Sales

Learn how an Agile approach to project management can apply to contemporary sales.

Find out what Agile is before you learn how it can be applied to sales.

What is Agile Sales Management?
In this lesson you can find out what Agile sales is, before you learn how it can be applied to sales.
Let's start by firstly reflecting on account-based selling in today's market...


What is an agile process?
“Agile approaches help teams respond to unpredictability through incremental, iterative work cadences and empirical feedback.”
(agilemethodology.org)
Within the Agile process projects are viewed in “sprints”, with a focus on hitting milestones which leads to a larger goal.
Sprints are adjusted based on new discoveries and insights, feedback and the results of previous sprints. Thereby the sales process is developed in an iterative manner, and problems are feedback are addressed throughout.
Teams working in an Agile process focus on more immediate goals, and are able to adapt to evolving needs quickly.


Which of the following words can be used to describe Agile sales management?


What is Agile Sales Management?

Discover why Agile can work with today's workforce and today's buyers.

The strength of an Agile approach
This will help you to uncover why Agile is important in today's sales environment.


Today's workforce is different.
Millennials are becoming a larger part of sales teams, which means old tired processes no longer work. This workforce is independent, researches and learners quickly, and values opportunities for growth in their role.
Today's customers are different.
Similarly, they have less patience for a rigid sales process, and greater ability to do their own research.
Therefore, there is more expectation to deliver unique, targeted and personal experiences. Reps need to adapt quickly to respond to client needs.
Lastly, data is expansive and easily accessible, which means that not only can change to processing me made more quickly and specifically, but also that if changes are not made intentionally and with particular attention to specific data sets, then the amount can be overwhelming or lose its value.


Why is an Agile approach important?


Principles such as the following can help you in implementation and facilitation of Agile management processes…
Accountability
Adaptive Planning
Collaboration
Iteration
Measurement
Organisation
Predictability
Recognition
Transparency


The strength of an Agile approach

Accountability, Adaptive Planning, Collaboration, Iteration and Measurement can all be applied to your sales management in order to embrace an Agile approach.

How do you implement Agile Sales Management?


Adaptive Planning
Adaptive planning is usually applied to a sprint, of up to a month in length.


Collaboration
“Everyone man or woman for themselves” is a common culture within sales teams, but a few simple steps can go a long way towards fostering collaboration within the team.


**Beginning the day with a stand-up meeting **
In a stand-up, the team should share insights  such as...
a recent win or loss, or
a current challenge, or
a question they have


To make these meetings valuable, the insights gathered should be noted and accessible to reference by the team later on.


Collaboration with other functions
Collaboration with other functions of the organisation should be encouraged.


In particular, your CRM should be integrated with your marketing automation system.
For example, if the system can provide an engagement score to leads which ranks their interaction with EDMs, social media or landing pages, then sales can better prioritise their leads.


Similarly, marketing teams can benefit from understanding which channels generate the most leads.


Timing
Ensure that the timing of sprints allows enough time for data to be collected before it is evaluated.
Of course, the timing will be dependent on the project. For example, if you are evaluating a longer strategy such as a new pipeline, or smaller change such as a new email format.


** Focused sprints**
Don’t try to achieve too much or make too many changes in a single sprint. This will make it more difficult to evaluate the success of the changes, and determine the strategy or outcomes for the next sprint.


** Metrics for longer outcomes**
Use more than one metric for measuring longer processes, so that you can more easily pinpoint where changes should be made, and develop smaller and more specific iterations.


Strategies for implementing Agile (Part 1)

Strategies and adjustments to Organisation, Predictability and forecasting,  Recognition and Measurement can enhance and Agile approach.

Strategies for implementing Agile (Part 2)
The previous lesson already covered some strategies such as Accountability, Adaptive Planning, Collaboration and Iteration.


This lesson provides further recommendations for implementing an Agile approach such as  regarding Organisation, Predictability and forecasting,  Recognition and Measurement.


Which of the following assists in keeping an organised CRM?


Transparency
Small and open meetings such as scrums and stand-ups allow for greater transparency amongst your team, and are reliant on the development of an open organisational culture whereby the reps can feel comfortable sharing their successes and failures, and asking questions.
As mentioned previously, transparency also relates to your CRM and making sure that everything is input into the system, and it is done so accurately.
You should ensure that the whole sales team has access to sales reports, and as much as possible, the sales pipeline should be visible to others outside the team.


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