Last week I connected with a dear friend and former colleague, Wendell Waldron. Wendell was my all-time best salesperson at my first company, Media Link Inc., and he’s currently a partner with Influence Online Marketing. Our conversation focused on challenges faced by every salesperson and entrepreneur: leads, organization and follow up. Our ability to be efficient and effective in these areas directly impacts our bottom line.
What I know to be true is that a CRM (customer relationship management) platform is a must. You need the right tool to organize your leads, store their information and your correspondence, alert you of follow-up dates and commitments, as well as provide you with the ability to measure your results. Without it you will miss out on opportunities. To learn more, check out this post from my friend and colleague, Greg Poirier.
Your CRM is an essential foundation for success. Combined with follow up and feedback … you’re well on your way to consistent revenue. Here’s some valuable information from Ghergich & Co and Salesforce illustrating the top 3 indicators that salespeople – and entrepreneurs – are continually improving their results.
How do you judge your sales performance? Of course, you can look at past efforts and totals; that’s certainly one way to measure success. You can also look at outside influences—whether the economy and your particular industry is growing or not. But there are other clues along the road that can help you decide what you are doing well, where you might falter, and how your future sales levels might look.
For starters, make as much use of your customer relationship management software as you can. This includes details about client personalities and profiles, for example, as well as capturing up to date information. Also tally up the interaction that you have with leads. What’s the lag time between initial contact and follow up? Are you inefficient, allowing the lead go cold?
The tips in this graphic are helpful in knowing what the future holds for sales efforts.
Via Salesforce