If you’re reading this and you are not 100% clear on what the Blind Zebra® Sales Operating System (BZSOS™) is, STOP! Head to our blog post that breaks down what BZSOS™ is and why it works.
Now that you’ve wrapped your head around what BZSOS™ is, you may still be wondering if your team needs a sales operating system.
Our 25+ years of sales training experience have taught us a lot about the sales landscape. But, one thing stands out.
All sales teams, regardless of industry, team size, company maturity, have the same core problems.
We could create a laundry list of sales problems that suck, but you don’t have time to read that.
Here are 5 universal problems that almost all sales teams come up against. Spoiler alert, BZSOS™ has proven tools that address all of them.
#1: Keeping the Top of the Funnel Filled
Your top of funnel metrics are key indicators of how the next quarter will shake out. If the sales team is not creating enough new opportunities, you’re not going to hit your revenue goals. But, filling the funnel is harder than it sounds. Canned cold email cadences and dialing for dollars doesn’t cut it in today’s market. Your reps need to think outside of the box and test different strategies.
BZSOS™ has a variety of tools that teach sales reps how to leverage social media, engage connectors, and work as a team to consistently fill their funnels with new opportunities.
BZSOS™ Tools that Can Help: ProdPod Playsheet, Connector Meeting Playsheet, LinkedIn Appointment Generator
#2: Inaccurate Forecasts
One of the hardest parts of sales leadership is forecasting. You’ve got senior leadership demanding accuracy and sales reps that have opportunities open that you know will never close.
One the most powerful tools in BZSOS™ is an exercise in cleaning out the funnel at the end of the month. This tool teaches sales reps how to look at opportunities more objectively and how to get comfortable closing an opportunity. This gives sales leadership visibility into what is actually in the funnel vs. stalled out opportunities that are clogging it up.
BZSOS™ Tools that Can Help: Pipeline Cleanout Play Sheet
#3: Salespeople Getting Ghosted & Struggling to Reengae
Getting left on read hurts, in your love life and in sales. Nothing is worse than a prospect you are really excited about ghosting you. When this inevitably happens, you do what you’re taught to do. You send email after email only to be met with crickets.
BZSOS™ has two tools designed for this exact problem. Both tools lean heavily into assertive energy and give sales reps the confidence to do more than sending a passive email.
BZSOS™ Tools that Can Help: Calendar First and Stall Continuum
#4: Sales Process Takes Too Long
Everyone in sales wants a shorter sales process. Shorter sales cycles = more deals = more money in the bank for everyone.
There’s several tactics you can engage to increase sales velocity. You can set clear next steps on sales calls, get the right people in the room early in the process, ask better questions, etc. When you start to do all of these things together, that’s when you’ll see the big jumps in days to close.
BZSOS™ Tools that Can Help: Mutual Timeline Agreement, Authority/Influence Matrix, Question Bank Creator
#5: Salespeople Struggle with Deep Discovery
Not all salespeople are naturally curious. That does not mean they can’t run a good discovery call. All it means is that discovery requires ample preparation and practice.
Creating a team-wide question bank that reps can utilize helps make sure that all reps (naturally curious or not) can host a discovery call that sets the deal up for success. Another key tool to driving good discovery is creating a standardized sales call agenda to keep reps on track and ensures they get all the information they need.
BZSOS™ Tools that Can Help: Question Bank Creator and Sales Agenda Formula
If you’re struggling with any of these problems, your team could benefit from installing a sales operating system.