We have reached the end of this 2020 which has brought numerous changes.

The world is no longer the same and the pandemic has drastically accelerated a process that had already been underway for years: the business digitization.

Like all sectors, the sales sector has been heavily impacted and like never before it has become essential to optimize the resources.

Only in this way it is possible to face the changes that are taking place.

After the newsletter we sent in June where we gave some practical ideas to tackle the New Normal, this month we will show you three ways to optimize the resources of your sales team and to increase revenues.

Specifically, we will cover the following topics:

• The macro changes in the sales field;
• 3 ways to optimize the resources of your sales network mentioned by Web Geo Services, the European leader of Google’s Premier Partners.

The macro changes

From March 2020 planning activities have become fundamental, even more than before.

It may seem obvious, but only a small percentage of sales people plan their work.

With the current market conditions, however, it is absolutely unsustainable since it would mean to incur high costs with the consequent thinning of margins.

We can summarize the main changes that the sales networks are experiencing in the following points:

• Sales reps can no longer afford to avoid planning the routes. It is not sustainable anymore because the chances of incurring unexpected costs are high;
• Sales reps need a tool that allows them to quickly replace canceled appointments in order to manage possible unforeseen events. In this way it is possible to avoid waste without increasing the number of hours dedicated to planning;
• If a salesperson is unable to meet a customer, must be easily and quickly replaced with the most suitable one. In this way it is possible to avoid the loss of business opportunities;
• In general, commercial organizations must change the idea of ​​”meeting”. It will no longer be possible to make only physical meetings and consequently it is necessary to have a tool that optimizes the making appointment process, whether physical or remotely.

Three ways to optimize the resources of your sales network

How can you solve the problems we mentioned earlier?

On this issue, Web Geo Services – Google’s Premier Partner – cited Mapadore as a case study.

The interview began with a necessary premise made by our CEO Fabrizio Bosio:

“Every company, even with limited resources, should be put in the position to increase its performance to its maximum potential. Optimization can be applied to a number of processes: the more you optimize, the more you are competitive on the market”

The three ways we recommend to optimize your sales network resources and to increase revenues are listed below.

They are the same ones that companies such as General Electric Healthcare, Supersolar (E.ON), Tecnostructure, Abitare In and many others have used.

1. Enable your sales team to focus only on priority customers. It sounds obvious, but are you sure you’re focusing on the most relevant customers?

In fact, very often the sales networks tend to work with the customers they know the most or with those that are geographically closed.

However, to improve the efficiency of your sales network you need to focus on the 20% that brings you 80% of the result.

To do this, you need a tool that supports you in real-time analysis of the data in your CRM. In this article you can deepen the topic and understand better how to do it.

2. Improve the coverage of the territory.

Knowing the area and geolocating your customers is fundamental because it allows you to plan the routes in order to minimize business costs.

Since the variables change a lot, they must be managed dynamically.

Therefore, you must leave an organization model based purely on the experience of the salesperson and enter a model based on data analysis.

In this article you can deepen the topic and understand better how to do it.

3. Adopt a hybrid approach. It is now essential to combine offline activities in the field with an online part composed by remote meetings and planning activities.

Having the right IT support is therefore essential to put into practice the three tips and it allows you to optimize the resources of your team and to increase revenues.

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