6 Proven Strategies to Skyrocket Your Outside Sales Team‘s Performance
While inside sales has exploded in popularity, outside sales remains the most effective way to close large, complex B2B deals. According to a report by RAIN Group, 71% of buyers say face-to-face meetings are their top preference for meeting with vendors.
However, outside sales teams are expensive to build and maintain. The average outside sales call costs $215-$400, compared to just $25-$75 for an inside sales call. To ensure your field sales reps are generating maximum ROI, you need proven strategies to increase their efficiency and effectiveness.
As a sales leader who has built multiple high-performing outside sales teams, I‘ve tested and refined the tactics that move the needle. Implement these six outside sales strategies to crush your 2023 revenue goals.
Strategy 1: Systematically Lower Your Cost-of-Sales
Reducing your cost-of-sales is one of the fastest ways to boost outside sales ROI. But you have to lower costs strategically, without hurting rep performance or retention. Here‘s how:
Optimize Your Hiring Process
A bad sales hire can cost you $114,957 when you factor in recruiting, training, and lost opportunities. To avoid this expense, refine your hiring process to consistently attract "A" player reps:
- Create an ideal candidate profile based on your top performers‘ attributes
- Use multi-step interviews with role plays and mock demos to assess skills
- Evaluate culture fit and motivation with behavioral and situational questions
- Leverage assessments like Sales DNA tests to pick reps with the right traits
At Acme Inc, we cut our average ramp time by 25% and increased new rep retention by 40% after implementing a more rigorous hiring process.
Invest in Ongoing Sales Training
Continuous training is one of the best investments you can make in your outside sales team. Companies that provide comprehensive training see 24% higher profit margins than those with an ad-hoc approach.
Build a sales training program that includes:
- A detailed onboarding plan covering your product, market, and sales process
- Regular in-field coaching and role playing to reinforce key skills
- Peer learning opportunities like ride alongs and best practice sharing
- Annual sales kickoffs and quarterly business reviews to align on goals
- On-demand training content reps can access as needed
With a solid training program, you can actually reduce costs associated with underperformance, turnover, and inconsistent practices.
Leverage Technology to Boost Productivity
The right sales tech stack is an investment that pays major dividends. Tools that automate manual tasks and surface insights help reps focus on revenue-generating activities. Some essential outside sales tools include:
- CRM: Track customer interactions and deals in one organized database
- Route planning software: Optimize travel between appointments to maximize selling time
- Sales enablement: Arm reps with the content and guidance they need to sell effectively
- Conversation intelligence: Record and analyze sales calls to improve messaging
- Mobile selling apps: Update deal information and access resources on the go
A study by CSO Insights found that sales technology can improve rep productivity by 14.5% and increase company revenue by 12.2%.
Strategy 2: Modernize Your Sales Motion
Outside sales has been slow to evolve compared to inside sales. But hanging on to legacy processes will only hold your team back. To stay competitive, you need to continuously update your sales motion.
Embrace Virtual Selling
In-person meetings aren‘t always feasible or necessary. 60% of sales reps say virtual meetings are just as or more effective than face-to-face. Supplement field meetings with video conferencing to increase rep efficiency and reduce travel costs.
Invest in a video selling platform like Zoom or WebEx. Then train your reps on virtual meeting best practices like:
- Choosing a professional background and ensuring good lighting/sound quality
- Preparing an agenda and key discussion points ahead of time
- Keeping the meeting interactive with visuals, question prompts, and next steps
Make Everything Mobile
Your field reps are always on the move. Ensure they can be productive from anywhere by mobilizing your sales stack. Choose tools that offer full featured mobile apps, not just responsive web design.
Some key mobile sales capabilities include:
- Logging meeting notes and next steps via talk-to-text
- Real-time pipeline and performance dashboards
- GPS-enabled route planning and check-ins
- Content sharing and e-signature functionality
- Offline access to key data and resources
Research shows that mobile-enabled sales reps see 40% more sales opportunities and 23% higher conversion rates.
