• Posted On Wednesday, September 18, 2019 by Evan Lamolinara

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    Even if your sales team currently has a steady stream of new sales leads, chances are there's room for improvement – there's always room for improvement. By optimizing your sales team for greater productivity, you'll reap the benefits of more revenue or a smaller headcount. So, how exactly can you improve your sales team's productivity? Here are 5 tips.

    I'm sure you've heard these before. However, have you made any changes? Are there any additional adjustments you can make to improve it even more? Let's take another look.

    Automate Repetitive Tasks

    It's estimated that roughly one-third of a salesperson's time goes towards actually selling. The remaining two-thirds goes towards repetitive tasks like data entry, following up with prospects via email, and prospect research. By automating and supplying effective sales tools, you can improve your sales team's productivity, allowing them to focus on what really matters: selling.

    So let's talk about a tool that you may not have, but can certainly affect selling. Open a complimentary account with SalesLeads so you can easily see the features that I'm going to talk about.

    SalesLeads will provide an easy to use and easy to read dashboard. On the dashboard you will be able to get all of your identified project reports or sales leads. Because they are identified, your sales reps can get started calling and getting these opportunities into the sales funnel. Use the combination of calling and emailing with the direct information provided. The dashboard provides a way to manage your project reports.

    There will be a few that are 'hot' prospects. Meaning, you want to be able to keep in front of them in the short and long term. Use the News Tab to enter in the company name and the type of information you want the system to watch for. Now when news comes in, you have a valid reason to call and follow up.

    Be sure open an account to view the other tabs.

    Measure Key Performance Indicators

    Are you measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) like email open rates, click-through rates (CTRs), conversion rates, dial-to-contact rate, etc.? If not, you should. Turning a blind eye to KPIs is a serious mistake that will ultimately cost you sales. Most businesses have a set of KPIs that are unique to their processes. By monitoring these KPIs, you'll know whether your efforts are helping or hurting, and using this information you can optimize your sales approach for greater productivity.

    Segment Prospects

    If you aren't segmenting your list of prospects before contacting them, you are missing out on one of the easiest ways to improve conversions. By segmenting prospects, you can make small changes to your sales approach, focusing specifically on the prospect and his or her needs. For instance, segmenting prospects based on their company size is helpful, as it allows salespersons to up-sell larger prospects. Of course, this is just one of the many ways in which prospects can be segmented.

    Want to learn more about how SalesLeads' custom lead generation solutions can help your segmenting strategies? Open a free account to check it out.

    Follow Up with Prospects

    You won't always convert a prospect into a paying customer during the first correspondence. In some cases, it may take two, three or four correspondences. As such, salespersons should stay focused and remain committed to following up with prospects, even if they initially reject their sales offer. According to our internal data, on average it takes 8 attempts to have 1 conversation with a new prospect. 

    Alignment Between Marketing and Sales

    When marketing and sales departments function independently, it can lead to lower productivity and fewer sales. Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common problem among business-to-business (B2B) companies. According to a Forrester study, only 8% of B2B companies have aligned their marketing and sales departments. Researchers from the study, however, further added that marketing and sales alignment can yield up to 25% more sales.

    Start out small. Work with marketing to focus on a handful of accounts. Target these accounts as one's that your sales reps could like to get it, but hasn't yet. Let them work together, build a joint strategy and go! 

    17 Tips to Convert Leads Faster


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