How to Improve Your Sales Team's Performance
- Agnes Lan
- Apr 29
- 7 min read
Improving your sales team starts with structure. A strong process, clear goals, and reliable tools must be in place before performance can improve.
Many business owners rush to fix symptoms—missed targets, low motivation, or poor closing rates—without addressing the root causes. You need a consistent method to track activity, assess your team, and adjust what isn’t working.
You likely already have people, software, and reporting in place. But without alignment, data accuracy, and regular performance review, those tools won’t deliver results.
This article will walk through the core areas that directly affect sales performance. Each one builds on the other to give you a clear path forward.
Tracking KPIs
Your sales team’s performance depends on clear, measurable KPIs. These metrics help you track whether your team is on pace to hit their targets. Without them, you won’t know what to fix or where to focus.
You need to define KPIs that reflect both activity and outcomes. For example:
Number of qualified leads generated
Average deal size
Conversion ratio (leads to closed deals)
Cost per lead
Forecasted revenue based on pipeline weighting
Target attainment by individual rep
Once these are in place, check them regularly. Weekly or bi-weekly reviews are ideal. Make sure your team understands what each number means and how they affect it.
The goal isn’t just to collect numbers—it’s to spot trends early. If a rep has a full calendar but no closed deals, you may have a training issue. If your conversion rate drops, your lead quality may be falling.
Transitioning from guesswork to data-backed decisions will immediately improve how you manage and support your team.
Using CRMs Properly for Accurate Data Recording
The most common issue with CRMs isn’t the tool—it’s how people use it. Many sales teams enter inconsistent or incomplete data, which leads to poor reporting and missed opportunities.
You need clean, reliable information to manage your team effectively. The first step is standardizing how your team uses the CRM. Everyone must log the same type of information at the same points in the sales process.
This includes contact details, deal stage, activity notes, and follow-ups. Avoid open-ended fields or optional logging—those leave room for inconsistency.
You should also make sure your CRM reflects your sales process. Map each stage in your process and build it into the system. Then audit it regularly to confirm it’s being followed.
A CRM that matches your process will make it easier for your team to follow the right steps and for you to measure what’s working.
Clear usage rules, strong training, and regular audits will help you rely on CRM data for real insights.
Assessing Sales Team Performance
You need to understand where each team member is strong and where they need help. Sales performance isn’t just about results—it’s also about how those results are achieved.
Start by reviewing activity and outcomes together. High activity with low conversion shows a skill gap.
Low activity might show a motivation issue. Use CRM data, pipeline reports, and call reviews to build a full picture.
In addition to the numbers, spend time talking to your team. Ask them where they struggle, what tools they use most, and where they feel blocked. Their answers will point to the changes that matter.
You can also set up peer reviews or shadow sessions to see how people are performing in real situations.
When you look at performance from several angles, you’ll know who needs coaching, who needs recognition, and whether your sales approach needs to shift.
Assessing Sales Manager Performance
Your sales manager has the biggest influence on your team’s daily behaviour. If your manager focuses too much on activity reports and not enough on coaching, the team may lose motivation or direction.
A strong manager drives performance by developing people. They help reps improve their close rates, sharpen their messaging, and manage their time better. They also use data to guide decisions—not just to track tasks.
To assess your manager, ask:
Do they run regular one-on-one coaching sessions?
Are they able to explain changes in the team’s numbers?
Do they support the CRM process, or bypass it?
Are they improving rep performance over time?
You should also look at turnover. If good reps leave often or struggle to improve, the manager may not be providing the right support.
By holding your manager accountable to development, not just reporting, you will build a stronger, more consistent sales team.
Next, you can look at how to identify gaps and bottlenecks, create a strong strategy, and align your team around clear goals. Each step builds on the one before it—structure first, performance second.
Identifying Gaps and Bottlenecks
You can’t improve your sales performance if you don’t know where the real problems are. Bottlenecks and process gaps slow your team down, waste leads, and lower close rates. The best way to find them is by reviewing the full sales journey—step by step.
Start by mapping out your current process. Document what happens at each stage, from first contact to close. Then, review conversion rates and timelines between stages.
If leads move quickly through the early stages but get stuck at the proposal stage, something needs fixing there. If discovery calls aren’t leading to follow-ups, that’s a sign your team isn’t qualifying leads properly.
You can also review specific rep performance to see if issues are team-wide or individual. One rep might consistently fail at closing, while another rarely qualifies prospects correctly. CRM data, call recordings, and deal reviews can all help highlight these patterns.
