Growth Dynamics Blog

Not since the Great Depression has one event impacted today’s sales organizations more or with such aggression than the COVID-19 pandemic. Customers have altered their visitation and sales call policies, in-person trade shows and industry events have been eliminated, and technology usage has sky-rocketed. Sales teams have had to manage BOTH home-office and no-customer-visitation in one hit… while staying engaged and focused to support customers and business development in a virtual / digital selling environment.

To help sales leadership in manufacturing, distribution, and service industries weather the pandemic and strategize for the future, Growth Dynamics has been providing research and information in a series of weekly web events. These events have had significant participation from executive and sales leadership seeking ideas and solutions for redefining the roles of field and inside sales, optimizing the current team’s performance, and transforming the direction of their sales organizations to navigate the rapidly changing marketplace. 

If you would like to be included on future events, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or give us a call at 877-434-2677.

Watch the 2020 Growth Dynamics Video

Using CRM is an integral part of your day-to-day business especially if your CRM is connected with your ERP. While you still may struggle with some users to adopt the process, we find Top Sales Performers want to be armed with tools that works and a process that's efficient.

Today, the “role” of sales is changing. Customers are shifting how they buy, limiting on-site sales meetings and changing what they expect from the sales organization. Ty Swain, CEO of Growth Dynamics, a global sales team analysis and selection company, noted, “As we evolve through this Pandemic, customers will change what they expect from your sales team… they will seek increased “digital” access to your people, products, services, and pricing. Your sales team will need to be armed with tools like CRM to manage prospects, support customer activity, or simply track accounts.” 

It's everywhere... seems we can't get away from the news and challenges the COVID-19 virus has created... but you CAN lead your sales organization through it!

Sales Team Realities –With companies limiting access to their facilities, many long-standing sales teams may use this as an excuse to retreat… when this is the MOST important time to reach-out and stay connected with customers.

We know many sales teams believe to sell they must have face-to-face meetings… and many struggle to use other ways to optimize their sales efforts to stay in touch, support accounts and be relevant during times like this. 

To make this happen...sales leaders will need to direct the sales team differently.

Being Proactive as a Leader – This is the ideal time to get your sales team moving in a new direction that “transforms” how they think, focus, and adapt in this constantly evolving environment. Set expectations for utilizing the technology they may generally shy away from and get them working in a new way. 

Help your team stay focused on outreach to potential and existing customers by getting creative with online meetings, video conferences, videos, virtual tours and product demonstrations, etc. to stay connected (ie: Zoom, MS Teams, etc.). Optimize marketing resources to support the sales team's efforts to reach out with LinkedIn requests and "warm" email or phone introductions.

Remember…it is human nature to lose focus, stall, and stop selling during a crisis. By stepping up your leadership efforts, your sales team and sales pipeline will be in a stronger position once normalcy returns.

Want to learn more? Click here to contact a GDI representative to receive additional information to support your sales leadership efforts. 

Sales Team Alignment for 2020

Economists are predicting the flattening of the economy through the middle of 2020. In response, leadership teams in proactive manufacturing companies have already been realigning their sales and redefining their go-to-market strategy to compete and grow in a challenging marketplace.

Those most impacted by these changes are the sales team members in the field.  What should they be doing differently and how do they need to adapt to engage and sell to customers today? More importantly, as the sales leader, how do you know what the team needs and how to help?

Based on their perception, Sales leadership usually has good intentions of helping the sales team perform at their best.  However, they may not be armed with the data and metrics to know what the role requires for top performance today and in the future, how the existing team FITS, what gaps need addressed with targeted training, and how to effectively coach, mentor, and support individual team members.

A Recommendation from GDI…

Stepping into 2020, is the optimum time to engage the sales team and gather their insights on their role, challenges they face, how they focus their efforts, as well as where they have individual strengths and skill gaps.  Armed with validated data and defined metrics of top performance, sales leadership will then know how and where to focus their efforts to effectively and successfully lead the sales organization through an ever-changing marketplace.

A 2018 sales leadership study by Growth Dynamics revealed that 58% of companies were experiencing unique challenges with new business development, technology advances and long-standing sales teams... although 82% had one BIG common challenge... finding and keeping the right sales talent. In the March 2019 Industrial Distribution article, “Cutting Tools: From Auto to Oil to Aerospace, Disruption Lies Ahead,” by Contributing Editor, Mike Botta, he reviews challenges and disruption in the cutting tool industry. Not surprisingly, this includes, “Finding and Retaining Talent.” While every industry is facing similar challenges in attracting and retaining top talent in key production, engineering, operations, or leadership roles, having a top performing sales organization is most crucial for company growth and success.

With the disruptions occurring in the marketplace today, leadership of top performing companies recognize their competitive advantage lies in the strength of their sales organization...success is not optional; revenue must occur. Therefore, no longer can a company risk future business, profitability, or customer retention on a bad hire. So what is the solution?

 Solution for Success

The solution is to provide your leadership team and hiring managers with a targeted comprehensive methodology and process to attract, interview, qualify, select, develop, and retain the right sales professionals.  Attracting, selecting and retaining the right sales force is different from any other role in your company. When you consider that the sales professional will be representing your company in the marketplace, interacting with your customers AND will be responsible for driving revenue into your company, it is critical that the job ad effectively markets the role so you can attract and screen qualified sales candidates that FIT.

This is accomplished by helping your sales leadership team, not human resources, define the “picture” of top performance in the role (or roles) of sales for your company. The resulting picture (what GDI calls a sales benchmark) should clearly detail the experience, attributes, skills, motivation, and FIT required for top sales performance. Armed with this picture, or sales team benchmark, your leadership team can effectively attract, interview, and select the “right” candidates who fit the role criteria.

 Sales Force Performance and Retention

And…the same information can be used to lead, coach, and develop your existing sales team, helping them adapt to the complexities of selling today. Successful top performers will expect strong leadership that can help eliminate obstacles, will want to be held accountable and challenged to succeed, and will want to be armed with the tools, training, and support to develop new business and new customers for growth and success. Equally important, they seek compensation and rewards that fit the role expectations and performance accountability.

Given the complexities of the roles of sales in diverse selling environments today, defining the role of sales and establishing the metrics of top performance at your company is crucial to attracting and building a top performing sales organization. By building the right sales force, leadership can focus on advancing and retaining top performers to optimize sales efforts — resulting in increased revenue and customer retention.

Click here to read the full Industrial Distribution  article.