We were fortunate recently to have Dean Mannix with us at Sales Syndicate who challenged us to think about ‘McDonald-ising’ our sales team.
From generation to generation McDonald’s keeps outperforming the competitors by running consistent processes that means a Big Mac is the same in Auckland as it is in Cairo, they ask us if we want fries with that in 119 countries and over 34,000 stores.
They have built a sales machine that has enabled them to scale.
Is your company a sales machine? Do you have a set of systems and processes that allow your company to be better than your competitors and to create scalable and repeatable sales? Or, are you leaving your success to chance?
If I am the prospect will I receive the same great experience from dealing with all of your sales team? Or as is the case with many different companies are each of your sales team approaching the sales process in their own individual way. Imagine the chaos in 34,000 McDonald’s stores if everyone had their own way to make a Big Mac or serve a customer?There are typically 15 questions that we ask to understand how a company is performing in sales but for the purpose of this article, we have chosen 6.
If you have built a sales machine, then everyone in your sales team should be able to answer all 6 of the following questions.
So here we go:
- Can you clearly articulate your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)?
- Is there a consistent sales process in place that is a proven, systematic, measurable, step by step way to guide a lead and turn it into a sale?
- Is there a strong focus on opportunity management inside of your company and each sales person’s pipeline is being monitored?
- Are your top customers treated differently based on a clear set of customer criteria so that your best clients are retained and developed?
- Are the business functions of your company aligned to support sales? How well does marketing, operations, customer service and finance support the overall sales effort?
- Can each member of your sales team explain clearly and consistently what your company does, what is your unique selling proposition (USP) and why that should be of value to the customer?
If each of your sales team can answer yes to all the questions above, congratulations you should be receiving the following benefits:
- Your sales team are focusing on the right accounts and developing important relationships.
- You are reducing the time it takes new or poor performing sales people to get up to speed
- You are reducing your sales cycles by making sure your sales team are not missing stages and treating prospects more professionally
- By reducing the sales cycle, you have now freed up extra time for sales people to bring on more sales
- You are eliminating waste and therefore reducing cost
- You are now building better and longer relationships with clients
- You should now be experiencing an extra 15% growth rate for companies that effectively manage pipelines versus those that don’t
- You are building a genuine sales culture within your company
- Chances are you are now better in sales than your competitors
Put simply, do all of this and you will be making more sales!
At Indicator, we have created and developed a unique set of diagnostics tools. If you would like to understand how your company measures up to best practice and to understand where your biggest need is to develop then be in touch and click here to book a time to chat. 
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Kind Regards,
Mike Stokes
