Are your salespeople spending time with customers where there is real opportunity for growth? IRCG has found that many salespeople spend more time with customers based on geography or comfort level vs. real opportunity.
Distributors should view sales calls as investments. And data can help you determine where to invest that time and money. Technology tools that parse that data, delivered to sales professionals in the field, can help salespeople be more effective. What’s more, sales managers will know whether the time a salesperson is investing is appropriate, IRCG Managing Partner Mike Marks said recently in a webinar with Modern Distribution Management on how to build an analytics culture.
To effectively use data, however, the sales team must buy-in to its value. Marks and fellow webinar presenter Julia Klein, CEO of specialty building materials distributor CH Briggs, both emphasized involving senior and influential salespeople in the design and customization of any technology assigned to the task.
For Klein, who has gone through this process with salesforce.com, this was critical. “Nobody designed it in isolation. It was really a cross functional team effort.” Klein’s team uses iPads in the field, with customized reporting for each customer.
“As with any new tool that you roll out, there are people who embrace it quickly, and people that need a little bit more time,” Klein continued. “There’s a spectrum for sure. The spectrum doesn’t have anything to do with age. But it didn’t take a really long time once we could demonstrate value for people to be more successful using the tool than not using the tool.”
Check out the webcast on-demand from MDM: Build an Analytics Culture
Not sure where to take your company next? Indian River Consulting Group can facilitate your next management strategy meeting, bringing decades of experience to the table to help you use data to set your course. Learn more here.
