Here are 3 essential areas of influence that will help you improve your sales dexterity and velocity, enabling you to connect, measure, and optimize your sales process, so your sales team can win faster and more efficiently than ever before.
1. Remove Manual Processes and Complexities from the Sales Process
Any time a salesperson spends hunting around for product specifications, using a complicated spreadsheet to ballpark a configuration, reentering proposal data into a CRM solution, or simply wasting time on overly complex, unnecessary tasks, sales velocity, and agility fall by the wayside. Sales leaders understand this efficiency leakage and do everything in their power to remove manual tasks and complexities that could be otherwise automated.
Take the time to analyze what tasks you are asking your salespeople to perform – from prospecting to quoting; from training to reporting – and what solutions you have in place for supporting this work. Any investment in a technology or process that streamlines these activities will immediately increase the time they can spend on the value-added tasks that close business.
2. Eliminate Errors in Customer Communications
No sales professional ever wants to experience the pain and embarrassment of having to go back to a prospect or newly signed customer and tell them that the recently sent quote provided is not 100% accurate. It not only breeds mistrust and erodes confidence, but it can also be a big deal breaker.
Studies show that the main source of quote inaccuracies is human error. More often than not, it is the companies that cannot easily update pricing or product information – or use highly complex configuration formulas – that end up releasing proposals with erroneous information. Typically, these companies must absorb the cost differential to win the business.
On the other hand, a sales organization equipped with an automated CPQ solution can rest assured that each quote produced is fully validated – technically and/or managerially – before it is sent rather than relying on the human element to follow through on the task.
3. Sales Engagement – Measure Everything
According to global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, accelerating technology advances the recognized value of data, changing what it means to be data-driven.
From the top down; Investors, Board, Management, and Sales, all need to be able to measure organizational processes, workflow efficiencies and revenue forecasting accurately. But in order to take full advantage, stakeholders need to understand how to get the most value from their data.
According to a survey conducted by Deloitte, 49% of participants said that analytics help them make better-informed decisions, with 16% saying that it empowers their key strategic initiatives, and 10% saying that it helps them improve relationships with both their customers and business partners.
Leverage your business data to stay competitive. Measure both seller and buyer’s activities and engagement touchpoints. Looking at frequency, duration, intervals, and communication style as well as content are all good areas for focus. The advantage of this objective process is you can compare the steps of successful salespeople and draw conclusions as to what the whole team can be doing better.
The Bottom Line
Without sales efficiency and agility, companies will soon lose out to more aggressive competitors – even those with inferior offerings. We all now exist in crowded marketplaces, where we compete for time, budget, and prioritization. It is not important whether your product is superior or inferior. What is important is that you sell in a way that aligns with buyer expectations and needs. Drill down to the opportunities for efficiency optimizations and prioritize the areas that are costing your company the most money.
