4 Ways a Sales Management System Can Improve Performance

Sales management is no simple task — but managing a decentralized team is a different story. Ever wonder what your sales reps across different locations are doing at a certain point of the day?

With the rise of telecommuting, you certainly aren’t the only one lacking visibility into your team’s sales performance. With more businesses embracing mobility, employees are now working remotely and across multiple offices, meaning the visibility gap has become even greater.

Of course, there are benefits that come with having a dispersed team. But for a sales manager, enabling mobility also means relinquishing the control and visibility you once had in a centralized office. Without the right sales management system in place, it could easily turn into a nightmare.

Like most managers with a dispersed sales team, you probably rely on:

• Spreadsheets to record daily rep activity
• Manual CRM updates reporting call results
• Weekly phone check-ins with individual reps
• Monthly in-person team meetings

This process may have worked in the past, but as your team expands and improves, the reliability is weak and will likely lead to future problems.

Luckily for sales managers, there is a multitude of sales intelligence tools designed specifically for this reason. It’s your job as a manager to find the one that best fits your needs; not only will it make your day a whole lot easier, but it will also improve sales performance across your team.

Get Accurate Insight Instantly with a Simple Sales Management Tool

If you’re a manager who swears by your CRM, it is vital to understand that with out a sales performance management tool, it is estimated that up to 40% of your data is likely inaccurate. Your team will only be as successful as the accuracy of your insights, so why leave room for error?

Automatically tracking the phone conversations your reps have, how effective their delivery is, and the result of each conversation will give you the factual information needed to make improvements. You’ll also increase the certainty of sales projections and be able to make smarter, data-driven decisions.

4 Sales Management Activities That Will Instantly Improve with Access to Accurate Insight

1. Making Better and Faster Decisions

For years, sales decisions have been based on gut instincts and guesstimated numbers. However, as sales performance solutions and big data flood the market, businesses who lag to adopt analytical technology find themselves behind the competition.

With accurate data on daily team activity, management will instantly know in which direction reps are trending. This will enable sales leaders to make more informed decisions that could end up saving business deals in the long run.

2. Targeted Training & Coaching

Effective sales training is a challenge alone, but hiring and training a new rep in a dispersed environment is double the headache. Without accurate visibility into their performance, it’s difficult to pinpoint weaknesses. Thus, how can you implement efficient and effective training?

The cost to hire and train a rep is upwards of $27,000. This can get costly over time if you aren’t setting your reps up for success from the get-go. Adopting a sales management system will help you identify when and where coaching is most needed and fine-tune each of your reps accordingly.

3. Improved Communication

Communication skills are critical in any managerial role, but even more so when leading a remote sales team. As a manager, you must convey your expectations and establish achievable performance goals for your team.

Simplify your job by adopting a sales management system to improve this communication. Set your reps up for success by relying on data-driven numbers to determine and solidify best practices and expectations. No one wants to work under an uncertain manager.

4. Improved Forecasting

When establishing a sales forecast, it’s important to have factual data. Information including the number of calls made and dispositions recorded can all be displayed via intuitive dashboards that provide these insights. With a click of a button, managers have the information needed to make more accurate forecasts.

Armed with insightful sales KPIs, managers can not only improve the performance of their remote teams more effectively, but can also make themselves stand out as innovative leaders.

Whether you are looking to solidify your standing among executive peers, or further advance your sales career, consider a sales management system that you can easily master to manage your team of reps.