How to turn sales analytics data into actionable insights for your sales team
One of the most misunderstood elements of data gathering is the difference between reporting and analysis. A report is just a summary of key data points about a solution or service. Analysis, on the other hand, is what happens when you take that report and turn it into actionable insights for your team.
Most sales organizations rely on reports. The best sales organizations rely on analysis.
Think about your organization’s monthly or weekly sales meetings. How often is the discussion simply about who has reached what goals, or which numbers are ahead or behind?
If this is the recurring theme of your meetings, it’s likely that you’re missing opportunities that analysis could provide.
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At Close, we’re committed to helping sales organizations and sales teams unlock actionable insights from their data. That’s why our CRM reporting features are all built with a focus on gathering and delivering insights. By leveraging these insights, you can...
Identify star performers & benchmarks
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As more sales reps within your organization embrace your CRM, the wealth of insights will grow. From a performance management perspective, CRM reporting and sales analytics data can help you identify the best-performing reps and the opportunities they've closed. The data can also tell the C-suite which sales reps need coaching or training.
Through analysis, you can establish performance benchmarks across the organization. Sales benchmarking helps sales leaders uncover the root cause of individual sales challenges and identify real issues with their existing pipeline.
The first step toward actionable sales benchmarking is identifying the metrics that matter most to your organization.
Over the years, we've seen the following metrics stand out as key performance indicators for inside sales teams: sales cycle, quota attainment, average deal size, bookings, win rate. Upon identifying these key metrics, you can compare your reps’ performance and set expectations for your team.
Understand what your customers value
One of the other benefits offered by sales analytics is a deeper understanding of what resonates with your target audience.
Technology today is so advanced that you can easily learn which messages are connecting and which are resulting in more questions or blank stares. Through analysis, you can tailor your messaging to what works rather than guessing from one prospect to the next.
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As you gain more data about what resonates, you can begin to layer in specific personas to unlock even deeper insights. Maybe your buyers from one industry care more about a certain feature than buyers from a different space. With this kind of knowledge, your sales team can be more strategic with their outreach.
Track sales reps’ performance in real time
It’s difficult to know how much weight you’ve lost without stepping on a scale. It’s also almost impossible to improve your sales performance without keeping track of progress and outcomes, essential for effective sales performance management.
A sales leaderboard is a great way to boost morale, ensure teams are aligned and offer transparency about goals and accomplishments across the entire organization.
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At Close, we offer a sales KPI leaderboard without any third-party integrations and clunky dashboards. It's built right into the CRM, based on real-time deal data. You can keep track of your sales reps’ performance all in one place without any API hiccups.
This service provides insights that can be acted upon within hours. If you notice that a rep is slipping behind, it can be flagged quickly so that the rep can immediately begin adjusting course for better outcomes in the future. That's what you want from your sales management software.
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Improve your outreach efforts
All the various forms of sales data we’ve discussed can help sales teams better understand their buyers. At its core, this type of information is valuable because it tells you how to sell.
Most salespeople rely on gut instinct and assumptions, but by embracing sales data, your team can stop guessing and start taking steps that are backed by research and insight.
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For example, if you see that one sales rep in particular is always crushing it and getting great responses to their emails, you can analyze their email efforts and share that information with the team.
Are they immediately asking questions rather than pitching? Do they use a certain subject line? Do they share a particular document? Whatever the secret sauce is, sales analytics can help you figure it out.
Do a deep dive into email outreach analytics with Sequence Reporting in Close. You can see real-time data on the email sequences your team is using, and pinpoint which steps are getting the most responses in the least amount of time.
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Wrapping this up
Actionable data can be like an unfair advantage for a sales team.
Analysis can give you the insights you need to make the next quarter better than the last. It can give your team the insights they need to out-perform the competition. And it can give your organization insights that’ll make everyone more efficient, more productive and more strategic with all of their sales activities.
Want to learn how to recruit, hire, and scale a sales team the right way? Learn directly from the founder with our exclusive book: The Sales Hiring Playbook. Download it free!
