How to do a Sales Gap Analysis?

A gap analysis is a fundamental tool for monitoring the sales department.

This method allows you to evaluate the differences between expected and actual performance. In the end, the figures will lead you to make key decisions for your company and sales department based on:

• Which agents perform best?
• Did the new sales script work?
• Did closings improve with the hiring of a new sales software?

All of these questions and many more can be assessed with a GAP analysis model.

What is a GAP Analysis?

A gap analysis will establish how big the gap is between your team's current performance and their desired performance.

It's about that space between "where we are" (the present moment) and "where we want to be" (the destination.) That is, what sales goals we had for a given period of time and what the results were.

Once you have identified this gap, you can work to close it and continually improve the business. This method allows you to define the steps that need to be taken to ensure that sales goals are successfully met.

Importance of gap analysis

Gap analysis is an essential method for sales departments. It is a way to broaden your perspective and monitor the performance of your agents, your protocols and processes.

Here are some of the main reasons for doing this type of analysis:

• It allows you to more clearly determine how to allocate resources.
• A gap analysis is used to compare what certain regulations require with what is currently being done to comply with them.
• It is possible to obtain data concerning perceptions and expectations.
• Allows you to establish improvement priorities.
• Helps execute improvement plans for sales projects.
• Provides a snapshot of where you are standing, and how far you are from the ideal spot.

Step by step to do a gap analysis

 

With professional sales software, you can access reports to review your team's performance, see how many sales have been closed at each stage of the funnel , and other important data to improve goal achievement.

The following image shows an example of what the GAP analysis module would look like in Monday using a predefined template.

You don't have to do anything other than set initial goals and then compare them with the results, which are constantly updated. In addition, you can export all this information in a periodic and real-time sales report.

To begin the process, you must follow the following 5 steps of the GAP.

1. Current status

A gap analysis should start with the “current state,” which is a description of the current processes that will be evaluated.

It is important to decide what to measure and why, as there are processes that may not require an exhaustive analysis at the time.

You need to know what to focus on, whether it's the financial side, product quality, marketing, etc., and choose the specific problem area you need to delve into.

2. Definition of objectives

Once you have defined the area you are going to focus on, it is time to define the sales objectives or goals that will define where you want to go.

These objectives will help you define the future state during the development of the GAP analysis. It is essential that they can be measured, so that the analysis can yield effective results.

3. Determine the current state of affairs

In this step, you'll find out the current state of affairs. By looking for reports or process documentation, conducting interviews, brainstorming, etc., you'll gather as much data as possible about sales to clarify how they're performing at the present time.

4. Define the parameters of the ideal state of your business

The “future state” is the ideal state that you want to achieve, and it will be the second parameter for comparison. This section, like the current state column, should be written in concrete and quantifiable terms.

An example could be: “Increase qualified customers by 20% within a specific time period.”

5. Identify the gaps between the two states

Once you have the two factors to compare, the gap will be obvious. But the idea is to identify the reasons for the differences between the two values, i.e. between the

After identifying these gaps, it is important to analyze the reasons that caused them. For example, if there is a decrease in sales, it is possible to trace which salesperson lowered their performance, and which region or department should be analyzed.

Once you have identified these causes in more detail, it is time for you to propose the steps that should be taken to solve them. This column lists the reasons in objective, clear and specific terms.

You can access gap analysis reports where the sales software automatically performs calculations. From this data, you will need to list all the possible solutions that can be implemented to close the gap between the current and future states.

Concrete solutions will then be listed. Some examples could be:

• Hiring a certain number of additional employees to answer customer calls.
• Institute a call volume reporting system to ensure sufficient staff.
• The launch of a new, more effective script for closing sales.

Conclusions

• Gap analysis is a must for an organized sales department.
• Having sales software will make it easier to analyze any area you want to evaluate.
• The options for digital tools are so varied that it is recommended that you visit comparison platforms, such as ComparaSoftware , to learn about each solution in detail.