Managing Longer Sales Cycles in Tougher Times
These days, sales are taking longer than usual. With inflation, higher interest rates, and shrinking budgets, buyers are more careful, focusing only on must-haves. Sales professionals are noticing the effects — more delays, more objections, and fewer big-ticket purchases. The challenge isn’t just the extra time it takes to close a deal but also the fact that deal sizes are shrinking as companies cut spending wherever they can.
Sales is Not Working – Don’t Guess – Know Why!
It has almost become cliché, “The world has changed…” Yes, we all know that, but for the revenue generating part of your business this is even more acute.
If sales effectiveness measures the output per salesperson, ask 100 people why sales is ineffective and you get 100 different answers, even within one’s own organisation. If one was to search Google, the responses are as wide as they are varied:
Ineffective content marketing
Failure in incorporating sufficient social media marketing (or social media ads) into your sales strategy
Lack of sales activity
Not knowing target audience well enough
Wrong people
You didn’t catch their attention
Insufficient interest in your offer
Inadequate sales process
How Effective Are Your Sales Meetings?
Do your salespeople enjoy internal meetings such as the mandatory weekly Monday morning sales meetings, or do they resent attending? How much do your internal meetings actually contribute to increased sales?