actually get results.

5. It uses a proven approach to generate more sales

When you consider how to set sales goals, do you think about how your team will achieve them? A defined sales process gives your staff a proven approach to follow. This increases the likelihood they will hit their targets, giving you scope to improve them year-on-year to focus on what matters — increasing profits.

Crafting a good sales pitch is not an easy task, yet it is probably the most effective tool for closing sales and growing your clientele. That means delivering a good presentation is critical and can make all the difference in achieving your sales goals targets. Successful sales reps consider their technique an art form. To help you match up, here are five essentials of a good sales pitch:

1. Focus on the customer’s interest

Remember to pivot your argument around the customer’s interests. That means selling the experience rather than the product. Describe how your services or products will solve the customer’s needs. The most important thing to your prospect is that their demands are met. 

2. Structure the pitch around clear objectives

From the moment you open with a “hello”, every statement should lead you closer to your objectives. Define a clear list of objectives and work out how to get to each of them organically. Deviations from these objectives could make the pitch unproductive.

3. Share your insights

Share your insights and opinions whenever there is a chance. This makes the pitch feel more like a friendly conversation with an actual human being, rather than a sales presentation. If possible, share a positive story about how your service or product has helped someone.

4. Personalise every pitch

Everyone likes to feel special – your customers are no different. Effective sales presentations should therefore be personalised to your prospect. Learn their name and use it often, and try to find out about them and ask questions. Of course, there’s a fine line between interested and intrusive, so be respectful.

5. Give your customer time to respond

It’s generally said that a sales rep should never take “no” for an answer. However, there’s nothing more offputting than a hard sell. Allocate enough time for your customers to have an input in the conversation. Listen to them and encourage responsiveness by asking questions that give you an opportunity to address their pain points. Finally, if they’re unwilling to commit there and then, make a firm date to follow up with them.

When combined with targetted sales goals and sales commission software, these tips for delivering a good sales pitch will have you primed to enjoy greater success. Speak to us to learn more about our sales commission software that makes commission tracking easy and precise.

So, it’s the beginning of the month and you need to find a way to hit that all-important commission target. 

Read on for four strategies to boost your client retention, ensuring that you have guaranteed business every month *before* you start dialling out on those “BD” calls: a client retention playbook, if you will.

1. Listen

A trait of many sales professionals is the ‘gift of the gab’. When you’re on the phone or in a meeting with a client, carefully listen to what they’re saying and take it on board. Enter into a conversation with them, rather than rushing into a sales pitch, and respond to what they need in a meaningful way. This will help you build strong, positive sales relationships that go the distance. You never know – it could even lead to referrals!

2. Do your research

Make sure that you have thoroughly researched the company you are selling into. Client retention is so much more likely when it is obvious that you have taken the time to find out what matters. As well as a company website, there’s social media, forums, business blogs, press releases, and many more ways to find out about the culture, style, and values of a company. This will give you a strong competitive edge when selling your product or services as you can tailor your USP.

3. Be genuine

People can tell when you’re being insincere, so don’t be. Developing friendly working relationships goes a long way to ensuring client retention because people buy from people they like.

4. Stay in touch

Make sure you respond to messages and feedback promptly and be available to answer queries or concerns. This doesn’t end after the deal closes, either. A key to client retention is making sure you stay in touch afterwards. A good way to do this without being pushy is to follow them on their social media channels, and congratulate them on their successes. That way, you will stay top-of-mind for next time!

Our sales commission dashboard is a one-stop-shop for tracking the data around your commission in real-time, and you can keep an eye on that all-important repeat business from clients you’ve retained using our top tips!

Every single business wants to generate profits. The goal of business is to provide a service or product that solves a problem your audience is experiencing and to grow the business so that year on year it can accrue greater financial payback.

1. Research your target audience

If you don’t know who you are appealing to, how can you hope to target your service or product to the people that will benefit most from it? You need to understand who your ideal customer is, what you can do to reach them, and define how your offering can be refined to meet their needs

2. Stick to what you know (at least at the start)

When trying to grow a business or create sales goals, it can be very tempting to try and diversify so that you can reach as many people as possible. But being all things to all people can backfire and leave you meaning not much to anyone. Focus on your core offering, what differentiates your business and make it the best it can be.

