If your business is having trouble determining the most profitable and convenient method of planning and forecasting, you can be sure, you’re not alone in your sadness. Planning can’t exist without forecasting, because it’s much easier to make plans if you have an end goal. Forecasting also helps you determine marketing costs and build events. Every company wants its revenues to be twice as much as its expenses, but you can do even better with a sales audit. In this article, we’ll look at what is a sales audit, and what you need to do to conduct one.
What is a sales audit?
A sales audit is a historical, comprehensive, and in-depth evaluation and analysis of the sales process that a company has made. It is done to have a complete view of the sales funnel, with a review of everything related to the process, from personnel and the tools that are used to make sales and to strategies. Audits help identify problem fields and capabilities to enhance the performance of the sales office.
It may seem overly complicated, but it’s an effective way to improve the success of your sales strategy going forward. Audits can be conducted either by auditors within your company or with the help of outside experts. It is also recommended that the marketing team be involved in the audit process as well because the sales and marketing areas often overlap and work on projects together.
Sales audit checklist
Below we’ve provided a list of questions to consider for completing a sales audit.
Sales staff checklist:
Under the influence of the office environment, the performance of your sales reps may also change. Sales auditors should look at your business from both the sales representative and manager’s side to make sure the company is providing the necessary environment to meet their needs. Answer the following questions to understand the sales department’s situation:
- Do your sales staff think the number of customers you have now is satisfactory? Are there too few or too many that make them feel overwhelmed or dissatisfied?
- Do they have target markets, do they understand their demographics
- Are they motivated enough? What needs to be done to stimulate their motivation
- How well do sales reps follow your company’s sales process?
- Did the sales leaders support the sales reps well enough?
- Consider the effectiveness of hiring new employees
- Determine the culture of the sales department, which is more outweighed in their relationship: competition or cooperation?
Checklist for sales training and education:
- Do your reps receive training and how knowledgeable they are about your market position
- Do you have any continuing education courses or seminars for sales reps
- How quickly do new sales reps adapt to your company environment, do you provide them with product training
- How good are your reps’ skills in the marketplace. Do they use professional tools to track sales progress, create branding materials to better inform the customer
Sales presentation checklist:
- Consider your presentation development skills, it should be focused not only on wanting to sell but also on helping your customer solve their problems
- What makes your presentation stand out from your competitors?
- Make sure your presentation is uncluttered and clear
- Do your sales representatives rehearse before speaking to customers
Sales strategy checklist:
- Set your long-term and short-term plans
- Identify unfinished steps in your sales strategy
- Identify sources of new leads
- Analyze your quote management process, who is responsible for this process
- Discover new ways to forecast and plan business
- Analyze key performance indicators for irrelevant or missing KPIs