Sure, you could be like the 37% of Americans who resolve to eat better, exercise more, and save money in the New Year, but we all know how that ends. By the time Groundhog Day rolls around in February, 92% of us have resumed our usual bad habits and the resolutions go back on the shelf to gather dust for another year. But work resolutions are different. Right? Right.
Psychologists suggest that the majority of us fail to keep our personal resolutions because we set the bar too high or have unrealistic expectations. So we're not going to do that. We're going to make three (not five—and not ten) totally doable resolutions that will not only transform how you execute sales this year but may even free up some extra time for that morning run you promised yourself you'd start doing come January 1. Ready? Here we go:
1. Slash Your CRM Admin Time
Your reps spend way too many hours populating opportunity fields and documenting deal status in CRM when they could actually be in the field making sales. There's a better way to capture deal progress and customer communications—one that will significantly reduce the administrative burden on your reps. Start by making it super simple for them to quickly update their deals, focusing on just a select set of fields that really matter instead of boiling the ocean. And, of course, mobile access is key so reps can record important exchanges the minute they exit a meeting—in the cab on the way to the airport while everything is still fresh in their mind. No more waiting until they're back in the office or at home after putting the kids to bed to recap meeting particulars.
Remember the 92% that resume their bad habits just a few weeks into the new year? That's less likely to happen here because much of your reps' activity data is recorded for them—automatically harvested from their emails and calendar. That means they no longer have to manually record every meeting and email exchange. By eliminating all of the tedious data entry, you free up your reps to spend more time selling. And because data is captured in real time, you get the added bonus of immediate visibility into the true health of deals. Win/win.
2. Do More Coaching and Less Interrogating
Now that you've freed up your reps' time, make sure you're not spending it playing catch up during your 1:1 meetings and scrutinizing every detail of every opportunity.
Your 1:1 meetings with your reps are your chance to talk strategy and coach them to cultivate those deals with the best chance of closing. With resolution #1 above, you'll have more complete and up-to-date deal data so you won't have to squander valuable 1:1 time grilling your reps for details. So how do you do that? You review the status of deals and leverage AI and predictive insights to flag opportunities that may be at risk. You review slipped deals and figure out next plays to possibly bring those deals in early next quarter. With real-time insights at your fingertips, you don't need the play-by-play from your rep. You can just get on with your 1:1 and focus on guiding your team and motivating them to crush quota.
3. Stay On Top of Your Pipeline
Resolve to keep a pulse on the health of your patch. Today a lot of it relies on chasing your reps, but AI and machine learning are increasingly adding historical context and predictive insights that provide visibility like never before. With AI-based opportunity scoring, you can quickly see which deals are likely to close and which may be at risk and require more attention. You can also compare the health of each deal against actual activity to ensure reps are spending time on the opportunities with the best chance of closing. You can even go as far as understanding exactly how much pipeline you need to generate to hit your number next quarter. Sure, you still have to do your homework and use your instincts, but with better pipeline visibility fueled by real-time data and AI, you can make sure your patch is always set up for success—this quarter and next.
Your sales execution relies on these resolutions and they are all achievable. In fact, by this time next year, your sales execution process may be so efficient that you may have to actually join a gym to take advantage of all that spare time!