Sales is perhaps the most important part of an organization. It engages clients and generates the revenue that keeps a company operating. So it is incumbent upon a company to make sure that every needed is done to increase the productivity of this department.

Here is a quick guideline of things any company can do to ramp up sales.

One on One Meetings Are Very Effective

There is no substitute for meeting with your sales team and the best meetings are one-on-one meetings because they allow for specific agendas and no distractions. When you set these meetings your one-on-one meeting agenda should include:

  1. A specified time every week or more often if needed, that should not change.
  2. A specified length of time for each meeting that should always be adhered to.
  3. A specified agenda for the meeting that should be forwarded to the sales team member 48 hours in advance, so the meeting is most productive.
  4. A specified list of desired outcomes expected from the meeting that should also be advanced to the sales team member 48 hours before the meeting.

During each meeting, allot a short period of time at the beginning for camaraderie building, then segue into questions about how things are going and solicit input for any improvements or modifications if appropriate.  Use this direct contact to continue to build trust with each team member.

Don’t Bog Them Down With Mundane Tasks

Many salespeople spend way too much time on tasks that are important but do not generate the company revenue. These include admin tasks relating to their sales activities.

Your job is to keep the sales team focused almost fully on selling and setting up sales. At the average company this is definitely not the case.

One way to move your team toward this goal is to implement software and strategies that both automate and prioritize many of the tasks that consume their days. Key tasks including distribution of leads, generation of reports, and time records can each be automated so that they consume a fraction of the time they would normally take.

You should also coordinate their schedules utilizing software that does it collaboratively as to avoid and overlaps or missed meetings. Collectively these fixes will give them more time. Without these time thieves, your sales team can focus more fully on revenue generation.

Supply the Tools They Need to Perform Well

The key to successful sales is often speed and preparation. Your team needs to be prepared to move when there is a hot lead and operate from nearly anywhere to convert that lead. This will often mean that they are living in the field and running from client to client. These opportunities at personal visits creates the best chance for a sale. Personal visits more and more are not happening at the client’s office, but at some causal off-site like a Starbucks. And to be effective your team needs the right tools. Each team member should have a great laptop or table computer outfitted with all the sales tools needed to close a client. Tablets tend to be a better choice simply because they work more quickly and their batteries last longer. So get each sales team member a good quality tablet computer with the latest tools including social media, to manage sales calls and make reports.

Sales people are typically very aggressive and want to win. Take care of them and give them the right tools and your company will reap the benefits.