Setting KPIs and Optimizing Sales Performance

What is peak sales performance?

Once you can answer the question “What are my reps doing every day?” you can begin to optimize the daily activities of your sales team. Now, how do you do this? The truth is that without a sales acceleration solution, this may be easier said than done.

However, using a sales tool, managers can access 100% accurate data in real-time to benchmark indicators of success and set performance standards. Doing so closes the visibility gap between reps and managers and allows sales leaders to establish training to reinforce best practices based on concrete data.

Optimizing sales performance: Utilize a sales tool to set KPIs and reinforce training principles.

A sales acceleration solution provides sales teams with automatic call logging, meaning no more guesstimated activity reports or manually entered data. Using one of these tools, managers can create key performance indicators (KPIs) for the daily activity that will serve as the performance standard for reps.

To start, utilize data to identify the behaviors and patterns of successful reps, such as their call-to-appointment ratio. Next, set a minimum number of call attempts, contacts (conversations), or even the number of “optimal outcomes” — things like set appointments or follow-ups — based on your findings.

While successful managers will hold reps accountable to benchmarks, you don’t need to go from 0 to 60 in three seconds. Sustained, gradual improvement made possible by consistent training will result in the most successful, sustainable outcomes.

Consistent Training, Consistent Results

With the help of sales technology, managers can utilize dashboards to showcase KPIs indicative of benchmarks set for their team. With this data, sales leaders can make decisions based on actual numbers to improve performance.

By observing the real-time activity of reps, rather than analyzing manually entered activity reports, managers can more accurately identify reps that are struggling and provide tailored training to help them reach their set goals. Training is not a one-and-done activity, however; weekly, or even daily training initiatives will help reinforce principles and mold struggling reps into top performers.

Benefitting Reps and Managers

By getting a clear understanding of the daily behaviors that drive success, average reps will become more productive, efficient with their time, and effective. Moreover, underperformers will now have clearly outlined targets they can strive for to become successful.

Further, when you can measure the daily behaviors that predict sales success, it’s much easier to create benchmarks of success for new hires so they know what exactly they need to do to succeed at your organization.

Overall, a sales acceleration tool provides managers with the tools they need to optimize the performance of their sales team while giving reps the tools they need to self-assess and improve. Doing so establishes both visibility and a sense of two-way accountability between reps and managers, both of which are vital to optimizing sales and achieving performance goals.

Optimize the performance of your sales team with a sales acceleration tool.