When the sales team succeeds the entire company succeeds along with them. Because of this, it’s vital to the success of the company to eliminate any roadblocks that slow sales down. These roadblocks can happen at many different stages of the sales cycle and require different solutions to be overcome. Let’s take a closer look at four key areas where technology can eliminate roadblocks while bringing about better productivity and sales attainment.
Increase Productivity with an Automated Coaching Tool
One of the major roadblocks that sales reps come across is training, or lack thereof. Sales managers have a plethora of responsibilities and with the amount of time it can take to pull KPIs from disparate systems to evaluate each of their sales reps individually, it’s no wonder why coaching sometimes doesn’t happen as often as it should. Those managers that are able to get quality coaching done reap the rewards with better performing sales teams and higher quota attainment. Through the use of an automated coaching tool, companies can help eliminate a major roadblock for their sales leaders. Having a system that can track all pertinent KPIs, pull data in from disparate systems, and show where each rep ranks verses their piers will save sales managers an enormous amount of time. Along with saving time, an automated coaching platform will also help managers see where each reps specific deficiencies lie and what the top performers are doing differently in those areas, to ensure that the time spent on coaching is as beneficial as possible. Sales reps will also benefit in that they will be getting the coaching that they need when they need it, instead of getting coaching during a performance review.
Enable Sales with the Content They Need, When They Need it most
Sales reps need to have access to playbooks, collateral, product information, and training at their fingertips, wherever they are. A major roadblock for sales reps is lacking the right type of content at the right moment so they can get the right information into their prospects hands. You should give your reps access to deal rooms that give them better intelligence around who’s involved in the buying decisions, what content the prospect is looking at and the people they are sharing the content with, and who the decision makers are, this will all lead your rep to better understand where the prospect is in the buying cycle and when best to engage. When you arm your team with these tools they will better be able to address prospects needs and engage them with the content they need to make better buying decisions. By enabling your reps you are helping them shorten the sales cycle and offer better options for up-sell and cross-sell items to increase the size of each deal, leading to an increase in sales attainment.
Streamline Quotes and Proposals with CPQ
Whether your company sells complex products and services or not, there are several roadblocks within the quoting and proposal stage of the sales cycle that can be eradicated. In many organizations there is more than one price sheet, quotes are done manually, and there is little information about discounting rules. In order to speed up the sales cycle a CPQ solution should be put into place. With an automated CPQ tool multiple price sheets can be pulled together into a single place, making it easier for sales reps to ensure they are quoting the right price. A CPQ solution can also ensure that reps are staying within defined discounting rules so that the quote can be sent out without the need for approving every item. When a rep does create a quote that has too much discounting and not enough margin health, the quote should be automatically sent for approval and the approver should be notified immediately that an item is pending, to ensure that the customer is not left waiting. When the quote and proposal system is automated you also get the added benefit of having a system that can recommend up-sell and cross-sell items, meaning that not only will the CPQ system speed up deals, but will make deals larger as well.
Align Compensation to Business Objectives
Often times a sales rep’s compensation is not set up to promote proper selling behaviors and is not aligned with business objectives. When used properly, commissions and incentives can really drive sales performance by increasing productivity. Nothing is as big of a waste of time as having reps sit around recalculating their pay plans to ensure that they are getting paid accurately. When the compensation management system is automated and transparent, sales reps will have greater confidence that they are being paid correctly and will have more motivation to reach their targets. To further enhance the benefits of your compensation management system, the pay structure should be aligned to company objectives and reinforce the right kind of selling behaviors. In doing so, you will see greater quota attainment and in increase in morale.
Roadblocks are a huge hurdle to get through for your sales reps. It is vital to eliminate as many of them as possible, through the use of technology, to realize the results you want.
