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Successful salespeople are highly motivated, goal-oriented, and proud of their productivity. But back at corporate, things stalemate due to unimportant tasks required of them.
The theme these days is sales enablement. But in the days of my career, the opposite was true. I used to wonder if the executives were actually behind us making sales. It seemed as if their preference was for us to be accountants instead.
Before I get too deep into my story, I highly recommend you read through the findings New Voice Media compiled in their report, “How Organizations Could Transform Sales Performance with Better Technology Investments.”
One conclusion stands out, and that is the hours wasted per representative. Click here to read the report.
After reading, you will realize how my experience provides testimony to the findings.
We are all familiar with CRM software and the help it may provide. Correct usage will keep us on top of our individual follow-up requirements. But imagine an international company having the desire to save money when purchasing the software. It’s always good to be discerning about expenditures. But going overboard and not using common sense makes the savings minimal compared to the wasted time as cited in the report.
My employer agreed to buy the best-known CRM system on the market for all of its offices nationwide and internationally, too. The discounted version had a problem. Each link required at minimum six clicks for it to go through to the next screen. Six clicks were needed for every contact to update correctly.
Let’s do the math. On average, there were ten reps per office. At least five contacts were updated each day. Six links per contact were a necessity. There were five days to the work week. 10 x 5 x 5 x 6 = 1,500 clicks any given week. The number is at the low end. If each salesperson only spent one second per click to get to the next screen, the total time spent for the team would be twenty-five minutes.
Related: Are You Seeking Your Motivating Force?
In reality, numerous hours were wasted each day in just one office. Now multiply that unusable time by the number of offices across the country and abroad. To measure the waste, one may compare it to the average sales effort and expected dollar volume for each representative. Most likely, the time consumption negated many of the sales.
The smart approach is to investigate the latest tools on the market, and question “what will happen if…” The focus should always be on productivity and exceeding goals whether you work independently or for an employer. The same is true for the employer. Recognizing the benefits their sales team brings to the company, they should do everything in their power to assist with their goals and productivity. If you haven’t yet, click this link to read the findings:
Follow-up, perseverance and continual learning will have you over-achieving your goals. Keeping them in mind should be with you 100% of the time as you welcome ideas for improvement. There is no question that some days are more productive than others. But even on the days where you are crushing what is on your to-do list, you may be aware of improvement to be made.
Do you stay abreast of:
A previous blog suggests how to stay up-to-date as you move forward. Read “Are You Ignoring this Business Strategy?” The blog provides an easy way to remain up-to-date on the business news.
Finally, prioritize everything that needs to complete each day. And always include time to work on your long-term vision, too. May you successfully boost your productivity to experience the Smooth Sale!