Sales productivity can be a challenge for even the most successful sales professionals. The daily grind of hitting numbers, keeping your pipeline full and managing client expectations can all conspire to make you feel like you’re running in place. But there are tried-and-true ways to increase your productivity and get more out of every day; here is my ultimate guide on how to boost your sales productivity: Ways That Actually Work!
Sales Productivity can be a pretty nebulous term.
It’s an expression that’s taken on various different roles, definitions and interpretations over the years as new tools, methodologies, and techniques come to redefine modern sales with increasing regularity.
But it is also one of the most important sales metrics you monitor in order to keep your sales pipeline full & grow revenue acquisition.
And it's not just about sales either- there are measurable benefits for your team when they're more productive too!
Use these strategies below to help your sales team overcome it’s challenges, become more effective at selling, & boost revenue acquisition in 2021!
Almost every business struggles with it, and the pressure to reach or exceed ever-increasing revenue objectives only adds to the problem.
Organizations are expanding their sales teams and pursuing more aggressive sales targets, but they aren't scaling their processes, best practices, or sales tools at the same time.
As a result, productivity has been declining year after year. It surely doesn't help that sales reps might get sidetracked, off-task, or even overwhelmed with fast access to viral videos, social media, and chat conversations.
Use the five tactics below to help your sales staff overcome productivity issues, improve sales effectiveness, and increase revenue acquisition.
One-and-done sales training isn't going to cut it when 87 percent of the content and information is forgotten within weeks.
Furthermore, the sales environment is always changing, and the purchasing process is becoming more complicated.
Your sales reps need to be taught on the selling space, customer personas, and products, and they need to be kept up to date when this information changes. As a result, sales coaching should be an ongoing, proactive effort.
Make sales coaching a priority for your sales team, and make sure it's always in-line with the latest selling strategies.
Don't be afraid to partner with high performing sales reps who are known for their sales prowess when you're looking to invest in sales training.
You might even consider hiring an outside consultant or professional services firm that specializes in sales coaching to help you get sales reps back on track.
The sales cycle is getting longer, and it's becoming harder to get prospects across the line from discovery to purchase without adding more resources or putting in extra hours yourself.
Unfortunately, this often leads sales reps into a tricky situation where they need to push buyers further down the funnel before qualifying them properly- which means falling victim to 'sales qualification burnout.'
However, sales professionals spend more than a third of their day seeking for or developing content, making it one of their most time-consuming activities.
At the same time, sales reps are unable to find the relevant material at the right moment, resulting in 70 percent of marketing content going wasted.
When content influences 95 percent of B2B negotiations, it's not only a waste of time, but it can also hurt opportunities.
Your sales team needs to know what to use / say and when in order for content and message to be effective. Reps save time and money when they use sales enablement software to recommend content and messaging based on the current situation.
To help sales reps advance prospects faster, sales teams should invest in value-based selling.
This sales strategy prioritizes 'building relationships based on the other party's needs' as opposed to just chasing a commission or closing any deal that comes along.
Your sales team will be able to nurture more opportunities from the early stages of sales, and your sales reps will be able to spend more time on qualified prospects that are ready to buy.
Educating sales staff about the benefits & ROI behind value based selling Empowering sales reps by giving them adequate tools and resources for success Removing sales reps from sales qualification burnout by investing in sales coaching.
Sales processes that sales reps are using to close deals.
In-line with sales coaching, sales effectiveness can be defined as 'the ability of a sales team to sell more and better.
In order for your sales staff to increase sales productivity by selling more effectively, they need the tools necessary in order for this goal to become a reality.
The right sales enablement software is the sales rep's best friend, but they still need to be told how and when to use it.
Especially since sales reps are more likely than ever before to find new tools on their own without any help or training from management.
However, evaluating whether your sales team has been using sales processes for their activities is absolutely necessary in order to increase productivity.
In fact, sales professionals need sales process maturity to succeed- and certain sales methods are more effective than others when it comes to closing deals.
It's easy enough for sales reps of any experience level (from junior sales staff up through experienced SDRs) to get sales process training.
This is particularly important for sales reps who are using the latest sales technologies to close deals, as they'll need specific guidance on what tools to use and how.
Tools that don't deliver results might end up being abandoned by your sales team- wasting both time & money in the long run!
Sales teams should invest in sales enablement technology.
Less than a third of a salesperson's day is spent on core selling activities, which means the remaining two-thirds of their time is spent on busywork that doesn't offer value to prospects or develop deals, and can even impair their ability to concentrate.
Streamlining workflow and reducing superfluous or redundant procedures are frequently the keys to increased sales productivity.
The simplest way to do this is to use automation. Give your salespeople the tools they need to do their tasks more efficiently and effectively.
When you can automate a process, you save time and steps, allowing sales professionals to focus on their core selling tasks. Find out more about sales automation and how to use it effectively.
Create and send personalized content & messaging Track sales activities and measure performance Measure sales effectiveness (sales force automation) and increase productivity.
Boost productivity by using the right tools for your team! The time is now to take action. Your company's success depends on it!
Sales reps should aim to improve sales with sales analytics.
There is more data than ever before, and it is more readily available.
Organizations use this data to determine what is working, what needs to be improved, and where new sales methods can be implemented.
Analytics are crucial for guiding business strategy and facilitating informed decision-making. In fact, companies who use sales analytics and sales insights achieve team quotas 4x faster than those who don't.
As B2B businesses become more data-driven, they see changes in productivity and how they interact with prospects, and they are able to have a bigger impact on the bottom line.
Sales reps who understand sales analytics are better equipped to plan their selling activities, know which tools to use, and adjust their sales process accordingly. This leads directly to increased productivity.
By tracking the results of specific actions in real time with sales force automation software, organizations can determine what works best for them when it comes to increasing productivity.
Blogging is an excellent way of sharing your knowledge with other people all over the world who need the information.
This is why you should spend some time creating a sales blog that people will find interesting and informative, as it can lead to more sales for your company. Increase it by using the right tools for your team!
The time is now to take action. Your company's success depends on it!
Productivity in sales revenue is measured by productivity, which calculates how much profit is attributable to each employee.
The calculation is relatively simple. The measure is, however, just an average and does not indicate which employee is contributing more or less to the company's total sales revenue in a given time period.
Your company's annual income statement, specifically under the heading "Revenues from Primary Activities," might provide you with sales revenue information.
For each month of analysis, you'll also need to know how many personnel you have on staff.
For example, if your sales income in February was $5,000 and you had five employees, your productivity would be $1,000 per employee on average.
Keep in mind that this is just an average, and it gives no indication of how much each person contributes to overall sales revenue.
Remember that overall sales will naturally fluctuate throughout the year, as most firms will receive a boost in earnings during their peak season.
However, if you recruited a new employee in June and saw an increase in average sales productivity following that month, you could reasonably conclude that the increase was due to the new person's selling abilities.
If your company has several salespeople who are struggling with sales management, consider investing in a training program or hiring an outside consultant so they can learn how to improve their selling skills.
As you develop a business plan, consider focusing on these additional sales management issues that are just as important- if not more so- than sales performance measurements..
