Across the country, we're hearing from our ACE Peer Group Members that sales are a challenge for teams this year. What we've seen at Grunder Landscaping Co. (GLC) is that the sales are out there, but our sales team is having to work a little harder to uncover them.
This week I asked our Director of Sales Operations at GLC, Dawn Arnold, to share with me some sales management tips that may help other teams who are struggling. Here's what she shared:
Aspire allows us to track and have visibility into not just our closed sales, but also the proposals submitted, meetings scheduled, and follow-ups made. We're able to set goals and coach around the effort and activity, and not just the outcomes.
Each of our salespeople has an individual goal for the dollar value of closed sales and proposals they should have each week. We also set expectations on the number of proposals that should be sent out each week.
We celebrate wins in a weekly email where Dawn recaps the sales team's activities, and recognizes the salesperson who led the previous week in closed sales, the dollar value of closed sales, and the number of proposals sent out.
It won't be surprising to many of you reading this, but we see a direct correlation between the number of activities and the number of closed sales. When you stay on top of this, you win.
We're using Aspire to monitor communication touchpoints, but we're also actively working with our team and coaching them on email tone, calendar etiquette, body language, and timely follow-up. These aren't skills that come naturally to many people, but soft skills like these make a big difference in how clients perceive their salesperson and therefore our company.
It may sound silly but one thing we're working with our team on right now is small talk. The details that a client shares while just making conversation before we dive into talking about their landscaping can be so helpful in creating great proposals and winning sales. Having information about a person's lifestyle, family makeup, and favorite activities can be eye-opening in residential landscaping. Empty-nesters who love to bird watch may enjoy lots of perennial and shrub beds, while a family with young soccer players may prefer as much turf as possible.
These are both easy tips that you can use with your own sales team this week. Start tracking the effort as well as the results, and work with your teams to talk about how we interact with customers to ensure success.
Our Grunder Landscaping Co. Field Trip attendees are lucky to meet Dawn and learn from her directly when she covers the sales process our team uses. Spots are filling up quickly, don't miss your chance to come tour our facility and learn from my talented leadership team this September, October, or December.
Have a great week!
Marty Grunder
Founder & CEO
The Grow Group & Grunder Landscaping Co.