THE THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR SALES PIPELINE BUT CRM CANT TELL YOU
THE THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR SALES PIPELINE BUT CRM CANT TELL YOU
But, if you’re like most companies, the two main reasons you bought a CRM application were to increase revenues and increase sales effectiveness and productivity, not just capture critical information and automate your sales process.
So, why do only 1 in 5 companies state that they are seeing revenue increases after implementing a CRM application ? Why are they not seeing the sales productivity gains they expected? And why do they still get surprised at the end of the quarter? Why is it that they still don’t know what they don’t know when it comes to the health of their sales pipeline and forecast? The main reason is that though you may think you’ve implemented a full CRM solution, you’ve really only implemented half of a total solution.
Most CRM applications give you the ability to run reports to generate lists of your current opportunities and accounts, show you your current forecast, and show you how your sales reps are performing and what they’re doing. The focus is on the current state of your pipeline. That is, you have the ability to see what’s happening today and how you’re doing against your targets.
But, transactional CRM applications don’t help you figure out which deals you should be focusing on closing, or how much of your pipeline is really at risk. They don’t help you figure out whether a deal should be included or excluded from a forecast, or help you find ways to increase your forecast predictability. And they don’t help you figure out specific skill set strengths and weaknesses of your sales reps beyond just simple quota attainment.
Transactional CRM applications don’t track the historical information and related data you need so you can uncover important trends and really understand why things are happening. Without that visibility and understanding, the best you can do is make guesses about how to improve sales.
Essentially, your CRM application is only half of what you need. While it’s important to see metrics regarding what your pipeline looks like today and how your sales team is performing, it’s even more important to see how those metrics have changed since last week, since the beginning of the month, since the beginning of the quarter, or since last year. In addition, you need to be able to look at both the current state and the historical trends of your sales metrics by quarter, by region, by product line, by sales rep, etc.
This is what an analytical solution is designed to do. It tracks both current and historical information, it can pull in data from other data sources as needed, it calculates critical metrics automatically, and it lets you see relevant information from multiple perspectives such as by region, by quarter, by rep, or by product line.
Therefore, a full CRM solution requires both a transactional CRM application to capture information and standardize/automate your sales process, plus a sales analysis application to pull the information back out and let you easily analyze it to not just automate, but to improve your sales process and sales productivity. So, unless you’ve put both a CRM application and a sales analysis application in place, you’ve really only implemented half of a complete CRM solution. And that’s not enough to get the results you need.
Sales analysis is the only way to reliably determine which decisions should be made and know which actions must be taken when and where it matters most to dramatically improve your sales results. In their most recent CRM Market Sizing Report , AMR Research noted that: “[Analytics is]increasing in importance as many buyers recognize that actionable information is the elusive but greatest value they gain from customer management tools and technologies.”
In other words, sales analytics is the critical 2nd half of a complete CRM solution, helping you go from transactional sales process management to the much greater value of increased sales performance and results, both from sales reps and sales managers.
Research has shown that sales organizations that manage with metrics instead of relying on anecdotes and gut feel exceed expectations. The chart below shows the number of companies who report that they exceed expectations in the various areas listed. Note the dramatic differences between organizations that have the key metrics they need versus those organizations that don’t.
Whether it’s the ability to identify which deals you have the best chance of winning, uncovering which portions of your pipeline are at risk, forecasting more accurately, or knowing when sales reps need coaching, sales analytics is critical to the shift to “Sales 2.0.” Sales 2.0 is about transforming sales from something that has historically been mostly an art to something that combines that art with science and technology as high-growth companies are now “Competing on Analytics.” In fact, in the book by the same name, Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris define an “analytical competitor” as: “... an organization that uses analytics extensively and systematically to out-think and out-execute the competition.”
So how do you become an analytical competitor in sales? The best place to start is by answering the three most important questions about your pipeline:
• Which deals in my pipeline should I focus on?
• Which portions of my pipeline are at risk?
• Based on my pipeline, what should I be forecasting?
CRM applications can show you what deals you have in your pipeline, but they don’t help you prioritize the deals or identify which ones are at risk. The CRM application can track your forecast, but it doesn’t really help you accurately come up with the forecast in the first place.
This is where sales analytics comes in. The right approach to sales analytics will allow you to answer these three critical questions:
1) WHICH DEALS IN MY PIPELINE SHOULD I FOCUS ON?
2) WHICH PORTIONS OF MY PIPELINE ARE AT RISK?
3) BASED ON MY PIPELINE, WHAT SHOULD I BE FORECASTING?
Fortunately, now there’s a fast and easy way to get valuable sales analytics that avoids the complexity of traditional analytic solutions, and incorporates best practice metrics for sales analytics focused on answering the three critical pipeline questions. SaaS analytic applications are designed to not only be simple to set up and use, but you can quickly get started through by having an assessment done of the strengths and weaknesses of your company’s pipeline, sales people, and sales process. There's nothing you need to do except provide access to your sales data, and the results of the assessment are ready for sales management in days.
THE THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR SALES PIPELINE BUT CRM CANT TELL YOU - To learn more about this author, visit Darren Cunningham's Website.
