Our Analysts' Insights

Language service providers (LSPs) – in particular small and mid-sized ones – often ask, “How can we increase sales? Where do we start? How can we build the best sales team?” The smaller ones often have a negative experience as they start formalizing the sales function. Sales training programs, including our own in the past, were just steps in the process – either planning, hiring, cold calling, objection handling, or account management.

To answer LSPs' questions more comprehensively, we sifted through our own research, advisory sessions, annual training sales events, and best practices for sales outside the language services industry. This broad range of resources allowed us to identify a clear pattern that contrasts the traits of highly successful LSPs to those that stagnate.

We used that information to build a comprehensive model to help LSPs maximize their revenue. The CSA Research “Sales Cookbook” consists of 12 modules with concrete and actionable advice on how to set up and formalize the sales function to achieve repeatable sales success. It’s over 200 pages of concrete how-tos.

Although we wrote the cookbook for mid-sized and small organizations, larger ones can benefit from it notably when opening new markets or developing new sales teams

Our methodology centers upon preparing 11 inter-linked ingredients to start cooking your way to success. You need:

1. A strong plan that drives your growth strategy.
2. A clear differentiation that sets your firm apart and helps you overtake your competition.
3. Attainable stretch goals.
4. Well-defined target markets that assist you in growing profitably and sustainably.
5. A healthy lead pipeline to feed your sales activities.
6. Targeted marketing communications to grow beyond your existing network of clients, referrals, and known prospects.
7. A playbook that details the most effective way for your organization to sell its services and products.
8. Tools such as customer relationship management software and marketing automation to make you more efficient.
9. Dedicated staffing that can deliver on your growth expectations.
10. Close management to drive results and push talent to reach its potential.
11. Proactive account management to nurture and grow existing accounts.

Neglecting any of these building blocks leads to negative outcomes. And when multiple ingredients are missing, you compound the negative effects. For example, weak planning leads to false starts. The failure to differentiate leads to the inability to catch prospects' attention in a very competitive landscape. Likewise, the absence of a playbook causes a lot of anxiety for salespeople who feel unprepared when they don’t know what to do or say. 

The biggest takeaway to the series is that you must plan to grow because luck and bluebirds can only take you so far. Any company can grow quickly in a short period of time if factors such as demand, timing, and location align. But most of the companies with sustained growth attribute it to advanced planning. Fast-growing LSPs aren’t just lucky: They proactively manage their destiny.

When you sufficiently prepare each ingredient in the Sales Cookbook recipe, even organizations newer to selling proactively can manage to put in place a strong sales organization capable of repeatable sales success.

Get started today and download the intro to the research series free upon registration.