Tag: Sales & Technology (how tech is helping

Information is power. Nowhere is this more apparent than in measuring the success of your sales team. Many companies leverage sales data to analyze their past performance and predict their future success. Meanwhile, other firms specialize in gathering customer insights to create highly customized campaigns and programs.

Companies used to depend entirely on the merits of their product or their sales representatives’ social skills to find success. These companies are now using data to learn more about their customers and how the market behaves.

The advantage of data-driven sales

Before, many companies had to depend on their sales representatives’ ability to sell products to customers based on their intuition. However, this method is a bit unreliable, as it depends largely on the salesperson’s skill and “gut instinct” instead of addressing each individual buyer’s specific needs.

In contrast, data-driven sales take other factors into consideration before reps engage with a client. This includes present market and economic conditions, competitor activity, and even buyer sentiments. This helps sales teams make more targeted approaches to selling instead of devoting time to prospects that are obviously a bad fit or not interested.

With a more efficient approach to sales, companies can now focus their resources on more qualified prospects instead of spreading themselves thin. Eventually, this more disciplined approach leads to higher rates of closing and a better spend-to-revenue ratio.

How data insights can help improve sales performance

Data insights are the end product of analyzing sales information based on specific criteria.

For instance:

• Performance: sales managers can use this information to keep track of their sales team’s performance over a period of time.
• Training: Tracking the team’s performance also helps sales managers to determine which skills need refining. When managers know their team’s weak points, they can easily define the type of training to give.
• Rewards: The insights can also help identify top performers so managers can reward them.
• Top sellers: Data insights can also help sales teams track a product’s performance. It allows them to determine which products are selling well and which are performing poorly.
• Slow movers: This information helps the team to better identify the slow-moving products that need to be marked down.

In short, data insights help increase sales efficiency by allowing salespeople to focus their resources on more qualified prospects instead of having to blindly convince leads who may or may not decide to purchase.

Sales teams understand their customers better

By collecting and compiling sales data from customers, your sales team can build a better, more accurate picture of your clients. Sellers can find more common ground by learning more about a client’s purchase histories, motivations and core beliefs.

Some modern sales CRM apps might even tell you which customers are the most loyal and which customers are the most profitable. If your sales CRM software is really up to snuff, it may show sales managers and decision-makers which customers are at risk of moving to your competition. This will allow sales teams to deploy tactics to keep customers on board.

Closing deals becomes easier

With a better understanding of the client comes more personalized campaigns and customer programs. This includes highlighting benefits, implementing promotions, and applying incentives that are more likely to elicit a positive response from your clients. Using sales data can give your company an edge when it comes to meeting your clients’ wants and needs. And when your buyers are more responsive, closing the sale becomes much easier. But you need access to integrated, real-time sales data first for this to become feasible.

Accurately identify upsell and cross-selling opportunities

A better understanding of the client also means knowing if they are open to supplemental offers such as additional upsell or cross-sell opportunities. Having reliable sales data can help indicate if a client is more likely to respond to additional offers apart from their original purchase.

Conclusion

Sales data is a powerful tool that can help your sales team turn into a more productive revenue generator. Consolidating and analyzing your customer information to get the right insights can go a long way in closing deals with them.

While many sales teams are still using spreadsheets, paper, manual processes, and non-communicative apps, getting accurate sales data is a time-consuming challenge.

To successfully harness the power of your customer database, you’ll need reliable software to process all of the information for your team.

Skynamo is a leading field sales CRM platform that automates sales reports and produces sales and customer insights at the touch of a button.

Skynamo helps gather, store, and analyze customer data, which eventually turns into valuable insights. The software helps identify which prospects are more open and ready to listen to your latest pitch. At the same time, Skynamo also helps identify customers that are in danger of leaving you for a new supplier.

How can Skynamo help you today? Please visit us so we can learn more about how we can help your specific business. Share your contact information and we’ll be very happy to arrange a free demonstration.

Technology has driven the sales industry to new heights. From landlines to cell phones, cold calling to data-driven leads, and manual data entry to automated CRMs, we’ve come a long way. Not only is technology playing a bigger role in every touchpoint of the sales process, but it has restructured the sales approach entirely.

This is because sales technology allows reps to personalize their approach and close deals at the most opportune time. It minimizes time and resources wasted on poor leads. In this guide, we will analyze the impact of digitization on the industry by looking at how sales technology has evolved over time. Understanding these benefits can enhance the way your team does sales and help you remain relevant in a competitive and ever-evolving world.

Sales tech, a brief history

Sales technology has progressed from devices that allow sales reps to just share their message to tools that help them to communicate in engaging, relevant, and effective ways. The following major milestones in the history of sales technology have laid the foundation for today’s efficient digital sales methods and solutions.

The Digital Revolution

1950-2000

The Digital Revolution saw companies moving away from mechanical and analogue tech and toward using digital sales technology. During this time, analogue mobile phones paved the way for mobile communication. As a result, door-to-door sales declined, and telemarketing became the norm. Salespeople used the invention of voicemail in the 1980s to ensure their sales messages were reaching prospects.

