In a survey of over 400 field sales professionals we asked what they did during a typical week, concluding the time spent on admin could be better used on other sales activities.
The comment that pops up most often when talking to sales managers is how much salespeople dislike admin. They want to be with their customers and prospects, selling. Not tied down to a desk, writing up reports and filling out forms and spreadsheets.
Below you can see how over 400 sales professionals from South Africa and the UK spend their day. Only 39% of their time is spent on selling, either doing cold calls or face-to-face. Some spend as much as 20% of their day on admin activities.
Admin is of course unavoidable and necessary. But what if it was possible for your sales team to reduce the hours they spend on admin? Which other activities would you prefer they invest in more instead?
Imagine you could free up some of the time normally spent on admin and pay more attention to your customers?
The good news is that mobile field sales apps make admin tasks less time-consuming while delivering more accurate and useful information, contributing to a more effective selling process:
‘We were surprised to discover how much our reps embraced the admin side of their jobs since using the Skynamo field sales app. It has become less time-consuming and aids their sales performance.’
– Mike Giltrow, CEO of BED Holdings
‘I spend 1-2 hours less on admin per day. It makes admin so much easier and less time-consuming for reps.’
– Brandon Rix, sales representative at Interstat Stationery
‘Digitalisation… contributed to the fact that time previously spent on admin was now available for direct selling activities.’
– Ernst Gottschalk, sales manager at Protekta Safety Gear
How does your sales team’s average week compare to our survey results? Are they spending too much time on admin or should they be cutting back on other activities perhaps?
Unnecessary time spent on admin is only one of the obstacles preventing sales professionals from operating more efficiently that came up in our surveys. Read the report below to find out more.
