If you or your children play softball or baseball, you’re familiar with the strike zone. The dimensions of this imaginary zone extend, horizontally, the width of home plate, and, vertically, from the batter’s mid-torso to her knees. Because not everyone’s torso and knees are in exactly the same place, strike zones vary by hitter. Umpires use this zone to call strikes and balls. Hitters use this area to select which pitches to swing at. Good hitters know even more specifically the best spots for them within the strike zone given their unique body mechanics.
In sales, I use the strike zone concept to help sales organizations and their people better qualify opportunities. Qualifying is about deal selection, or the ability to determine which opportunities to pursue based on how attractive they are to the business and how likely they are to close. Effective salespeople are master qualifiers; their attention is drawn like a magnet to attractive and closeable deals. Much like sluggers, they know their strike zone, when to swing, and when to wait for another pitch.
ANY ROAD’LL TAKE YOU THERE
Unfortunately, only 30% of salespeople are rated “strong” in the Qualifying competency, according to Objective Management Group. What about the other 70%? Imagine a batter flailing away at every pitch that’s thrown. In sales, weak qualifiers tend to waste a lot of time chasing business nobody else much wants or deals they can’t close. It shows in their sales performance. And it’s frustrating because many times their lack of results is not due to lack of effort. It brings to mind Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire Cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, who was famously paraphrased as telling Alice: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road’ll take you there.”
Where do the 70% of weak qualifiers go wrong? Sales involves a lot of rejection. So, any wins – even small and unattractive ones – can feel good. They can also feel like they demonstrate to managers that they can put wins on the board. At the time of this writing, we’re in the throes of a pandemic, which has reshaped a lot of pipelines. And, when someone’s in a dry spell, closing anything feels better than closing nothing.
Poor qualifying skills in a sales organization can be extremely costly to the business. Consider how much is paid: in base salaries to the 70% (weak qualifiers) who do a lot of swinging and missing; in commissions paid for unattractive business; to other resources brought into deals that don’t close; and for lead generation to compensate for their inability to convert opportunities to wins.
INCREASING YOUR TEAM’S BATTING PERCENTAGE
On the baseball or softball diamond, choosing the right pitch allows a hitter to maximize her chances for connecting, getting on base, and potentially scoring a run. In sales, similarly, choosing the right deals to pursue reduces wasted time and distractions, and allows people to focus fully on winning their best opportunities.
How do you get more people choosing the right pitches to swing at? Here are several best practices to get you thinking:
Leadership’s role: the future of your business is too important to leave to the deal choices of salespeople. Define and communicate to the sales organization the kinds of business you’re seeking. Help them see where the organization is most successful winning profitable business, including the types of organizations, people, and work. What do deals outside your strike zone – too big, too small, too weird to be worth it -- look like?
Numbers matter: measure, compensate, and hold people accountable for pursuing and winning the kind of business you’re seeking. Last year, what percentage of deals that your sales team proposed on did they actually close? What percentage of closed business fit your criteria for the kinds of deals that should be celebrated?
Expect imperfection: your sales managers should be prepared to coach salespeople on their decision-making related to deal selection – intervening and challenging or supporting where appropriate -- their choices. Likewise, as a senior leader, you should ready yourself to challenge your first-line managers about the deals their people are pursuing. These points of tension are healthy controls.
Define your sales process: ensure that your road map for pursuing new business is current and that it includes a discrete gate through which only qualified opportunities pass. Ensure that a small committee, or at least someone other than a lone salesperson, makes the call to pursue or pass on a deal
Revisit your selection criteria: it’s worth looking at your organization’s success rate in choosing sales talent who are also strong qualifiers.
SWINGING TO WIN
Consistent batters in softball or baseball are a rare breed and don’t win on their athletic talent alone. In your sales organization, are you recruiting people who know their strike zone, so they can connect and win? Do you have an accurate read on what percentage of your salespeople (or sales candidates) are strong at the qualifying competency? Would knowing that help you grow your business? My system can help you measure that sales competency, as well as 20 others. Start by taking this free trial.