3. Figure out what sets you apart

Why should a customer choose you over a rival organisation? What do you do that other businesses can’t? If you are able to define this, you will be able to build your communications around this and grow your reputation to engage your key audience.

4. Utilise a variety of marketing channels

When it comes to marketing, you need to ensure that you don’t put all of your eggs in one basket and ensure the channels you choose are reaching your core audience. There are so many channels to consider from social media, email marketing, your website, thought leadership blogs, events, direct marketing, networking, webinars and a variety of other marketing methods to ensure you reach the right people at the right time. The more effective your marketing becomes, the greater the engagement you will have with your customer and the easier it will be to increase sales over time.

5. Showcase your expertise 

Whether it’s through your website, infographics, videos, blogs, podcasts, webinars and physical demonstrations you need to create content to show that you are an expert in your particular field. If people are going to trust you, then you should be able to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Working with clients and customers to help grow your content repository can help to further bolster engagement and your reputation.

However, it is absolutely essential to grow a business in a way that is sustainable. Slow and steady wins the race, after all. So, with that in mind, here are five simple tips to ensure that your business grows steadily and in a manner that doesn’t put it at unnecessary risk.

…is the next one! Sounds obvious, but this flies in the face of an old sales adage: you’re only as good as your last call. Not so! While that previous call might have established or continued a positive customer relationship, this really offers no more than an ‘in’ for the next time.

Why that next call should be different

If a salesperson is making regular calls to established customers, then another saying should be front of mind. And it’s this: familiarity breeds contempt. However, this can be a bit harsh, so perhaps it should be adapted to: familiarity can breed indifference.

More of the same-old, same-old

There are many salespeople who are satisfied with a call to such a customer where the previous order is repeated. They measure this as a success – and it’s fair to say that, on occasions, this might be the best outcome that can be achieved. However, that isn’t the same as being in a comfort zone where this is simply the salesperson’s expectation.

Adding something new to a call

In the scenario just described, there can be a comfortable relationship between buyer and seller. Until, that is, another salesperson arrives on the scene behaving pro-actively. This individual is offering something new or different. This might be no more than paying proper attention to the client and their needs, rather than taking them for granted. 

So, what might the something new be? It could be a product or service, or an improvement on what’s currently on offer. However, it might be no more than taking time to ask questions of the customer, to find out how their business – and therefore their needs – might have changed or be changing.

Changing expectations and outcomes

By the simple showing of interest, rather than just taking them for granted, a salesperson can move their relationship up a notch with regular, or infrequent, customers. Even for a first-time call, the level of genuine interest shown can be a game-changer! Author Maya Angelou said it well when she suggested that “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 

The Commissionly cloud-based sales commission software app can offer evidence to managers of where the same-old is being accepted or an improvement is being striven for. To find out more about keeping a close eye on performance and more…

Increasingly, smart businesses have started using sales compensation software to accurately analyze the current state of business and forecast future earnings. Sales compensation software is also a great tool to monitor the performance of each sales representative and calculate the effect of renewals. Through automation, your business can seamlessly execute these tasks by creating a sales incentive compensation plan. So, if you want to invest in sales compensation software, here are four things to consider.

1. Flexibility

The process of tracking and reviewing multiple collections of financial data manually can be exhausting. It is also hard to compare existing data sets and adjust their presentations. While it is possible to compare and track multiple datasets with Excel, you need a more flexible and robust commission tracking software for large datasets. Credible sales compensation software is designed to view and compare multiple data sets all at once.

2. Functionality

The inherent value of commission tracking software is defined by its functionality. Sales commission software helps a business track a myriad of numbers, data, and finances. The software makes the process of calculating payments more accurate and efficient. Apart from compiling data from various sources and assisting in making complex determinations, the software provides an easier way of viewing that information.

3. User-friendly

Sales compensation software can only be effective if it is user-friendly. Your teams shouldn’t waste several man-hours trying to figure out how to take full advantage of the software’s vital features. Invest in an intuitive software that is potentially capable of boosting the quality of output without too much difficulty. Good software should expedite the process of the computation and creation of commission plans. 

