As we close out 2022, it is prime time for businesses to be reviewing their performance year to date, and looking to the year ahead to set new objectives and growth targets.
These growth ambitions are often set at a higher level, driven by overarching objectives for the trajectory of the business that can range from survival in the market, increasing market share, or attracting external investment.
Seeking external investment can be an essential process for many growing businesses and can offer much more than a strong financial channel. Often, investors will partner with businesses aligned to their philosophy with whom they can nurture, grow and mentor.
Investors want to see their investments appreciated and will often seek out businesses and owners on the cusp of growth. This is a sweet spot for many business lenders due to the expected financial forecasts and business growth plan opportunities they foresee.
If your business has recently received external investment, you may find that it is these new investors setting high-growth targets for your business, with ROI expectations increasing sales outputs required, impacting your need for quick and efficient strategies that are cost-effective and risk-averse.
Whatever the reasons behind your business's high-growth ambitions, you may be feeling the pressure and wondering where to begin to ensure you hit your sales targets. This blog will provide insight into how sales leaders can prepare for high-growth targets in 2023 and beyond.
Increased financial output, for any business, relies more on sales. Whether this is for products or services, the sales function is the key to success. Here at Furza, this is our remit of expertise and we're here to help by sharing recommended strategies for reaching those high-growth targets.
Reviewing your current sales tactics is a good place to start and may provide some insight into what can be improved. This is also a good time to evaluate how any new investment can be utilised and to re-set the sales goals in alignment with the new business objectives and targets.
For many business, high-growth set at a higher level will lead to the following:
As such, addressing your sales functions and tactics to align with these goals and objectives is a must. It is for this reason that many businesses develop their inbound sales channels and actively implement outbound sales tactics, in addition.
High-growth targets are often aggressive and inbound sales functions can be unreliable. Inbound, to most businesses, is the first point of call, which is why outbound may spark your competitive advantage as well as provide your business with a structured and proactive approach to new business.
Unlike inbound sales strategies that rely on the customer to initiate contact, outbound sales techniques empower your sales team, putting the impetus on them to win new business. This provides an element of control over the volume of leads coming in and develops a reliable, repeatable and more predictable formula to lead generation.
Outbound sales tactics such as cold calling and cold emailing can be implemented quickly, so once you have set out a sales process, defined the qualification criteria and know the companies or audience you are targeting, you can begin on your pro-active approach to building your sales pipeline.
If you want to find out more about outbound sales specifically, you can read our in-depth blog on "Why Sales Leaders Should Consider an Outbound Sales Process" and how this function can help your business reach high-growth targets.
There are many benefits to reviewing your current sales functions and optimising them to achieve high targets. Another impactful opportunity is to look at who's running those sales channels and ensure that as you develop your new tactics, you have the right people at the forefront.
Recruiting top sales talent is an important first step in building your team. Some important tips for recruiting early-career, high-level talent can include such things as:
It's the name of the game for a sales representative candidate to have traits and characteristics that customers would be encouraged to purchase from. Good communication, approachability, enthusiasm and confidence are a few examples, but this means as an employer, the recruitment process isn's as simple as finding an impressive CV.
At Furza, we understand this. That's why we conduct extensive recruitment campaigns, screenings and interviews before filling dedicated assessment days with potential candidates, just for you. We assess everything from the ability to suitability and work directly with you throughout the process to forge right-fit candidates for your business.
We're aware that onboarding and training of sales staff is a significant hidden cost of recruitment, but it's part of the process we believe is exceptionally important. Essentially, the onboarding and training element sets the trajectory of your sales function by preparing your staff and providing them with the tools and knowledge they need to win. For example:
Read how Furza helped Open ECX build a cohesive sales team to transform sales outcomes and contribute to business growth strategies in our case study.
Harnessing and formalising your sales process can be recognisably effective tactic when preparing for high sales targets. Acting as a strong foundation for new sales teams and existing staff, a clearly defined process puts everyone on the same page.
Preparing for high sales targets may seem daunting at first. Setting out key performance indicators, milestones and regular performance reviews along the way can help your business understand where it's tracking against these targets and break down these high sales expectations into much more manageable tasks.
High sales targets can be overwhelming enough without the stress of establishing sales functions, recruiting staff, and onboarding and training them. Outsourcing this process can be an effective use of the budget that significantly reduces the pressures on management, time, and resource - especially if sales leaders have their own personal targets to achieve.
If you're planning to recruit and develop early-career sales people or scale an existing team to set your business in good stead to achieve high-growth targets, Furza can help.
We specialise in building, training and developing sales poeple and teams around the needs of today's target-driven businesses that operate in highly competitive markets. Our bespoke recruitment and training model helps customers handpick early-career sales talent and build a cohesive sales team with a solid grounding in your solutions and product sets and return on investment.
Click here to see our training programmes.