New Methods for Transforming
Under-Producing Sales Reps
By
John McGee
According to a study of B2B organizations, only 58.2% of sales reps met their quotas in 2013. Considering how much of the day sales reps spend on tasks unrelated to actually selling anything, this statistic is not that surprising. It is estimated that sales reps typically only spend about 24% of their time each week actively engaged in selling. Transforming an under performing sales rep can be achieved despite these seemingly insurmountable odds. There are three things every company can do to help sales reps improve their numbers including tech-targeting, template marketing and creating a tailored news feed.
To start, companies need to be matching their sales reps’ technological skills to the type of selling in which they are engaged. Requiring a new hire millennial to spend his or her time selling over the phone or by direct mail may not be the most effective way for that individual to close leads. On the other hand, asking someone with thirty years of experience selling via traditional methods to make a switch and target leads via social media is an equally bad mistake. Companies and sales managers need to be using tech-targeting within their sales teams. That means matching a sales reps’ skills appropriately to the method of selling they utilize on a daily basis. By allowing reps to use the method most familiar to them, companies will realize an increased close rate with the added benefit of employees who are happier in their roles.
Another method businesses can use to improve sales results is template marketing. Rather than relying on each sales rep to create marketing materials, emails and other outreach documents, companies need to adopt the template approach. By having a library of templates available for sales people, companies can assure that content is approved by marketing and in alignment with other initiatives. Additionally, the potential for sales people to be creating their own unauthorized offers that do not meet legal approval will be eliminated. Templates not only save sales people time, they also protect companies’ brands.
The third thing any company can do to help improve a sale representative’s performance is create a custom news feed that is delivered on a daily basis to the individual’s computer, tablet and smartphone. A well-informed sales rep is an empowered sales rep. By setting up news alerts that are automatically pushed to reps’ computers and mobile devices, companies can help keep their teams updated on outside factors that could influence the success or failure of their day. Or, that totally change their sales approach. For example, an insurance company that schedules weather news alerts for their reps can keep them informed of severe storms that could result in higher than average claims in certain regions, and notify them of the potential influx of customers searching for a new insurer if they are not satisfied with their current provider’s response.
By making these three adjustments, utilizing tech-targeting, template marketing and creating news feeds, any business can help their sales team close more leads and boost the company bottom line.
John McGee OptifiNow to solve a common problem of enterprise customers – the shared struggle of managing national and global sales teams with brand and legal compliant messaging. Prior to founding OptifiNow, John founded 121Communication, a web-based digital print and marketing automation company, which he led to be one of the first companies in the United States to partner with Hewlett Packard’s digital-printing and communications division.
