Time Wasted is Expensive and Cannot be Recovered
If we accept that for enterprise SaaS salespeople time is the enemy, then I hope we can also agree that the weekly team sales forecast call is a total waste of time. If we also assume that we have 10 salespeople that earn $300/hour, the cost of this call is $3,000 and when multiplied by 50 weeks, the weekly team sales forecast call costs the company $150,000 per year. Is this call truly worth $150,000/year?
First of all, the salespeople do not even pay attention during this call, as they are generally apathetic regarding their colleagues' deals. Secondly, modern CRM systems are delivering on-demand forecasts, rendering these weekly calls obsolete. Finally, salespeople might be less candid about their deals in an open forum than they might be in a more private setting.
So what is the solution to maintaining a sales forecast for the sales leader? The answer is twofold: a system, such as MOIC Pipeline Grader, that reveals all relevant blind spots that prevents deals from closing, combined with weekly 1:1 meetings between the sales leader and each salesperson. While it may seem onerous for the sales leader to conduct weekly meetings with each salesperson, it is critical to do so for a wide range of reasons, not the least of which is the continued rapport building between the sales leader and the salesperson.
Other benefits of weekly 1:1's include:
* The sales leader can establish a cadence for these meetings that reviews (in detail) both the near term and longer term objective (not subjective) forecast
* The sales leader can spend adequate time focused on the sales process for each deal, in order to ensure adherence to the sales methodology in place
* The sales leader can uncover both positive and negative patterns, coaching the salespeople versus directing the salespeople
* Because of the repetition of these calls, the salespeople develop fluency in the meeting process and become better prepared for each meeting and better salespeople overall
Ultimately, the objective of any forecast meeting is to get the best possible and most objective view of the near term sales bookings projection. Having that inspection regularly assures the sales leader that the salesperson is completing necessary tasks in a timely manner (all activities should be "on the clock" for accountability purposes). From a financial standpoint, spending $150,000/year for subjective, grandstanding forecast calls is a colossal waste of money, which might be otherwise spent actually trying to advance opportunities toward closure.
If your SaaS sales team struggles to transition from team sales forecast calls to individual sales coaching forecast meetings, I suggest emailing dave@moicpartners.com for guidance. After all, time wasted is expensive and cannot be recovered.
Virtual Dave is an AI-based virtual sales support tool trained on 40 years of enterprise software sales experience, available 24/7 to enhance sales process consistency.
