Skynamo Industry Thermometer 2021

With a tough year now classified as history, many learnings and challenges are still part of daily reality as 2022 arrived with relentless speed. Field Sales Reps surveyed still listed “too much admin” as their primary pain point. The survey was completed by over 250 manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors with field sales teams in North America, the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Africa to ascertain what their biggest challenges were and how technology could be used to overcome them successfully. Following spending too much time on admin with long and complicated processes, sales managers said they found it difficult, now more than ever, to see what was happening with their customers.

What we found is that the time spent by field reps doing admin – in some cases, as much as six hours a week – is diverting their attention away from engaging with customers and selling their products. Our survey also found that nearly a quarter of reps wait until the end of the day to enter data, when they are tired and cannot remember exact details. “It’s no wonder that nine out of ten reps believe their own reporting processes fail to deliver accurate information that reflects their customers’ needs.

In 2021 these challenges were multiplied exponentially when overlaid with supply chains breaking, lockdowns and lightning fast changing environments. One Skynamo customer likened a day in this new world environment to having to solve twenty crossword puzzles all at once, each day. Only thing is, these crossword puzzles determined your future.

New relationships, new supply chains, new problems needing to be addressed that didn’t exist when things were all set up and “business as usual” seemed to be something we all took for granted just a few years back. That was the year 2021. Many are happy to see the back of it. I for one am immensely proud of our Skynamo Customer Partners who rose to these challenges with Skynamo in hand, making informed decisions form the data they are able to compile and getting those vitally important orders in fast and accurately. Here is to hoping 2022 is a year of growth and expansion back to a world we once knew.