Digital computers and the internet also became available to the public during this time, further accelerating communication. Because of this, the integration of digital record-keeping also became a regular business practice.

Shortly thereafter, the first laptops became available for public purchase. This then transformed the way salespeople could work on the go. They could now be just as productive and efficient on a sales trip as they would in the office. The world wide web and the first video conferencing platform, WebEx, further enhanced their ability to connect with customers from anywhere at any time.

This era of sales technology was revolutionary for customer relationship management. ACT! (Automated Contact Tracking) launched in 1986 as one of the first customer relationship management software tools. The concept pioneered ongoing developments of more comprehensive CRM tools. SalesForce was then launched in 1999. Although its competitors didn’t take cloud services seriously, SalesForce quickly became the world’s largest vendor of CRM as customers migrated to the cloud.

The Smartphone Revolution

2000-Present

Also known as the Information Revolution, the past two decades have seen an evolution in both smart technology and automation. The rise of Facebook (2004), YouTube (2006), and Twitter (2006) changed marketing forever. Salespeople could now leverage social platforms to source leads and easily communicate with prospects. Tablets became useful tools for sales presentations and working on the go.

Smartphones and mobile apps further enhanced information and pricing accessibility. This technology allowed sales managers to track sales in real-time. Salespeople could also use these devices to quote clients immediately, finalizing paperwork through their digital tech.

Improved CRM provided the advantage of storing massive values of data in relatively small spaces. Reps could thus start personalizing the sales experience based on accurate customer information. Advancements in sales technology and automation have largely reduced the manual administrative work required in sales, freeing salespeople up to focus on customer relationships.

The evolution of sales tech has essentially allowed reps to optimize their sales opportunities, catch prospects as soon as they are ready, and improve their service. The impact of these advancements can still be seen in how companies run their businesses to this day.

The benefits of using sales technology

Given the speed at which business and sales technology is evolving, companies that have not adapted to the new technologies are quickly lagging. This resistance to change is causing a wide gap between the frontrunners and those who are falling behind.

Traditional methods of telemarketing, manual lead generation, and spreadsheet CRM are obsolete. They hinder growth and slow productivity. Any hesitancy to adopt new sales technology also impairs employee growth. This can render a business irrelevant to the modern consumer and take away from their ability to meet their needs.

While some businesses may not want to use new tech because of the cost, the reality is that sales technology saves time, resources, money, and administrative labour. It also improves productivity and efficiency, which translates to increased sales profits.

The following list outlines the significant benefits of adopting sales technology.

• Improves ongoing product and sales education
• Synchronizes all touchpoints of the sales system
• Provides on-demand sales resources for every step of the customer journey
• Enhances account personalization
• Improves strategic lead generation
• Real-time sales tracking
• Geographic sales expansion
• Improves data-based decision making
• Reduces manual administration and thus, human error
• Decreases administrative labour costs
• Eliminates hard copies and printing costs
• Faster proposal and quote turnaround
• Sign and deliver contracts anytime from anywhere
• Sales reps can access data and account information while travelling
• Improved communication between departments, salespeople, and customers
• Sales managers can track engagement, sales, and monitor content use
• Better quality conversions
• Improved audits
• Interactive sales tools

Out with the old, in with the new

Regardless of how good your product is, an inefficient sales process will not lead to a successful business. Using sales technology can help you to find digital solutions to common business and sales problems.

Tech tools have become vital to crafting a streamlined sales process. The following tools can help any business to up their sales game to become a leading competitor in their industry.

CRM

A sales CRM automatically organizes customer data, tracks client communication, and sends follow-up reminders. This sales technology is an essential tool that seamlessly manages all touchpoints throughout the sales journey. With automated administration and data organization, sales reps can spend the time saved on fostering meaningful client relationships.

Automated processes also improve data accuracy. An effective CRM stores a significant amount of data in a way that is easy to find. Your salespeople can then access updated customer data from anywhere at any time.

Sales and marketing automation

This sales technology automates the many responsibilities that are essential for building a profitable sales process. Among many other functions, sales and marketing automation both involve bulk emailing and personalizing client messages. Marketing automation focuses on attracting leads through industry research, content, and distribution tasks. Sales automation aims to convert those leads to buyers and centres largely on connecting with customers and optimizing the customer experience.

CRM, lead generation, and email marketing software all integrate sales automation tools. Sales automation is essential in helping sales representatives to manage their sales processes and tasks more efficiently.

Lead generation and prospecting

Manual sales prospecting is a tedious task. It takes away from the time needed to foster new leads and client relationships. This sales technology automates and simplifies the prospecting process by sourcing leads from online channels. These include social media, email, and landing pages.

It then collects contact information from prospects who have shown interest in a product. The software then automatically directs the information to the right sales team. The information provided allows sales staff to approach more qualified leads with better insights, tactics, and personalization. This translates into more profitable deals.

Video conferencing

Video conferencing tools should be non-negotiable for every sales business. They allow for seamless client meetings regardless of location and time zones. They also give salespeople the ability to give remote presentations and offer screen sharing.

