Welcome to funel Blog. Today we will talk about How can you utilize project management concepts to improve your company’s sales process? Starting with the prospecting, qualifying, proposal, deal closure, and implementation stages of the sales process, you can think of project milestones as the stages of the completed sales process. In a nutshell, disciplined selling necessitates effective project management abilities: you must establish a goal, make efficient use of available resources and activities, and coordinate the efforts of all parties engaged in the execution of the project plan.
The sales process at your organization can be similar to that of a project plan. Sales representatives take on the role of project managers, developing plans, coordinating resources such as company, partner, and client, and leading from the front to carry out the plan. As a result, many project management principles, techniques, disciplines, and abilities are transferable to the field of sales.
As a project management technique, the sales process might be considered. Salespeople might improve their abilities by becoming familiar with project management principles and practices. They might increase their project management expertise by reading good books and articles on the subject. Additionally, sales professionals can gain support from their organizations by framing their campaign efforts in terms of project management and presenting them to them as such. They can also manage the sales process and sales tactics in the same methodical manner that successful projects are managed, which is a bonus.
Project Management in Sales Processes.
When it comes to sales processes, project management as a concept can be useful in a variety of situations. A sales process can be broken down into steps that can each be considered a separate stage of a larger project. For example, when prospecting, qualification, pitching, and closing are all considered separate steps.
A prospect does not become a customer on the spur of the moment. In most cases, getting there necessitates a carefully planned progression that is broken down into little, incremental steps. Taking the example of prospecting and qualifying a lead, activities such as research, discovery calls, and demo scheduling can be involved.
Each stage can be handled as a separate product, segregated into specific workflows, and tracked by a number of different stakeholders, which is theoretically possible. Therefore, the overarching objectives that are supported by those deliverables become more transparent, less intimidating, and downright easier to achieve.
Project Management in a Multi-Team Environment.
Your typical sales organization is made up of several teams, which may include sales development, business development, account management, field sales, inside sales, and a variety of other subsets of the sales organization.
Project management is frequently used to bring together a number of stakeholders from different teams. Adoption of those methods can improve sales teams since it encourages collaboration to break down silos and allow constructive communication between various project participants.
Sales processes and other key sales activities can benefit from the application of project management principles, which can reduce redundancies, streamline sales operations, make sales efforts more predictable, and provide sales leadership with greater visibility into how their teams and broader organizations are operating.
Key benefits of Sales Project Management
1. It enhances the level of accountability among representatives.
Increased visibility is a must-have for any project manager who wants to succeed. Most of the software used to support these types of activities allows project managers to understand where various stakeholders and individuals stand in terms of their contributions to a project.
When it comes to applying project management ideas into sales activities, the same mindset may be utilized. Sales managers can operate in a project management capacity, giving them visibility into the processes and general status of their reps.
This kind of immediately available data into each rep’s performance encourages better discipline and increased accountability among the team members. Sales representatives are less likely to slack off and let some obligations go by the wayside if they know that their managers can keep an eye on their day-to-day operations.
2. It contributes to increased productivity in the workplace.
When it comes down to it, project management is a set of concepts dedicated to expediting goal achievement and boosting productivity while working under certain constraints – such as those related to budget, scope, and time.
Those ideas and benefits can be applied to your sales operations as well as your marketing efforts. Using project management techniques to support the objectives and broader goals of your sales organization makes your sales activities more manageable, productive, and efficient.
3. It provides representatives with greater clarity in terms of their responsibilities.
Delegation of tasks in a tactical and measured manner is essential to the success of any project management effort. It is dependent on an organization’s ability to effectively segment and assign duties to various stakeholders within it that effective project management can be achieved.
When you apply those principles to a sales organization’s operational objectives and overarching goals, you can provide reps a clearer understanding of what is expected of them and how they are expected to fulfill those tasks on a consistent basis.
4. It provides salespeople with direction by establishing clearly defined time frames.
A lack of knowledge of the “when” driving sales activities can have a significant impact on the direction and productivity of a sales organization. The ability to clearly define timetables is a critical component of project management.
When salespeople have clear, easily visible deadlines tied to their tasks, they have a better knowledge of the expectations of their managers and a strong foundation on which to base their decisions about how to devote their time and effort most efficiently.
5. It promotes a more productive and collaborative sales floor environment.
The majority of effective sales floors are characterized by some degree of teamwork. Salespeople in practically every function and at every level of seniority stand to gain significantly from openly discussing their objectives, insights, and other critical information.
Effective project management is dependent on the ability to work together. When working on larger projects, stakeholders from several teams may be involved—facilitating free-flowing communication and cooperation between those various groups results in more consistent goal accomplishment and better execution.
More cohesion and delivery on both operational and strategic objectives are achieved by encouraging collaboration between representatives from sales development, business development, account management, sales operations, and any other bodies within a sales organization.