The software should also come with sufficient training materials for training new hires, educating first-time users, and providing refresher courses to your teams. The software should also offer reliable support services to prevent downtime every time your teams encounter technical problems.

4. Price

Ensure the price of the sales compensation software is reasonable, worthwhile, and justified. Instead of settling for the cheapest vendor on the market, pick a software that will give you good value for your money.

Commissionly helps you fulfil your business potential with an affordable, intelligent way to pay and motivate your salesforce, all tailored to meet the unique needs of your business.  If you are looking for a sales compensation management web app with helpful tools such as uncomplicated data import and commission setting tools, contact us today to book your 14-day free trial or free, no obligation demo.

The world of B2B selling is fast-paced, and can change rapidly. For this reason, sales training and enablement have become as important as they have ever been. In this landscape, too many companies are not quite hitting the mark when it comes to how prepared their sales teams are.

Where companies fall short

A survey by the Sales Management Association covered 111 companies and more than 80,000 salespeople. It discovered that as little as 43% feel that their sales training and development programmes are effective.

A core component of effective sales enablement is content, and many companies are doing a poor job here too. Reps must have quick and easy access to relevant content such as white papers, case studies, battlecards and updated playbooks if they are to maximise their effectiveness.

A study by CSO Insights found that only around 1/3 of organisations have a genuine content strategy.

Preparation is key

This poor preparation means trouble for the customer experience. The modern enterprise buyer arrives having already done a depth of research, and their expectation will be speed and convenience. If a sales rep lacks the necessary preparation to answer questions or provide essential information, the customer will be unimpressed and move on, and your company loses an opportunity.

For your sales reps to provide the best customer experience possible, there must be a comprehensive approach to sales enablement. The traditional sales ‘boot camp’ simply isn’t enough; you need ongoing digital training that accelerates the ramp up for new sales reps. Sales processes are imparted through personalised learning paths, virtual training and videos to shorten the sales cycle and enhance win rates.

Looking more broadly

In addition to improving enablement for your internal sales force, your partners need to be enabled through a role-based platform that gives them access to material. And you need to integrate these tools with your own sales performance goals to be truly effective. You need common points of contact throughout the lead-to-cash process, ensuring that enablement doesn’t slip through the net.

By improving sales enablement for your reps, you will ensure that your sales people have everything they need to deliver an excellent customer experience.

A sales decline can be worrying for any business. The key is to get to the bottom of why you’ve had a drop in sales.

Once you’ve done this, you can put a plan in place to get your business back on track. So, with that being said, let’s take a look at some of the common reasons for a decline in sales :

Lack of motivation

Are your salespeople in a bit of a slump? A lack of motivation is something we all experience from time-to-time. However, it results in reduced productivity, and this causes sales to decline. There are a number of ways to get your employees back on track, from team bonding days to running sales competitions.

Ignoring your competition

Perhaps your competitors have just come out with a new and innovative marketing campaign combined with a top-of-the-line product that is unmatched in the industry?

If that’s the case, it’s of no surprise that your sales have declined. Your customers have moved to the competition. Competing businesses need to be on your radar all of the time, enabling you to react quickly and effectively. 

Old-school selling techniques

If your team is going to continue to reach sales targets, they need to move forward and stay up-to-date with the latest techniques. If your employees are still using old-school selling techniques (yes, we’re talking about door-to-door sales and cold calling!), it’s time fora change.

Poor sales and marketing alignment

Finally, another common reason for a decline in sales is when the people on your marketing team aren’t collaborating effectively with those in your sales team. If there have been recent changes in your marketing strategy or personnel, it is worth looking into this further. After all, your sales team depends on your marketing team to give them qualified leads. 

As you can see, there are a number of different reasons why you may have experienced a sales decline. One effective method for enhancing sales performance management to ensure you keep on track is by using Commissionly. This is the first cloud-based sales commission and sales compensation management web app that has been fully designed for SMEs.

Contact us today for more information.