Keep it simple!
You know your business – break down why you are successful selling your product or service today, create some metrics so you can measure it and then experiment. Each of your steps in the sales process should have a measurable outcome that can be recorded.
Document it!
You need to put pen to paper (or bits to disk) and keep track of your sales process. It’s a living document that should always be current and becomes the fundamental guide for your sales people as your company grows.
Track your metrics!
It’s hard to know what to do next if you don’t have a stable base to draw from. Compile data regularly and consistently on your sales. Over time you will begin to see trends that may have not been obvious. At a minimum the data will present you with confirmation about your gut feel on why you are successful or not selling.
Be patient!
If you want to improve, you need to see the impact your changes are causing. Don’t jump to conclusions because a change you made isn’t having the immediate impact you think it should be having. Continue to monitor your metrics and adjust things at a reasonable pace. This may feel like it runs counter to popular thinking that decisions should be made based on gut instinct and in the blink of an eye.
I have always tried to keep everything as simple as possible and the advice I’m providing is about as simple as it gets. If you’re not using a well defined sales process now, at a minimum following the steps I have outlined above will give you a great start in getting it under control.