Once you find the problem areas, narrow down the cause. Some gaps come from poor training, while others come from unclear process steps or tool misuse. Make sure you’re not confusing a motivation issue with a skill issue. Each one needs a different solution.
Clear diagnosis is the first step toward a better strategy.
Creating a Strategy
A strong strategy gives your team structure and direction. It connects business goals to sales actions and shows your team what success looks like.
Start by reviewing your business plan and long-term goals. Make sure your sales targets support that direction. If you’re planning for aggressive growth, your strategy might involve increasing headcount or focusing on bigger clients. If you’re focused on margin, your strategy may shift to higher-quality leads or better qualification.
Break down the process by stage and make sure each one has a clear purpose, actions, and criteria for moving forward. Think about:
Who you’re selling to (ideal client profile)
What messaging speaks to them
Which tactics work best at each stage
What tools and automation you’ll use
How success will be measured
Bring in your sales manager and team leads during this step. Their experience will help ground your strategy in reality. Involving them also increases buy-in, which makes it easier to roll out changes.
A strategy without clear next steps is just a document. You need to be able to act on it.
Implementing
Once your strategy is built, you need to execute it consistently. Implementation often fails because leaders don’t take enough time to train, support, and follow through.
Start with your sales manager. They should lead the rollout and explain what’s changing, why it’s changing, and how it affects each team member. Without that clarity, even a strong plan can get ignored.
Then train your team on the new process. Walk them through each stage, what’s expected, and how to use the CRM to match the new flow. Provide reference material like a playbook or one-pager. Don’t assume people will remember everything from a single meeting.
Set checkpoints to make sure the changes stick. Weekly reviews, one-on-ones, and deal audits will show whether the new approach is being followed. Give feedback quickly so you can correct issues before they become habits.
may need to adjust your CRM or other tools during this stage. Make sure your technology matches your process—not the other way around. This includes pipeline stages, reporting views, and required fields.
Finally, watch for early signs of success or resistance. If some team members adopt the new system quickly and see better results, share those wins. If others struggle, find out why. Often, small adjustments to training or tool setup can remove friction.
Rolling out a strategy isn’t just about changing what your team does—it’s about reinforcing how and why they do it. Done right, implementation builds momentum that drives long-term performance.
See also: Is Sales Training Worth It?
Setting Goals and Getting Alignment
Clear goals give your sales team direction and purpose. Without defined targets, your team will struggle to prioritize their efforts or measure success. Setting the right goals starts with knowing what your business needs to achieve and translating that into specific, trackable sales actions.
Tie goals to both outcomes and behaviours. Revenue targets are important, but so are the steps that lead there—like number of discovery calls, proposals sent, or follow-ups completed. When each rep knows exactly what’s expected and how to reach it, accountability becomes easier to manage.
You also need team alignment. If reps, managers, and leadership aren’t aiming at the same results, performance will stall. Run alignment sessions with your sales team to explain the “why” behind the goals. Show how each person’s work connects to company success. Invite questions. Clarity builds confidence, and confidence drives better execution.
Once goals are set, make them visible. Use dashboards, weekly meetings, and one-on-one reviews to keep them top of mind. Goals should guide daily decisions, not sit in a report no one reads.
Tracking Ongoing
Tracking progress isn’t about micromanagement—it’s about knowing what’s working. Once your strategy and goals are in place, you need to monitor activity and results regularly to stay on course.
Set a rhythm for review. Weekly team check-ins and monthly performance reviews help you catch problems early. Look at both individual performance and team-wide trends.
Use your CRM and reporting tools to track:
Progress toward monthly and quarterly targets
Conversion rates between stages
Sales cycle length
Forecast accuracy
Rep activity vs. outcomes
Don’t just collect data—act on it. If a rep is falling behind, dig into why. If a new process improves results, double down on it. When things go off-track, make small changes quickly rather than waiting for a major reset.
Consistent tracking gives you control. It keeps your team focused, your strategy current, and your results improving. When done well, it builds a culture of accountability that supports long-term growth.
Change Connect Can Help You Improve Your Sales Team's Performance
Improving sales performance takes more than a few quick fixes—it requires a structured approach backed by real data, clear goals, and strong leadership. If you're unsure where to start or how to move forward, you don't have to figure it out alone.
Connect works directly with business owners like you to assess your sales team, identify what’s holding them back, and build a practical plan that fits your business. We help you implement the right processes, tools, and coaching to create consistent, repeatable results.
Whether you need support with strategy, CRM setup, or team development, we bring the experience and structure to help you lead with confidence.
Comments