15 Questions that will help you drive sales initiative results

As a sales leader, one of your biggest contributions to transforming your sales force is reinforcement. If you want to change behaviors in your sales team, you need more than a two-day training. Your salespeople need to approach their coveted opportunities in a way that demonstrates your solution’s value and its differentiation. You need a shift in mindset, one that influences the design, development, delivery and reinforcement of your new sales methodology and your sales transformation process.

Most sales organizations have gone through their fair share of sales enablement programs. A lot of your reps and front-line managers probably approach any new sales training with a bit of cynicism. Your job as a sales leader is to set the stage for success. Think of the training sessions you’ve sat through in your career. Which ones fell flat? Which ones made a lasting impression? What made the successful ones change behaviors?

Ensure your next sales transformation initiative is worth the money. Evaluate your organization’s ability to succeed with these 15 key questions.

Your Organization’s Background

1. How successful were past sales enablement projects?
2. Why were some more successful than others?
3. How do recent organizational changes align with this project?
4. How do recent executive changes align with this project?

Your Priorities

1. What are the critical few corporate initiatives your organization is undertaking right now?
2. What is the priority of this project compared to the other initiatives?
3. What other sales enablement initiatives will be competing for resources?

Your Process

1. How engaged are senior leaders in the major project events?
2. What are your success metrics?
3. Who will own, adopt and update project deliverables?
4. What is the communication plan for needed changes and inspection?

Your Success

1. How have the project outcomes integrated into the management cadence of your front-line managers?
2. How are managers enabled to reinforce, inspect, coach new processes?
3. How are you gathering and documenting success stories?
4. How are you celebrating those who succeed among your team?

Remember the key to successful adoption of any sales strategy is a mindset, rather than a single action. The right mindset—or the wrong one— will affect reaction to design, development, delivery and reinforcement of any initiative. Do the work on the front end to drive success. This due diligence will ensure you improve revenue and create measurable results.