«Not all success stories can (nor should) be replicated». This is the reflection of a article recent article in Harvard Business Review on sales strategy.

We must bear in mind that what worked with one customer or potential customer does not necessarily work with another. But when you already have a strategy that is working steadily, the question is: Is it worth expanding your sales strategy?

Knowing when it is worth trying to scale an initiative and when not to do so, can be the difference between the company hitting its numbers or not. The aforementioned article points out that it is advisable for companies to determine whether it is worth expanding an initiative “by examining alignment with corporate sales strategy, impact on time with customers, return on investment and incentives for adoption”.

Dedicating more time to the customer thanks to technology

The article points out four key questions that can indicate whether it is time to scale («scaling» in English) your sales strategy. The first is to determine whether the sales programme to be scaled aligns with the corporate sales strategy, since otherwise it would not be advisable to continue down that path. A sales success achieved with a strategy opposed to the company's values can end up being very harmful.

The second of the keys to knowing whether to commit to a specific strategy is to see whether it allows salespeople to make better use of their time, that is, to dedicate more time to customers. To this end, the aim is to automate the first phases of searching for and qualifying potential customers, precisely one of the great advantages of the main Catalog Player products.

The third key is to assess the efforts in terms of return on investment. Have the investments in personnel and tools to implement these new processes been profitable? To do so, the sales that can be attributed to the scaling programme will mainly need to be taken into account.

Finally, the article also points out that it is essential that there are sufficient incentives to boost digital adoption of the sales teams. If the sales programme is expanded through digital tools, but these are then not used, we would be facing an evident failure.

The new context of B2B sales requires practical digital solutions, that they are really used by salespeople and that they make things easier for them, while helping to enhance the most human side of sales.