Latest insights

Lost internet connectivity should never mean lost productivity. Field sales reps should be able to continue entering orders and customer information in their app, even while offline. Here are 5 benefits of field sales apps with offline capability Whether loadshedding is a thing in your country or not, as a field sales rep, you’ll often be forced to work offline. And, usually at the time you most need access to important information. The nature of your job means you spend much of your day on the road, or sometimes in the air to cover longer distances, while it’s also not unusual to find yourself visiting outlying,

Are you losing out on sales due to stock problems at your customers? What products aren’t selling like they should be? Are you struggling to sell your products at the correct price? Do you know what the credit balance of your customers are when visiting them? These problems can be addressed by your field sales team when you integrate Skynamo with your financial software or ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Systems. Customer, product and pricing information from these systems will give your team real-time access to the data they need. Sales information can also help to identify products that drop in sales, and

Access to accurate field sales data is crucial to sales success. We explore various reasons why sales reps struggle to capture accurate data, offering a single solution to overcome these obstacles. How important is accurate data to field sales success? Can you consistently deliver a quality service and achieve sales success without understanding your customers’ needs? Their buying habits or your own ability to deliver the services you promised? In our conversations with business owners and sales managers, the need to better understand customers and gain better insights into their own activities are always mentioned.

Our recent research among field sales professionals in the UK and South Africa highlighted five situations in which sales reps are tempted to spin the truth when visiting prospects. We were glad to discover that a fair number of respondents see the value in being truthful while prospecting. On a more concerning note, however, we recognised that those who admitted to twisting the truth at times did so because they face unnecessary pressures. Too often they find themselves backed into a corner with little time, not enough information with which to provide quality advice and under pressure to hit targets. ‘Skynamo’s

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

The Ultimate Sales Playlist: Staying “In the Zone” on the Road For field sales reps, the car often doubles as a mobile office. During the critical moments between customer visits, reps need a space that keeps them focused and productive. Recent surveys conducted for Skynamo’s Field Sales Trust Gap Report reveal the top 21 songs that help South African and UK sales professionals stay energized, motivated, and ready to sell while on the road. These beats keep sales reps tuned in, engaged, and performing at their best throughout the day. Click to listen to Skynamo’s playlist for sales professionals on Spotify. Share

Product returns can be prevented and too often have a totally unnecessary impact on your profit margins. Consider these 7 ways to reduce the number of products making their way back to your warehouses, even before you sell them. Almost 1 in 3 products bought online will be returned while a recent study suggests that 95% of these returned goods will have nothing wrong with them! Although the numbers might not be as staggering when delivering goods to existing customers, many producers and distributors face similar challenges. High rates of product returns are incredibly costly but thankfully they are also totally

Part of the commitment to deliver an excellent service and setting high personal standards as a salesperson, is occasionally missing the mark. Great sales reps understand that apologising effectively is part of great service delivery and go out of their way to do so sincerely. Honest mistakes Getting it wrong is inevitable. Whether it’s through a fault of your own or not, you will fail your customers. Relaying incorrect information, mixing up appointment dates or times, forgetting to notify someone about something important – these errors are all committed by brilliant salespeople and part of healthy customer

Busyness, burnout and anxiety have been recognised problems since the industrial age and have now been sent into overdrive by the digital revolution. We consider 7 ways to ‘actively rest’ your way to greater productivity. 1. Hobbies 2. Exercise 3. Mindfulness 4. Solitude 5. Sleep 6. Reading 7. Sabbaticals The digital age and the need for rest Maybe you’ve just shaken off end-of-year fatigue and stepped back into the office with renewed energy. Only to find that tiredness is already setting in again after a few weeks back at work, or you’re now nearing year’s end. In our attempts to be more productive, we tend to opt

Salespeople are the point of contact between a business and its customers. The crucial role they play is certainly worth celebrating, but we should also ask how we can help them celebrate sales success more often On this National Salesperson Day, 14 December 2018, Skynamo wants to give more than a shout out to the salesmen and saleswomen who represent their companies out in the field. We want to acknowledge the crucial role salespeople play in the life of any business. In doing so, we also want to address some common obstacles salespeople encounter in the field. What we’re asking today is, why is it important to