Standardize Your Sales Process
Consistent execution is key to improving win rates and deal velocity. Document your sales process in a visual format like a flowchart or swim lane diagram. Break down each pipeline stage into the key activities, content, and exit criteria needed to progress.
Implement your standardized process in your CRM so reps have a clear roadmap to follow. Then create email templates, call scripts, and content hubs for each stage. This will make it easier for reps to execute the process and reduce variance in performance.
Organizations with a standardized sales process see 18% more revenue growth than those without one.
Strategy 3: Motivate the Middle With Smarter Incentives
Most sales comp plans are top-heavy, only rewarding the highest achievers. This leaves the core performers that make up 60-70% of your team feeling undervalued. The key is to spread the recognition to motivate middle performers:
Implement Activity and Objective SPIFFs
Complement your commission plan with SPIFFs for completing key activities and objectives. For example:
- $50 for booking 5 new meetings in a week
- $100 for converting 10 leads to opportunities in a month
- $250 for the first rep to achieve 120% of quota each quarter
- $500 for maintaining 4 hours of active selling time per day
These rewards encourage desired behaviors across your team, not just revenue. Publicize SPIFF winners to create buzz and tap into reps‘ competitive side.
Launch Themed Contests and Challenges
Run creative sales contests to rally your team around a specific goal or metric. Some ideas:
- March Madness pipeline challenge with tiered prizes for number of deals closed
- Summer prospecting blitz with raffle entries for every new meeting booked
- Q4 "Sell the Wheel" contest with prizes for booking demos, winning deals, and more
Keep contests fresh by changing the format and focus each time. Provide real-time standings to keep reps engaged and maintain momentum.
Celebrate Non-Quota Milestones
Hitting quota isn‘t the only win worth recognizing. Celebrate other milestones like:
- First deal closed
- Largest deal closed
- Most new meetings booked in a month
- Fastest sales cycle
- Highest customer satisfaction score
Acknowledge these achievements in team meetings, on leaderboards, and with personal congrats from leadership. When middle performers feel seen and appreciated, they‘ll put in the extra effort to rise to the next level.
Strategy 4: Sync With Marketing to Boost Lead Quality
When sales and marketing are misaligned, reps waste time chasing unqualified leads. Bridge the divide with these tactics:
Define Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) Together
Your ICP is the foundation of effective lead generation. Sales and marketing should join forces to create detailed profiles of your target buyers, including:
- Demographic and firmographic attributes
- Pain points, goals, and success metrics
- Buying process and decision criteria
- Engagement preferences and behavior
Document your ICP in a central location like your CRM or sales enablement platform. Refer to it regularly to keep sales and marketing on the same page about who you‘re targeting.
Implement a Lead Scoring Model
Not all leads are ready for sales engagement. A lead scoring model will help you surface the most qualified leads for reps to focus on.
Assign point values to key attributes and activities that indicate buying intent. For example:
- Demographic fit: +10 points for matching ICP title, +5 points for matching ICP company size, etc.
- Engagement: +1 point for opening an email, +5 points for attending a webinar, +10 points for visiting the pricing page, etc.
Leads that meet a certain score threshold get passed to sales, while the rest go into marketing nurture campaigns. Review and adjust your scoring criteria quarterly to maintain accuracy.
Establish a Feedback Loop
Regular communication between sales and marketing is essential for generating better leads over time. Set up a process for reps to provide feedback on lead quality, such as:
- Tagging disqualified leads with a reason code in the CRM
- Filling out a quick survey after each new lead interaction
- Discussing common objections and lead sources in weekly sales and marketing syncs
Marketing should use this input to optimize targeting, messaging, and lead routing. The tighter your feedback loop, the more efficient your funnel will be.
According to Forrester, B2B organizations with tightly aligned sales and marketing functions grow revenue 24% faster than those with misaligned teams.