Video conferencing saves a significant amount of time and money by cutting out travel time and costs while widening the geographic pool of sales candidates. In doing so, it also allows salespeople to meet with a higher number of potential clients daily.

Data insights and analytics

Interpreting the mass of customer data collected from retail channels, eCommerce, and social media is a challenging and time-consuming task. Implementing data analytics tools will allow your business to create instant customer profiles from collected data. This sales technology offers behavioural insights that optimize the sales process and personalize the customer experience. Predictive models can determine product recommendations that are most likely to appeal to customers.

When it comes to strategizing sales, data analytics tools can offer insights about supply chain, inventory, and bottlenecks. This helps to direct sales teams on which selling areas they should focus on. For example, if a business has overestimated demand for a product, statistical models can automatically make recommendations to determine the best price for clearance sales.

With automated updates, reports are always accurate at the time of reporting. Sales reps and managers save time compiling reports and can access them from any device with internet connection. With simplified, flexible, and efficient real-time reporting, businesses can make well-informed decisions. This can help businesses to minimize losses. Additionally, they can visualize the results of changes before implementing them with predictive analytics tools.

Another benefit of having access to sales data is that it gives managers complete transparency, which can help when it comes to mentoring the sales team. Managers have visibility into individual progress, as well as agent priorities, strengths, weaknesses, and areas where they may need assistance.

Documentation automation

Document automation allows you to generate documents in a digital platform by using a template or designing it from scratch. The software shares documents via an automated and secure workflow. This eliminates the need for printed paperwork, manual data entry, and email reminders. It also offers improved security while simplifying accessibility and reducing errors. As a result, it improves the end-user experience.

Accounting

Accounting software comes with a range of functions that are suitable for companies of various sizes. This is why you should opt for a software solution that can grow with your company.

The software captures and categorizes financial transactions, sends invoices, and runs automated reports. Some also assist with fulfilling bills and payroll. Automated features reduce errors, save time spent manually processing data, and streamline tax filing.

With instant, professional-looking reports and financial statements, insights are easy to interpret and apply in decision-making. There is no better way to sync all your financial data for optimal finance management.

Sales order processing

Manual and paper-based order processing is tedious, slow, and prone to human error. Automated tools fast-track sales order processing by capturing incoming data immediately. At the same time, the system sends order documents and information to the appropriate staff for processing.

This not only improves order fulfilment efficiency and customer service but also speeds up the order-to-cash period. Sales order processing software securely stores details and allows easy access to information from any mobile device.

Sales order processing ultimately allows the business to process more orders and generate increased income in a shorter time span.

The digital sales revolution is here: time to upgrade your sales tech stack

While B2C companies set the stage for early adoption of digital sales technology, B2B companies were a little slower to jump on the bandwagon. By hesitating to switch to digital sales solutions, some businesses began to fall behind.

B2B companies who have not updated their sales tech are up against competitors who are pulling out all the stops. They’re effectively implementing online demos, videos, live chat, comparison engines, and instant quote calculators. They’ve equipped sales reps with tools to engage with buyers strategically. Their sales interactions are also more time-efficient with live video conferencing and real-time demos.

To remain relevant and handle the demands of the modern market, sales teams need the right tech. They need tools to help them to maximize productivity while fostering personalized customer relationships. Data analytics and automated sales insights are no longer nice-to-haves. These form the backbone of effective decision-making and sales training.

With the right software, digitizing your sales process doesn’t have to be complicated. Skynamo’s CRM software has all the features your business needs to drive efficient sales processes to meet evolving customer expectations.

The platform is scalable, allowing you to adapt processes as the business grows, without hindering the sales process. With Skynamo, field sales reps have on-demand access to a host of information. They can access customer data, updated pricing, and the most recent product information, anywhere, at any time, from a mobile device. Skynamo’s task automation minimizes manual administration and tracks sales activities in real-time.

By digitizing sales processes with Skynamo, your sales teams can use a mobile device to generate quotes, check inventory, and issue orders. We’d love to chat with you to explore ways Skynamo can resolve specific pain points in your field sales management workflow and drive your business to new heights.

In today’s digital-first economy, data is the new currency. This is why analyzing sales reports has become essential to modern companies’ business. Sales reports enable insight into how agents are performing and what aspects of their strategy need improvement. This allows them to make informed decisions on fine-tuning their processes and improving the overall customer journey.

However, generating sales reports is only the first step in developing a data-driven approach to sales. To help you out, this guide will cover the different types of reports you can create, all of the ways you can analyze them, and everything in-between. Read more…

The presence or absence of customers often determines the success of a company. While having more customers doesn’t necessarily equal success, customer loyalty does. Customer loyalty is a hallmark of successful customer relationship management (CRM).

Staying on top of the success of your business requires knowing everything about your customers’ wants and needs. Because of this, you need a CRM database to manage this treasure trove of information. Read more…

Having access to information while out on the field is an invaluable resource for salespeople. Yet, until recently, they didn’t have the luxury of cloud computing. Instead, they often had to burn time and money getting pricing and inventory details from the office. Once back at headquarters, employees had to re-enter the order details into the computer manually. Read more…