Root cause analysis – how it can help in sales management and sales training
Root cause analysis (RCA) is a problem-solving technique used to identify the underlying causes of a problem or issue. By looking beyond the symptoms of a problem, Root cause analysis helps to uncover the root cause, which can then be addressed to prevent the issue from occurring again in the future – beneficial in sales management and sales training
As an example – 3 problems that one of your team – or you – might have to deal with on a regular basis:
1. Low conversion rates: If you’re struggling to convert leads into customers, root cause analysis can help you identify the underlying factors that are preventing success. This might include poor and inconsistent messaging, lack of product knowledge, targeting the wrong market, poor sales skills and a host of others – all of which could benefit from sales training but the point is that if your problem is poor lead conversion it may well be that the root cause of that is something entirely different.
2. High customer churn: similar principle here in that if your customer retention rates are low, Root cause analysis can help you identify the reasons why customers are leaving – poor custom service might be part of that but a lack of training for staff or poor culture within the business might be the contributing factors – again areas that would benefit from sales training
3. Inconsistent sales performance: If you’re only hitting the numbers occasionally, root cause analysis can help you identify the factors that are contributing to this issue. This could be anything from a lack of clear goals or objectives to inadequate sales training or the lack of a clearly defined sales processes. Either way, staring at the spreadsheet isn’t going to solve the problem – it has simply highlighted an area that needs addressed.
The next step usually requires some analytical / critical thinking and patience. The root cause of most problems in sales are usually easily identified – and repeated again ands again.
Thanks for reading – the podcast can be found here:
