5 Ways To Get Stronger Results From Your Field Sales Team
by Andrew Leamon on 04-Aug-2020 11:30:00
Strong field sales management can take your business further by bringing in revenue and unlocking the potential of your company’s human capital. However, first-time business owners or those who manage small companies often miss targets or struggle finding the formula that works for them. And recently, field sales have come under additional pressure due to the effects of the pandemic and subsequent lockdown. Here are some useful pointers to strengthen your results and stay ahead in uncertain times.
1) Work with an experienced business development agency
Successful sales involves a combination of efficient processes and efficient technologies, so if you rely on field sales you'll want to make the most of your team’s skills and get tangible results. At JDR we offer a range of digital marketing services to support your field sales team, bring in more qualified leads, and help SME owners achieve their business objectives. In our experience (16 years in 2020), taking a bespoke, strategic approach to sales and marketing – with the support of an agency partner – will allow you to get consistently better results from your sales team.
2) Promote healthy competition among your team
Most salespeople are naturally driven by a strong sense of competition and self-attainment. However, if this isn’t managed adequately, it can potentially evolve into a tense atmosphere between reps and end up being detrimental to sales. Instead of competing exclusively with one another using sales leader boards and other public measures, ensure each sales rep is focused on beating their previous results on an individual basis. This has a positive effect on motivation, self-esteem and professional development – as well as day-to-day sales performance. Gentle competition between team mates and gamification can still be used to increase team cohesion and encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing – especially between your marketing and sales teams. Some of the best practices in this respect are setting stretch goals and turning continuous self- improvement into your team’s motto.
3) Create a culture of recognition
Recognition can help counter unhealthy competition and create a motivating – and more productive – work environment. It’s important to distinguish between recognition as a reward (which most companies do to some extent or another) and as a culture or part of your business ethos. To achieve the latter, make sure that recognition exists among sales reps as well as between managers and their teams, and recognise big and small achievements alike. Also, ensure that recognition is meaningful to each individual, since not everyone responds equally to verbal, written, private, and public recognition. (Not all sales people are extroverts and some may be embarrassed by public recognition, as it risks drawing the jealousy of their colleagues.
4) Anticipate the obstacles
Sales professionals will always be faced with challenges, and the pandemic crisis has only made this more obvious. To minimise the impact of these challenges on your revenue, you’ll need to take a proactive approach rather than simply firefighting problems as and when they arise. Here it could be useful to classify the obstacles faced by field sales reps into skills issues, productivity issues, low morale, and poor understanding of customer needs. Always be on the lookout for signs of trouble and don’t wait until problems occur. Get your marketing and sales teams sharing insights and tap into the experience of a knowledgeable agency partner, such as JDR, to help implement a sales strategy that meets the needs of your team.
5) Invest in professional development
Disappointing sales results may be a sign that your sales team isn’t keeping up with the times, or isn’t coping well with changes in working practices. Lead by example and keep abreast of new field forces, competitors, changing customer needs, or the development of new technologies, especially remote sales and video conferencing. With this knowledge, you can coach your team so they develop their skills too and become more efficient.
Equip your sales team for success
