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.
