This is where the data you collect can help. The first step is to gain an understanding of what makes your best reps so good. In an industry with high turnover, closing the skills gap sounds insurmountable, doesn’t it? Not necessarily. And that’s not all, a recent McKinsey & Company article discusses the performance gap between sales reps, saying that regardless of the metric used, the top 30% of your sales reps will outperform the bottom 30% by as much as a factor of 4. The 80/20 Rule, also referred to as the Pareto Principle, states that 80% of sales are made by 20% of your sales reps. Using Data to Shed Light on Sales Performance While both of these scenarios highlight the need to integrate intelligent data into your sales processes, data can also give you the insights to better understand your field sales reps performance and where improvements are needed. Since that’s not a realistic expectation, the question you need to ask yourself is – why are prospects dropping out of the sign-up process? If virtually every customer that visited your website completed a sign-up form, your sales figures would be on the rise. Online sales: Are you killing the competition when it comes to online sales? If not, do you know why? Let’s face it, when customers make purchases online, they’re pretty much left to their own devices throughout the sales journey. Do you know why they switched such as to take advantage of a product you don’t offer, the competition offered lower rates, or provided better service?.Do you know which competitor they switched to?.If one or more of the 9 prospects were previous customers and switched to a competitor? And if so….If any business intelligence was captured from the 9 prospects?.If any of the 9 prospects are short- or long-term actionable leads?.

Why the 9 prospects didn’t make a purchase?.Although the good news is that a sale was made, what do you know about the 9 prospects that declined to switch providers? Do you have the insights to know Let’s explore two sales scenarios – door-to-door field sales and online sales – looking at each through the lens of when data isn’t integrated into your processes.ĭoor-to-door field sales: Given closing the deal is the primary goal of your field reps, do you know if money is being left on the table? For example, we’ll assume that during the course of a day, a field rep knocked on 10 doors and made 1 sale. When Intelligent Data Isn’t Part of the Sales Journeyĭata can provide a bounty of intelligence when it comes to understanding where you’re excelling and where improvements need to be made to increase sales closure rates. Energy and telco companies that recognise the importance of the data they capture and act upon it will be in an enviable position to improve the way business is conducted, and ultimately win more deals. When properly done, it can bridge the gap between how you think your business is running and how it’s really running.ĭoing this requires embedding the actionable insights acquired from your data into your business strategies for more proactive and intentional decision making. To unlock the actionable insights it contains, the data must first be accurately gathered, combined with other relevant data, and analysed. Like crude oil, raw data isn’t valuable in itself. We’ve all heard the saying “data is the new oil”, but what may not be as well known is the concept behind it.

Gaining insights