TL;DR
- Top 3 challenges to growing revenue: A) Time spent managing sales enablement tools and data B) Sales Reps not spending enough time selling. C) No repeatable programmatic process.
- How to Use AI/ML so reps are Selling, not prospecting.
- Training. Daily. Product and sales skills.
- Our Programmatic process. Proper cadence, ICP, and repeat.
In the ever-evolving landscape of enterprise sales, inside sales representatives face significant challenges that hinder their ability to grow their revenue pipeline. The 3 top challenges are the multitude of sales enablement tools they need to manage, the time spent on administrative tasks, and the lack of a repeatable sales outreach process.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss these three key problems and provide details on how we solve these issues and the impact it has on rep efficiency, pipeline growth, and revenue.
1. Managing Multiple Sales Enablement Tools
The average inside sales representative works with 4-6 sales enablement tools, such as CRM systems, sales automation software, email tracking tools, and collaboration platforms. While these tools are designed to streamline the sales process, managing them can become overwhelming and time-consuming.
To overcome this challenge:
- Evaluate your current tools and identify any redundancies or inefficiencies. Consolidate tools where possible and eliminate those that do not provide significant value. We have 3 tools for our SDRs. Including CRM. Keep their world small.
- Train your sales reps thoroughly on each tool to ensure they are using them effectively and efficiently. Can’t emphasize this enough. We have a morning meeting every day to review processes, technologies, and changes.
- Explore integration options between your tools to improve data sharing and streamline workflows. We integrate everything. ALL lead data must flow to one of the 3 main apps the SDR is trained to execute the next step.
2. Time Spent on Administrative Tasks
Salesforce reports that sales reps spend approximately 34% of their day on administrative tasks such as managing tools, data entry, and reporting. This takes away valuable time from prospecting, building relationships, and closing deals.
How to address this issue:
- Automate repetitive tasks. For example, your reps should NEVER have to send manual emails prior to a discovery call. Our SDRs only have to customize and send a manual email 4% of the time. Otherwise, it is all automated and tailored to the situation. In addition, we use AI batch the activities – so when it is time to call, the SDR is making 100 calls in 45 minutes. Not one-off calls or dialing in sets of 10. This allows the use of high-speed automated dialing.
- Encourage sales reps to set aside dedicated time for administrative tasks, so they do not interfere with core sales activities.
- Invest in advanced reporting capabilities to minimize the time spent on generating reports and analyzing data and optimize effectiveness. We use AWS Quicksite. This allows us to look at all activities across multiple platforms in any way we want. Our SDR’s are fed, what action to take next versus having to generate reports to find out what to do next.
3. Lack of a Repeatable Sales Outreach Process
An estimated 40-60% of companies do not have a standardized sales outreach process in place. Companies with a programmatic sales outreach process realized a 65% increase in sales rep quota attainment, an 18% shorter sales cycle, and a 28% increase in revenue. Needless to say- this is a must.
To implement a repeatable sales outreach process:
- Map out your current sales process and identify areas for improvement.
- Develop a standardized process that outlines clear steps for prospecting, outreach, follow-up, and closing. We use 13- to 16-step, customized cadences, across multiple channels targeting the ICP of our clients.
- Train your sales team on the new process and provide them with the necessary resources, call scripts, and follow-up guidelines. This is absolutely paramount. We train every day. There is product training and sales skill training.
- Monitor and track your team’s performance, making adjustments to the process as needed to ensure continuous improvement. This is table stakes. We monitor everything and leverage AI and ML to optimize outreach and spot-check for effectiveness. You cannot manage what you do not measure.
Conclusion
By addressing these three key challenges, sales teams can enhance their efficiency, improve their effectiveness, and focus more on core sales activities that drive revenue growth. AE’s and Sales Reps need to be selling. Don’t let them hide in email. A simple KPI to monitor….# of discovery calls on a weekly basis. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in how we perform this in an outsourced fashion for leading enterprise tech companies.