Well-Designed Reports Help Motivate Sales Team

Executive Roundtable is a weekly column by TEC Worldwide, an international organization of more than 7,000 business owners, company presidents and chief executives. TEC members meet in small peer groups to share their business experiences and help each other solve problems in a round-table session. The following questions and answers are summaries of discussions at recent TEC meetings in Southern California.

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Question: My sales manager is a real stickler for paperwork, so much so that it seems as if my salespeople are constantly filling out reports when they should be in the field talking to customers. I believe in measuring performance, but not when it interferes with getting the job done. What’s a reasonable amount of paperwork to expect from a sales staff?

Answer: Although most salespeople dislike paperwork, sales reports play an essential role in managing a sales team. Well-designed reports motivate your salespeople by making it very clear what they need to accomplish and what they have to do to accomplish it.

Equally important, good reports help you and your sales manager manage the sales team because they measure the specific behaviors salespeople must produce to get the job done. Your success in accomplishing these goals depends on how you design the reports.

According to Paul Goldner, author of “Red-Hot Cold Call Selling: Prospecting Techniques That Pay Off” and “Red-Hot Customers: How to Get Them, How to Keep Them,” effective sales reports have several defining characteristics.

First, they are easy to fill out and quick to review. Second, by tracking only the information that leads to the desired results, they enhance salespeople’s ability to compete in the marketplace. Third, they provide sales managers with the information they need to manage the sales team, and senior management with the information it needs to run the business.

Keeping these characteristics in mind, Goldner recommends three primary reports for managing your sales team.

The weekly planning document is a short-term measurement tool. Consisting of four sections, it tracks whether your salespeople are doing the right things day in and day out. The first section measures each salesperson’s month-to-date revenue, projected revenue and overall progress toward the business plan he or she created at the beginning of the year.

The second section measures the actions your salespeople are taking to achieve their goals. Keep this section brief, as only two sales actions--talking to a customer on the phone or meeting with the customer in person--really count.

The third section tracks whether your salespeople are pursuing the right prospects. Every company in your target market should have an account number, whether you are doing business with it or not. Every time a salesperson meets with a prospect or customer, have him or her write the account number on the sales report. This ensures that your salespeople call on only their target market.

The fourth section measures account activity, such as setting up meetings with the right people and putting together proposals. “If you receive full weekly planning reports, your salespeople are doing the right things,” Goldner explains. “If these reports come back empty, you know you have a problem.”

The business-plan document measures intermediate sales activities. An ongoing report that is updated quarterly, it tracks the account activity required of each salesperson to meet annual goals.

Most sales reps generate 80% of their business from 20% of their customers. This report helps them focus on selling more big accounts, which generate larger and more consistent revenue streams.

Have each sales rep make a list of his or her top 10 prospects or customers and sell according to this 80-20 principle. Write the target market into the salesperson’s business plan so he or she never loses sight of it. This keeps the sales rep focused on the right customers and prospects the whole year.

The account-planning document addresses long-term sales activities. Have your salespeople maintain an account-planning document for each of their top prospects and current accounts (up to a maximum of 20).

Each document should address the four buying influences that exist in every account: the purchasing influencers, whose main concern is price; the economic influencers, who value return on investment; the technical influencers, who focus on product performance; and the people who use your product.

To sell large accounts effectively, your salespeople must get all four of these groups involved because although only one can say yes, all can say no. The account-planning document forces your salespeople to identify the wants and needs of these four constituencies and devise strategies for getting their approval for the sale.

“Sales reports offer a powerful tool for motivating and managing your sales staff, but only if they measure the proper indicators and only if they don’t get in the way,” Goldner said.

“Well-designed reports ensure that your salespeople are engaging in the right account activities, calling on the right customers and meeting with the right people within those companies,” he said. “When you track these things on a consistent basis and reward the behaviors, you’ll get the results you want.”

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If there is a business issue you would like addressed, contact TEC at (800) 274-2367, Ext. 3177. To learn more about TEC, visit www .teconline.com.