Simple challenger questions for your sales leader or sales team. Each question will expose your sales maturity and sales force effectiveness.

1. JASON
BARGENT
CAN YOU
CHALLENGE
20 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR SALES ORGANISATION
Jason Bargent
Sales and Marketing Optimisation
YOUR SALES TEAM?
@JasonBargent
+61 412 421 847
jason@jasonbargent.com
www.jasonbargent.com

2. JASON
BARGENT
Happy
Are you…
With your Sales
Results?

3. JASON
BARGENT
STOP!
and Ask yourself...

4. “
”
If you called a spontaneous meeting with your Sales Team,
could each of them present their Close Plans for
Committed Opportunities?
Would it be up to date, covering strategy to win, risks,
mitigation plan and detailed planned activity by week?”"
Hope is not a Strategy to Win"

5. “
”
If you called a spontaneous meeting with your Sales Team,
could each of them walk through the Next Quarter Pipeline
and Forecast?
"
Could they do this with just your SFDC logged-on at the
Projector?"
Sales Cadence will demonstrate who is thinking transactionally vs strategically"

6. “
”
Ask your team to walk you through a close plan?"
"
Really challenge yourself:"
1. Is it a list of stages or detailed actions by week?"
2. Does everyone agree in the team?"
3. Is it Realistic?"
Close Plans should be a specific component of your Opportunity Plan. Ensure it’s SMART and not al ist of stages"

7. “
”
Does everyone in the company know the Must Win deals
for this Quarter?
What about the next two Quarters?"
What if you miss the chance to Influence?"

8. “
”
What’s the detailed Plan to win the Committed (and still at
risk) deals within your Forecast?
"
Is it a list of steps or a detailed plan?"
If you Fail to Plan…you Plan to Fail"

9. “
”
Ok, so your Sales Team hasn’t made target this quarter.
"
What’s the growth expected next Quarter by Sales Rep?"
Stretch Goals based on Quarterly Achievement"

10. “
”
Are there Consequences to not achieving goals?
"
Ah ok…so it’s ok to fail?"
Consequences of Failure drive Personal Accountability"

11. “
”
Are the close dates ALL the last week in the Quarter?"
"
Wow…Amazing after the entire quarter, ALL your
prospects have decided they want to buy on the same day
and it’s the last day. It’s a Miracle!"
As a Sales Leader you Must Challenge People – Are Close Dates Confirmed?"

12. “
”
Do you use the CRM Dashboards in ever team meeting,
1:1 and review?
(go on…ban the spreadsheet comfort blanket)"
Top down consistency drives adoption of CRM tools"

13. “
”
The Forecast is not looking good against Target."
You have the team focused on close plans for the
Commited deals….but it’s not enough"
"
Where are the Gap to Goal Plans? What low hanging fruit
is being missed?"
Gap to Goal Plans force people to Understand under-achieving is not good enough"

14. “
”
Step 1 – Pick an Open Committed Opportunity."
Step 2 – Call a Opportunity Review with no notice."
Step 3 – Prepare to be Amazed. Award those who impress!"
Step 4 – So what do you do with those that don’t impress?"
"
Planning is Essential to running any business. You can’t win a deal by Luck."

15. “
”
Your VP of Sales at Corporate has just rang and asked you
to give the following 4 numbers:"
1) Actuals for Quarter"
2) Committed forecast for Quarter"
3) Size of Top 3 Deals and when they will Close"
4) Committed forecast for Next Quarter"
"
Your Heart Races. Is the data you pulled up from SFDC
correct? Does your Sales Team feel this dread or
confidence?"
"
If your CRM is wrong, will that make you look a Hero or a Fool?"

16. “
”
Do you cancel Sales Meetings?
"
Why? "
Sales Cadence cannot work if you’re busy. It’s valuable to the team – don’t fall Victim to the ‘…because’"

17. “
”
You can’t Make the Sales Meeting."
"
Don’t hit Cancel. Delegate – Keep the Routine Going."
Change focus – Make it a Opportunity Deep Dive"
Sales Cadence cannot work if you’re busy. It’s valuable to the team – don’t fall Victim to the ‘…because’"

18. “
”
When’s the cut-off for the Quarter?
(when is the last day you can book an order)"
"
Walk the floor and ask Everyone you see.
Oh Sorry…of course that date isn’t front of mind for sales
people – erm….Why?"
How can you create a Close Plan if you don’t know when your Quarter Cut-Off is? "

19. “
”
I’m Busy Closing Deals, Being Busy, Doing Busy Selling
Things to make the Quarter Targets."
"
I Don’t have time to Plan or Update the CRM Tool. After
all, you want me to sell Don’t You?"
"
Oh Silly Me…I thought you were a sales professional that planned their
activities, success and actions to close using the multi-million dollar
investments we made in the systems. You Want to call the CEO and tell
him you are too busy to use the tools he’s invested in for business
management?"
Complex Selling in an Enterprise B2B Environment is Different to Selling FMCG or B2C – do you sell Pencils or Solutions?"

20. “
”
Call a Spontaneous Meeting with your Sales Team."
"
Ask them….Why would a Prospect Change to your
solution? Pretend you’re the competitor – what’s different
that your Competitor can’t say? Use “So What!” to
challenge and get people to re-frame"
Sell on Value, not features and functionality – Remember You must Address: 1) Why Change? 2) Why You? "

21. “
”
Perform a detailed Opportunity Review."
"
Ask your sales person to map out the decision making
criteria. Has this been validated with your sponsor?"
"
Ask your sales person to map out the decision making
stages. Who do they need to go to for sign off? How long
does it take?"
Ensure your Prospect’s Decision Making Criteria is not guesswork – actually review with the stakeholder, it’s the best qualifier"

22. “
”
Your Sales Team have a Presentation to a Hot / Must Win
Prospect."
"
Who outside of the opportunity team is invited to the Dry
Run Rehearsal?"
A successful Pitch is about 3 Things: Practice. Practice. Practice. "

23. “
”
The Proposal is about to be submitted. "
Days of work on the RFP. "
Input from Sales, Marketing, Technical Specialists."
The End is in Sight."
The Sales Manager reviews and Gives the Green Light."
"
Hang on…Where’s the Red Team Review?"
Red Team Review is outside of the production process – looks at it from the prospects viewpoint, evaluates fit, language & selling messages / themes"

24. JASON
BARGENT
Happy Now?

25. JASON
BARGENT
Drive
Results.
Ensure
your
Sales
Leaders
have
a
Coach