There are many forces and factors that prevent net new revenue growth. Some are external forces or factors, and others are internal challenges. If you wonder why it is so difficult to grow revenues, this comprehensive list will help you improve your sales team’s results. We’ll offer ideas about what you might do to consistently grow faster.
The External Forces & Factors
ACDC Environment
Long-time readers of this blog will recognize the ACDC Environment as Accelerating, Constant Disruptive Change. The list of factors changes frequently and includes things like the highest inflation since the 1980’s, high interest rates, a hot war in Europe, a labor shortage, political divisiveness, high crime rates in major cities and the uncertainty that plagues buyers and decision-makers.
Uncertainty and the Status Quo
One reason your prospective clients refuse to change is that they are uncertain. No one wants to be responsible for making a change that makes things worse. It seems easier to wait until things return to normal. The status quo is the devil they know. Change often brings a new devil, one they have no interest in becoming acquainted with.
Without the ability to create certainty, it is difficult to help your prospects to buy what you sell–even if it would help them improve their results.
The Internet and Information Disparity
Buyers needed to meet with salespeople to learn about their products and services. Your website changed that by providing the contacts in your strategic target accounts to have immediate access to what a salesperson would have provided in a first meeting. The reason buyers and decision-makers ghost your salespeople is because they recite what your clients already read on your site.
You will need to enable your sales reps with the information disparity that allows them to create value for your contacts.
See: How to Maintain Information Disparity
The Unforgiving Reality of the Consensus Sales
When leaders grew tired of making decisions that their teams wouldn’t execute, they handed off the decision-making to a task force. Over time, consensus has grown to be something like organizational consensus, with many people in different areas weighing in on a decision. Much of the time, a group of people will seek a unanimous decision. When that doesn’t happen, the client’s initiative dies, as does your opportunity.
See: The New Rules of Building Consensus
The Nonlinearity of the Sales Process
The sales process most sales organizations use is linear. It's a straight path from target to closed. Unfortunately, buyers are pursuing their initiative, causing them to object to the linearity when it blocks them from having the conversations they need. You still need an opportunity stage, but look for momentum and client effort when inspecting opportunities. I documented how to deal with a nonlinear sales approach in The Lost Art of Closing: Winning the 10 Commitments That Drive Sales.
See: The Value of Sales Opportunity Stages in a Nonlinear Process
The Time-Based Nature of Sales Results
One challenge of generating net new revenue is the calendar and the clock. As sales cycles grow longer due to how buyers buy now, more sales forces miss their goals. Many of these sales organizations have enough opportunities going into a quarter, only to miss when the deal slips.
See: How Time Impacts Your Sales Results
Competition and Its Impact On Results
We sometimes forget that we are competing for the client’s business. Every one of your competitors has a top 20% of salespeople who win most of their deals. Salespeople are trained to believe that your company and your solution will win the day. When this is true, salespeople lose by failing to create value in the sales conversation. Consider your pipeline and identify any opportunity with a first meeting without a second meeting, and you will have a good idea about your team’s ability to win deals.
See: How Your First Meeting Repels Your Prospective Clients
See also: How to Improve Your Second Meeting Conversions
Not Your Fault But Still Your Responsibility
None of these external forces and factors are your fault. They are, however, your responsibility. You must still find a way to achieve your goals and hit your targets. To deal with these external factors, you need to enable your sales team to recognize how buyers changed and provide them with a new set of strategies and tactics that can help them to lead their clients, a concept we call One-Up, you can learn this strategy in Elite Sales Strategies: A Guide to Being One-Up, Creating Value, and Becoming Truly Consultative.
See: Your Buyers Changed. You Didn’t
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