Does your Sales team share a common “Sales Process Language”?

Members of a sales team should possess and share the language of their specific sales process and the related criteria at each stage along with the correlated probability of closing and duration. This includes the Chief Revenue Officer to the Sales Managers to the individual contributors. The selling system followed (e.g. Sandler, SPIN, etc.) also provides context and contributes to the unique syntax used by the team.   

Having a common lens through which to view  and assess each opportunity contributes to team work and team effort. Consistency also exponentially increases the accuracy and value of forecasts i.e. if a sales person defines a deal as being at Stage 4 and 50%, the rest of the team have a good understanding of where they are in the process, what has transpired, and what ground is left to cover. Other team members can better assess their own deals relative to those of their peers and gain insights and ideas. Sharing a language is unifying and fosters a sense of belonging. 

This is all made possible by the consequence of consistency and having and using a common language. In addition, forecast reports are inherently more valuable. 

Having defined criteria for each stage in the sales process leads to established conversion rates and understanding of the funnel volumes and velocity necessary to generate closed-won deals, reach goals, and ultimately earn variable sales compensation.

Coaching is made much more valuable through the exchange of a common language.  Quite literally sales leaders and sales managers are able to be on the same “song sheet” at the same time, avoid misunderstandings, and plan tactics and strategy with fewer variables and with greater success. 

All of these positive outcomes are possible even factoring the different personalities and traits  that exist within the sales team. Unique individuals can indeed contribute significantly to sales team outcomes when each individual sales person is operating within the same structures and framework. 

CROs and Sales Leaders have the responsibility to foster the common language by asking questions using this language e.g. during sales meetings and 1:1s, and adding insights using this language. All language is learned and practice inspires more practice which leads to fluency. 

The famous and seminal book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill comes to mind.  Perhaps for the modern sales teams it’s more like, Think and Speak and Grow Rich. 

Fractional CROs from Treeline can help you build a profitable sales engine and implement changes that will move the needle! By leveraging Treeline’s services, companies gain access to industry-leading sales expertise that can drive quick success. 

For more about Treeline CRO services, please visit https://www.treelineinc.com/sales-recruiting/fractional-cro-service