Organization in commercial teams is without a doubt one of the fundamental aspects for said teams to achieve the objectives set. Many companies have it in their DNA to focus entirely on acquiring new customers, renewing existing customers, or taking
However, it is not so common to find companies that have a focus on the generation of fully defined protocols and automated processes that at an organizational level can generate scalability in the medium-long term. In this article we will see how the good organization of commercial teams can help to make an abysmal qualitative leap and have a direct impact on sales targets and, therefore, on the company’s income statement.
From the classic funnel to specialization by stages
When we think of a sales funnel, we usually tend to imagine a funnel in funnel shaped where in the upper area we find the widest part and from this point it narrows.
This is because we have always heard expressions like “Of 100 that I contact, I end up converting 5 to clients, therefore my closing ratio is 5%”. Most of the Energy of many marketers is engaged in acquire new leads and persuade them through a funnel. And the end point of that funnel is always the purchase. Given this paradigm, companies are oriented to a greater extent to converting and attracting customers, either through strategies or . However, along with the importance of attracting customers, we find the maintenance and growth thereof. And much more in the booming environment of SaaS that we are experiencing.
That is why new currents of organizing sales teams are emerging much more transverse where not only customer acquisition is taken into account, but also accompanying them to understand the product, grow, etc. It is here where representations are born as exact to the current reality as is the Bow Tie Funnel, known as the “bow tie funnel” colloquially. What happens in this funnel after the point of purchase, symbolizes the other half of the customer journey, the one that never ends. It’s where you track the rest of the journey so you can find ways to keep customers who made it through the first side of the funnel focused on acquisition.
This second part of the customer journey is an opening of possibilities for a deeper relationship between company and client after making the first purchase. Maximizing the return by improving that second part of the trip is called Customer Retention Optimization (CRO). However, in the current state of digital marketing, most marketers (in part due to organizational structure) still focus primarily on the old CRO: optimization of the , or what happens before the sale, that is, acquiring new customers. Only 40% of companies focus equally on both parts of this funnel.
This phenomenon, in the sales teams, supposes an extension of responsibilities where they are no longer only measured by their conversion to sales, but by being able to know, add value and help the client grow. It is therefore passed from a Full Cycle commercial: responsible for capturing and maintaining the account to a specialization of jobs always “facing the customer” and depending on the stages that they go through from the first contact with the company.
The specialization begins in the collection where the figure of SDR (Sales Development Representative) or BDR (Business Development Representative) with the aim of generating the first interest in a lead or prospect, turning it into a sales opportunity or deal. Later this deal will travel “to the roof” of a Account Manager that you will be the person responsible for converting this sales opportunity into business for the company; thus generating the first income for the company. So far, everything is very similar to Aaron Ros’ approach in his masterpiece.
An extra contribution to the famous “Predictable Revenue”
However, from my point of view, it has become somewhat obsolete given that today where the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) and BANI (Brittle (brittle), Anxious (anxiety generating), Non-linear (non-linear ) and Incomprehensible (incomprehensible)) that commercial teams face, generate a feeling of constant uncertainty and make them face two great challenges: adaptation to the market (client) and adaptation of the organization.
Regarding the customer, we have already seen that it is not only important to convince him to buy the product or service, but that sharing knowledge, teaching him how to use it and being able to take advantage of it is what is really valued, that is to say , do his onboarding process much friendlier.
Given this situation, the Customer Success teams are becoming increasingly important in an environment where the aim is to take care of the customer as the treasure that it is. We must not forget that this client has already chosen the product or service of the company and therefore, Accompanying them in their first steps in the relationship with our company will not only generate increased loyalty. It is essential for this Customer Success team to be organizationally coordinated with the Accounts team because in many cases the line between landing a customer, keeping a customer or actions more oriented towards Cross-Sell and Up-Sell is very fine.
The structure of the sales teams will change, incorporating specialist profiles in this field where the main challenge will be maximize the of the client in the company, that is, the prediction of the benefit attributed to the entire relationship that a company maintains with a client, from its acquisition to the end of the collaboration. The LTV metric translates directly into a “North Star Metric”, a North Star that business departments should pay the utmost attention to.
The demands of the competitive environment also lead sales teams to have much more analytical profiles capable of “enable” its entire structure making commercial operations much more efficient. It is no longer just about selling, but about doing it in the best possible way.
It is here that the figure of “Sales Operations” whose responsibility is to reduce friction in the sales process, so that salespeople are successful in their daily activities. In addition to overseeing business processes, “Head of Sales Operations” or “Sales Operations Manager” they are often responsible for finding tools that create scalability for business areas. In addition, these people must have a great analytical capacity to be able to help not only in the general process, but also at specific moments when it is necessary to zoom in on some specific data or trend.
Here’s another take on the business structure presented in the book “Predictable Revenue” because when a sales organization begins to scale to support a growing business, sales operations becomes a vital function. With more customers and revenue, there is more to track and more complexity for the way they sell the equipment.
Trading Equipment Mechanisms
The specialization of commercial teams aims to bring about an increase in efficiency and profitability in the company. Achieving these two long-awaited objectives can also be achieved through a series of relationship mechanisms between members of the same team and relationships between members of different teams.
A solid commercial team is one that shares information and draws on it to be better. Thus, holding internal meetings can help a lot. The “Daily” or “Weekly” are mechanisms that can greatly help to do so. eye! The important thing in these meetings is to share the information that can really add value due to its relevance; It is not about holding these meetings to comply with the file.
Nevertheless, a commercial department is not an island within an organization; hence the importance of being totally related to other departments. Personally, I believe that the closest relationship the sales team should have is with the product and marketing departments. The marketing team greatly helps to attract potential leads and the product team is clearly going to help convince the customer to buy.
This professionalization of sales teams has also resulted in better use of tools that can help generate scalability in companies, improve internal processes and, therefore, achieve greater efficiency, results and profitability.
Some of the basic tools for any computer are the like or ; Data Analytics tools such as PowerBI; tools that favor customer acquisition processes as they are or that define themselves as “intuitive sales automation platforms”. Investing in tools that generate scalability is investing in the growth of the company
In short, new challenges mean new organizational methods that force sales teams to be at the forefront of the market, and we cannot solve problems with the same mentality that has led us to create them.
James Sanmartin is Business Manager at BigBuy
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