What is Sales Mapping? Sales Mapping is a program where a sales process and / or approach is mapped to a set of performance requirements to better understand specific performance requirements and position sales leaders to apply proven sales coaching strategies to these requirements.
The problem with many companies and their sales process is they leave too many things to chance. Here are two examples of why companies need to build a sales mapping process. First, what is cold calling? Many companies will use this term very differently. How does someone make a cold call? What is the objective? What is the first question they should use? How should they specifically handle a "no time" objection on a cold call? How should they ask for an appointment if that is the objective? Have they practiced the cold call? If not guess what they will probably shoot from the hip and talk too much and risk turning off a prospect!
Second, how does someone handle a price objection? Specifically? Too many times we hear reps say "Well what I try to do is ..." WRONG! The sales person is NOT prepared. Handling a price objection is not easy but if we do not have the knowledge as to what to do (knowledge of what to say and the steps to be used) we will have a team of sales people with inconsistent approaches and ultimately inconsistent results when handling a price objection.
Once the process is defined the next step is to lay over the top of each stage of the process and each stage's requirements is a coaching approach that ensures knowledge and skill development. This should include questions, specific activities that drive knowledge & skill and learning projects that challenge the sales person to improve on their own. This can only be successful if the process is presented properly, practice is facilitated for each stage of the process, and sales leaders consistently reinforce with a defined coaching approach against the defined sales process.
Let's go back to our example of cold calling. Salespeople are taught a specific cold calling approach in terms of what to say and what steps to take that represents the knowledge. Knowledge must be demonstrated by a been able to teach it back. Next, the knowledge must be practiced and we all know how difficult it is to get sales people to practice with passion for improvement. If we do not practice skills they do not arbitrarily improve. Last, behavioral improvement includes confidence and conviction when performing the cold call and without both salespeople will struggle with this element of prospecting. This is a hint as to what to do when you map a coaching strategy. With knowledge have them teach it back, with skills have them practice it, and with behavioral improvement have them practice it but also provide positive reinforcement.
Sales Mapping helps organizations specifically define requirements within their sales process to drive better expectations and position sales leaders to properly coach. The mapping process literally defines things down to what to do and specifically what to say; whereas, most sales processes simply lay out the steps without the functional requirements.
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