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Congratulations. You’ve invested in a customer relationship management (CRM) system and though you may have a few adoption challenges, you’re getting benefits in two important areas. First, you’re capturing some critical information about what’s going on with your leads, your opportunities, and your sales people, and it’s all in one centralized place. That’s good. Second, you’ve helped standardize and automate your sales process, making it easier for your sales reps to follow the specific steps in your sales cycle and track their prospects’ progress through that cycle. That’s also good.
But, if you’re like most companies, the two main reasons you bought a CRM application were to increase revenues and increase sales effectiveness and productivity, not just capture critical information and automate your sales process.
So, why do only 1 in 5 companies state that they are seeing revenue increases after implementing a CRM application ? Why are they not seeing the sales productivity gains they expected? And why do they still get surprised at the end of the quarter? Why is it that they still don’t know what they don’t know when it comes to the health of their sales pipeline and forecast? The main reason is that though you may think you’ve implemented a full CRM solution, you’ve really only implemented half of a total solution.
Most CRM applications give you the ability to run reports to generate lists of your current opportunities and accounts, show you your current forecast, and show you how your sales reps are performing and what they’re doing. The focus is on the current state of your pipeline. That is, you have the ability to see what’s happening today and how you’re doing against your targets.
But, transactional CRM applications don’t help you figure out which deals you should be focusing on closing, or how much of your pipeline is really at risk. They don’t help you figure out whether a deal should be included or excluded from a forecast, or help you find ways to increase your forecast predictability. And they don’t help you figure out specific skill set strengths and weaknesses of your sales reps beyond just simple quota attainment.
Transactional CRM applications don’t track the historical information and related data you need so you can uncover important trends and really understand why things are happening. Without that visibility and understanding, the best you can do is make guesses about how to improve sales.
Essentially, your CRM application is only half of what you need. While it’s important to see metrics regarding what your pipeline looks like today and how your sales team is performing, it’s even more important to see how those metrics have changed since last week, since the beginning of the month, since the beginning of the quarter, or since last year. In addition, you need to be able to look at both the current state and the historical trends of your sales metrics by quarter, by region, by product line, by sales rep, etc.
This is what an analytical solution is designed to do. It tracks both current and historical information, it can pull in data from other data sources as needed, it calculates critical metrics automatically, and it lets you see relevant information from multiple perspectives such as by region, by quarter, by rep, or by product line.
Therefore, a full CRM solution requires both a transactional CRM application to capture information and standardize/automate your sales process, plus a sales analysis application to pull the information back out and let you easily analyze it to not just automate, but to improve your sales process and sales productivity. So, unless you’ve put both a CRM application and a sales analysis application in place, you’ve really only implemented half of a complete CRM solution. And that’s not enough to get the results you need.
Sales analysis is the only way to reliably determine which decisions should be made and know which actions must be taken when and where it matters most to dramatically improve your sales results. In their most recent CRM Market Sizing Report , AMR Research noted that: “[Analytics is]increasing in importance as many buyers recognize that actionable information is the elusive but greatest value they gain from customer management tools and technologies.”
In other words, sales analytics is the critical 2nd half of a complete CRM solution, helping you go from transactional sales process management to the much greater value of increased sales performance and results, both from sales reps and sales managers.
Research has shown that sales organizations that manage with metrics instead of relying on anecdotes and gut feel exceed expectations. The chart below shows the number of companies who report that they exceed expectations in the various areas listed. Note the dramatic differences between organizations that have the key metrics they need versus those organizations that don’t.
Whether it’s the ability to identify which deals you have the best chance of winning, uncovering which portions of your pipeline are at risk, forecasting more accurately, or knowing when sales reps need coaching, sales analytics is critical to the shift to “Sales 2.0.” Sales 2.0 is about transforming sales from something that has historically been mostly an art to something that combines that art with science and technology as high-growth companies are now “Competing on Analytics.” In fact, in the book by the same name, Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris define an “analytical competitor” as: “... an organization that uses analytics extensively and systematically to out-think and out-execute the competition.”
So how do you become an analytical competitor in sales? The best place to start is by answering the three most important questions about your pipeline:
• Which deals in my pipeline should I focus on?
• Which portions of my pipeline are at risk?
• Based on my pipeline, what should I be forecasting?
CRM applications can show you what deals you have in your pipeline, but they don’t help you prioritize the deals or identify which ones are at risk. The CRM application can track your forecast, but it doesn’t really help you accurately come up with the forecast in the first place.
This is where sales analytics comes in. The right approach to sales analytics will allow you to answer these three critical questions:
1) WHICH DEALS IN MY PIPELINE SHOULD I FOCUS ON?
2) WHICH PORTIONS OF MY PIPELINE ARE AT RISK?
3) BASED ON MY PIPELINE, WHAT SHOULD I BE FORECASTING?
Fortunately, now there’s a fast and easy way to get valuable sales analytics that avoids the complexity of traditional analytic solutions, and incorporates best practice metrics for sales analytics focused on answering the three critical pipeline questions. SaaS analytic applications are designed to not only be simple to set up and use, but you can quickly get started through by having an assessment done of the strengths and weaknesses of your company’s pipeline, sales people, and sales process. There's nothing you need to do except provide access to your sales data, and the results of the assessment are ready for sales management in days.
THE THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR SALES PIPELINE BUT CRM CANT TELL YOU - To learn more about this author, visit Darren Cunningham's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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