Efficiency is top of mind today for workers, especially those in sales positions. How time and resources are being used daily impacts the profitability of a business. An unpredictable economy has many businesses reevaluating how their teams are conducting business and implementing new strategies to assist with efficiencies. This is especially true for those in sales roles, which are largely the driving mechanisms behind any real growth.
Without a successful sales team, your brand won’t have the revenue-generating year everyone hopes for. Here are three ways to maximize your sales team efficiency and see noticeable improvements in lead generation and conversions.
1. Streamline Systems and Processes
Sales team members will be the first to tell you that processes slow them down. When they’re making sales calls or meeting with potential clients, the last thing they want to do is log their calls into an antiquated computer system. While these systems are meant to help, they can create bottlenecks, leading to more frustration. Streamlining the systems your sales team uses can boost efficiency and generate more closed deals.
One way to streamline is to rely on new, advanced technology to automate repetitive tasks. A CRM, customer relationship management, system can be implemented to manage customer interactions and data. When a client reaches out, you can have a track record of their purchase history and the last time they interacted with your brand. As a result, CRMs can improve customer experiences, thereby establishing trust between the seller and the client.
AI-powered tools are also revolutionizing how sales teams streamline systems and processes. AI in automotive industries, for instance, enhances how consumers are guided through the car-buying journey. Upon entering a dealership’s website, an AI agent can greet them and ask them what they’re looking for. Within a few clicks, they can be shown different car models based on their preferences and schedule a test drive. This happens without the need to interact with an actual sales team member, allowing the buyer to focus on in-person interactions at the dealership.
2. Keep the Pipeline Moving
Similar to a clogged drain, a clogged sales pipe creates inefficiencies. If too many leads are stuck at the top of the pipe, then sellers won’t be closing as many deals. Or if an overly complex lead generation tool is slowing down the process, then sales personnel won’t have enough leads to follow up on. Keeping the pipeline moving can increase efficiency by prioritizing what needs to occur at different touchpoints while also taking a look at what is currently slowing down the pipeline.
One way to keep the pipeline moving is to set daily, weekly, and monthly tasks for your sales team. Daily activities can consist of contacting new prospects via calls or emails, following up on prior inquiries, and pitching to leads.
Every week, sellers should map out their schedules and set up meetings appropriately. They should also review any performance metrics and collaborate with any relevant teams, such as marketing, to evaluate strategies and collaborate on needed materials. Every month, sellers should review how the last 30 days went by evaluating performance reports and adjusting their strategies accordingly. Any necessary training to learn or improve upon skills should also be considered. Learnings should be shared amongst the team to help everyone stay on task and eliminate the potential for any unnecessary setbacks or hurdles.
By having these daily, weekly, and monthly tasks in place, both new and experienced sellers go into each workday knowing what needs to be done. Instead of sitting and waiting for leads to come to them, they can go out and prospect and therefore find new potential leads to keep the pipe moving as efficiently as possible.
3. Focus on Warm Leads
Most sellers will tell you that getting a cold lead can be nearly impossible, especially in today’s overcrowded marketplace. Even with the help of strategic marketing techniques and sophisticated targeting, swaying a cold lead to purchase can take a long time. The “Rule of 7” suggests that it takes a customer at least seven times of seeing an ad or receiving a brand’s marketing messages before making a purchase.
To close more deals, it can be more efficient for your sales team to focus on warm leads. This is anyone who has expressed or shown interest in your brand but hasn’t made the move to actually complete a purchase. A warm lead may have subscribed to your brand’s newsletter or interacted with a social media post or even filled out a form on your site; however, they just need a bit of a push to complete a purchase. These types of leads are valuable because they have a far shorter sales cycle than a cold lead.
Thanks to new technological advances, it can be relatively easy for sellers to track down warm leads. AI can sift through vast amounts of information to identify who has reached out and during what specific time window. If, for example, an individual subscribed to your brand’s newsletter last week but didn’t make a purchase, it could be worth reaching out to them directly with an offer.
In Conclusion
Focusing on sales efficiencies can be a winning strategy in today’s oversaturated marketplace. Sales teams need to be nimble and flexible while still working toward specific goals. Evolving technology will only help sellers be more efficient, reducing repetitive, mundane tasks and optimizing their time.