Strategy 5: Gamify CRM Adoption
Getting field sales reps to consistently log activities in the CRM is an uphill battle. Make CRM updates engaging with these gamification strategies:
Implement a Points System
Assign point values to key CRM activities and reward reps for hitting certain point thresholds. For example:
- 5 points for logging a call
- 10 points for updating an opportunity status
- 15 points for closing a deal in the CRM
- 20 points for maintaining 100% data accuracy
Display individual and team point totals on a leaderboard and provide prizes for the top performers. Reps will be motivated to rack up points and climb the ranks.
Provide Real-Time Visibility
CRM data is only useful if it‘s current. Give reps a real-time view of their progress against activity and revenue goals right in the CRM dashboard. Visuals like progress bars and dials are especially effective at encouraging action.
Send automated alerts when reps fall behind on key activities like logging calls or updating deals. No one wants to be called out for missing their numbers.
Make it Mobile
Reps are more likely to update the CRM regularly if they can do it from their phone between meetings. Choose a mobile-friendly CRM with features like talk-to-text notes and automated activity logging.
Provide in-app guided selling tools that surface relevant content and next steps for each deal. The easier and more valuable the CRM is for reps in the field, the more they‘ll use it.
Organizations that adopt gamified sales processes see 48% higher engagement and 3x higher quota attainment than those without.
Strategy 6: Dial in Your Sales Strategy
Even the best reps will struggle in a flawed sales strategy. Ensure your go-to-market foundation sets your team up for success:
Optimize Your Sales Territory Structure
Unbalanced territories are a common source of rep frustration and turnover. Use a data-driven approach to carve out fair and lucrative patches for each rep:
- Analyze historical territory performance data like quota attainment, pipeline velocity, and average deal size.
- Overlay firmographic data like industry, company size, and technographics to assess total addressable market (TAM).
- Use mapping software to visualize rep activity and prospect density.
- Simulate different territory models to determine the optimal structure.
- Communicate new territories to the team and incorporate changes into your CRM.
Review and rebalance territories at least twice per year to maintain equilibrium as market conditions change.
Lock in Your 1-on-1 Coaching Cadence
According to the Sales Management Association, reps who receive at least 3 hours of coaching per month hit quota 17% more often than reps who are coached less.
Block off weekly 1-on-1 time with each rep to review pipeline, provide deal coaching, and discuss performance. Use a consistent agenda to keep meetings focused and actionable:
- Review progress on prior week‘s actions and commitments
- Analyze pipeline health and spot risk areas
- Provide feedback and coaching on specific opportunities or skills
- Align on next steps and document in the CRM
Regular coaching not only improves rep performance, but also deepens trust and relationships between managers and reps.
Nail Your Sales and Marketing SLA
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) between sales and marketing keeps both teams accountable to shared revenue goals. A typical SLA includes:
- Lead qualification criteria: What makes a lead sales-ready?
- Lead handoff process: How and when do leads get routed to sales?
- Follow-up SLAs: How quickly does sales need to follow up on marketing leads?
- MQL and SQL targets: How many leads does marketing need to generate and sales need to convert each month?
Document your SLA in a central location and review performance against it weekly. Adjust your criteria and targets as needed to optimize the flow of leads through the funnel.
SiriusDecisions found that B2B organizations with an active sales and marketing SLA see 34% more sales wins and 21% faster revenue growth.
Bringing Your Outside Sales Strategies Together
Implementing these strategies will require change management and strong sales operations. But the payoff is worth it. By optimizing your outside sales motion for efficiency and performance, you‘ll be able to:
- Acquire new customers faster and at a lower cost
- Improve sales productivity and quota attainment
- Accelerate deals through the pipeline
- Boost rep retention and engagement
- Achieve more predictable revenue growth
Don‘t let your outside sales team fall behind in an increasingly digital world. Adopt a modern approach to field sales to crush your 2023 goals and beyond.