There are other specialised techniques that will complement your efforts and drive your field sales team to perform at their best. To find out how to make this happen, get in touch with our consultants at JDR today by calling 01332 343281.
Image source: Pixabay
- Inbound Marketing (SEO, PPC, Social Media, Video) (804)
- Strategy (348)
- Marketing Automation & Email Marketing (180)
- Sales & CRM (176)
- Website Design (156)
- Business Growth (145)
- Hubspot (123)
- Lead Generation (107)
- Google Adwords (97)
- Content Marketing (90)
- News (46)
- Case Studies (43)
- Conversion (43)
- Ecommerce (36)
- Webinars (30)
- SEO (22)
- Events (19)
- Video (17)
- LinkedIn Advertising (15)
- Video Selling (15)
- AI (13)
- Software training (13)
- Niche business marketing (11)
- The Digital Prosperity Podcast (10)
- Facebook Advertising (6)
- August 2025 (12)
- July 2025 (14)
- June 2025 (5)
- May 2025 (19)
- April 2025 (15)
- March 2025 (13)
- February 2025 (13)
- January 2025 (8)
- December 2024 (2)
- November 2024 (4)
- October 2024 (21)
- September 2024 (4)
- August 2024 (8)
- July 2024 (14)
- June 2024 (16)
- May 2024 (25)
- April 2024 (15)
- March 2024 (18)
- February 2024 (5)
- January 2024 (10)
- December 2023 (6)
- November 2023 (10)
- October 2023 (13)
- September 2023 (12)
- August 2023 (14)
- July 2023 (13)
- June 2023 (14)
- May 2023 (15)
- April 2023 (13)
- March 2023 (14)
- February 2023 (13)
- January 2023 (15)
- December 2022 (13)
- November 2022 (6)
- October 2022 (8)
- September 2022 (22)
- August 2022 (15)
- July 2022 (13)
- June 2022 (16)
- May 2022 (14)
- April 2022 (16)
- March 2022 (17)
- February 2022 (11)
- January 2022 (8)
- December 2021 (6)
- November 2021 (7)
- October 2021 (11)
- September 2021 (10)
- August 2021 (7)
- July 2021 (7)
- June 2021 (4)
- May 2021 (4)
- April 2021 (1)
- March 2021 (3)
- February 2021 (5)
- January 2021 (4)
- December 2020 (7)
- November 2020 (6)
- October 2020 (5)
- September 2020 (9)
- August 2020 (18)
- July 2020 (17)
- June 2020 (17)
- May 2020 (10)
- April 2020 (21)
- March 2020 (24)
- February 2020 (21)
- January 2020 (12)
- December 2019 (23)
- November 2019 (12)
- October 2019 (14)
- September 2019 (16)
- August 2019 (15)
- July 2019 (13)
- June 2019 (6)
- May 2019 (8)
- April 2019 (4)
- March 2019 (2)
- February 2019 (2)
- January 2019 (2)
- December 2018 (3)
- November 2018 (24)
- September 2018 (11)
- August 2018 (9)
- June 2018 (3)
- May 2018 (6)
- April 2018 (14)
- March 2018 (12)
- February 2018 (16)
- January 2018 (15)
- December 2017 (15)
- November 2017 (18)
- October 2017 (23)
- September 2017 (19)
- August 2017 (28)
- July 2017 (27)
- June 2017 (25)
- May 2017 (18)
- April 2017 (17)
- March 2017 (16)
- February 2017 (17)
- January 2017 (14)
- December 2016 (21)
- November 2016 (27)
- October 2016 (25)
- September 2016 (16)
- August 2016 (20)
- July 2016 (19)
- June 2016 (14)
- May 2016 (20)
- April 2016 (24)
- March 2016 (22)
- February 2016 (28)
- January 2016 (27)
- December 2015 (28)
- November 2015 (19)
- October 2015 (9)
- September 2015 (12)
- August 2015 (5)
- July 2015 (1)
- June 2015 (10)
- May 2015 (3)
- April 2015 (11)
- March 2015 (14)
- February 2015 (15)
- January 2015 (12)
- December 2014 (2)
- November 2014 (23)
- October 2014 (2)
- September 2014 (2)
- August 2014 (2)
- July 2014 (2)
- June 2014 (7)
- May 2014 (14)
- April 2014 (14)
- March 2014 (7)
- February 2014 (2)
- January 2014 (7)
- December 2013 (9)
- November 2013 (14)
- October 2013 (17)
- September 2013 (3)
- August 2013 (6)
- July 2013 (8)
- June 2013 (4)
- May 2013 (3)
- April 2013 (6)
- March 2013 (6)
- February 2013 (7)
- January 2013 (5)
- December 2012 (3)
- November 2012 (2)
- September 2012 (1)
Subscribe by email
You May Also Like
These Related Blogs

Are Field Sales People Still A Good Investment?
Field salespeople were once the backbone of sales teams around the country. But are field salespeople an endangered species in 2020? Are they still pl …

How Has Lockdown Affected Field Sales?
Lockdown measures have left no sector untouched, and field sales are no exception. Businesses that rely on face-to-face sales have experienced large d …

Five Effective Tips On How To Generate Sales Leads For Your Business
With so many options on the market, it can be difficult to decide how to generate sales leads for your business. However, there are some tried and tru …