Sandler Research Report | The Essential Components for Sustaining Overachieving Sales Performance

This survey provides innovative strategies that drive success in a sales environment. We discovered five critical elements that can lead to a higher sales performance, and affect every aspect of a business. There are key differences among a sales team and organization that are important to understand. Our findings help answer why only 20% of sales professionals are able to perform at or above quota, while the majority struggle with driving sales success.

Critical Element for Sales Leaders #1: Start Off on the Right Foot

Our findings showed that overachieving sales professionals were 1.5x more likely than underachieving sales professionals to have a manager skilled in sales training. Sales leaders who are able to create a positive experience for a newly hired salesperson displayed strengths in three specific activities: recruiting team members, onboarding new members of the sales team, and coaching their sales team one-on-one. Developing these skills in sales management is effective in creating a sales team that feels motivated to generate a higher income.

Critical Element for Sales Leaders #2: Create a Formal Sales Process

Data from our survey reinforces the need for successful sales teams to have and follow a clear sales process. Higher-performing sales teams were 1.4x more likely to have a formal sales process that utilized performance metrics. These teams were also 2.8x more likely than the lower performing sales teams to consistently follow that sales process.