What is Sales Productivity?

Now, before we get into all the details let’s go back to the basics of ‘sales productivity.

Definition: Sales productivity is all about maximizing the sales result while minimizing the time and money required to achieve it.

In order to calculate the productivity of your sales rep, measure his/her efficiency and effectiveness.

Efficiency: Check whether your sales rep is able to complete the task with minimum cost and resources.

Effectiveness: Check whether your sales rep is able to complete the task on time.

Sales productivity is probably the most important and impactful element that you need in order to boost results in sales as well as in business.

Why does it Matter?

The term sales productivity has a lot to do with the business entity. Every business stands to accomplish its predefined goals and in doing so sales productivity counts greatly.

• It provides a clearer understanding of your sales rep’s abilities and the challenges they face. 
• It provides you with insights into the strengths and weaknesses of your employee.

Such details can help you get the best out of each sales rep.

How to start increasing sales productivity?

1. Provide training

Offering sales training and development programs is one strategy to increase productivity in the sales department. These programs can help salespeople in developing new skills and techniques that will improve their ability to generate revenue.

2. Stop multitasking

In order to improve sales productivity, multitasking must be stopped. This is because when people try to do multiple things at the same time, they are actually not doing any of them well. The quality of their work suffers as a result.

Instead of multitasking, salespeople should focus on one task at a time and give it their full attention. This will help them to complete tasks more quickly and efficiently. Additionally, they will be able to avoid mistakes that can cost the company money.

Focusing on one task at a time may seem like it would take longer, but in reality, it is the most effective way to work. Salespeople who are able to single-task will be more productive and ultimately make the company more money.

3. Qualify your leads

As a sales representative, you likely spend a fair amount of time crafting proposals. But how much time do you spend qualifying your leads before sending them a proposal? 

If you’re not careful, you could end up wasting valuable time and resources crafting proposals for leads that will never convert. That’s why it’s important to qualify your leads before sending them a proposal. 

Here are a few things to consider when qualifying your leads: 

• Their budget 
• Their timeline 
• Their decision-making process 
• Their level of interest 
• Their authority to make decisions 

By taking the time to qualify your leads, you can save yourself a lot of time and energy in the long run.

4. Streamline workflow by implementing software solutions

While there are many elements in the sales process that affect sales productivity, creating and managing sales proposals may be the most crucial one. Yes, that’s right! 

We all are well aware of how important business proposals are to get new clients and win new businesses. Without the proposals, you won’t be landing new clients/sales, and without new clients/sales, there won’t be any revenue. A well-planned and well-written business proposal is the most effective technique for every sales team to gain new clients. 

On the other hand, creating and managing business proposals without a proposal automation tool is immensely time-consuming. A tool that automates proposals saves organizations countless hours and dollars. Without a tool to automate proposals, your organization can miss out on deals.

Many sales leaders have not taken advantage of proposal software or understand the value it provides in terms of the efficient creation of sales proposals and deal conversion. Such tools help smart sales professionals and marketers not only to create/manage sales proposals but also to provide actionable proposal insights to close more deals.

Read more about improving sales productivity with proposal software

5. Align sales and marketing efforts

The sales and marketing departments’ lack of communication might result in significant losses of money, time, and effort. Here, guesswork won’t help! Instead of operating alone and speculating what the other needs, your marketing and sales teams should work together. To make better decisions and increase sales productivity, make sure the teams are communicating effectively. Make sure both parties are providing ongoing input on what works and what doesn’t!

6. Track and measure sales activity

A major disadvantage for any organization is being blindly consistent in sales activity. You must monitor productivity improvements and achievements on a regular basis. Determine the performance metrics (KPIs) that are most important to you, such as call rate, close rate, sales cycle length, etc.