The days of sales reps going door to door with pen, paper and a clip board are over… or at least they should be. It’s too slow of a process and doesn’t provide the ‘must-have’ insight and analytics sales organizations need in today’s industry. Are you giving your sales team the tools they need to succeed?
In fact, if they’re still using lead sheets and you’re relying on self-reported numbers, this is a tell-tale sign you need a sales tracking software.
Sales teams have more tools available to them to ensure success than at any other point in history. Technology has given us tools like smartphones, CRM platforms and apps, email tracking software, auto-dialers, web meeting services, and many more.
Your sales organization needs to be ahead of the innovation curve or fear getting left behind.
Numbers Never Lie
An August 2017 SalesTech Report by CITE Research and Sugar CRM surveyed 400 sales executives with a director-level title or above, and found that the majority of respondents rely on an average of 11 (eleven) sales tools. The fact that this many tools are used demonstrates the impact and success technological advancements have had on the industry.
Not giving sales reps the tools they need only makes their job more difficult, decreases their productivity and reduces the amount of revenue they can generate. The report states 80% of companies spend at least $1,000 per sales rep annually to provide them with technology designed to do their job more effectively.
The reason companies are willing to drop this kind of coin on technology is because the ROI significantly outweighs the investment. This trend is only ticking upward as 49% of companies spend $2,000 or more per sales person annually on technology tools [SalesTech Report].
Top companies in the world spend a lot on tools for their sales department because they don’t have so much excess money to spend – they have the money to spend because they spent the money in the first place. With the information today’s buyers have at their disposal, it’s critical to be on the cutting-edge of technology that can propel your sales organization to another level.
Two questions you need to ask yourself:
- Have I equipped my team with the essential tools they need to perform their job?
- If so, have I given my team the tools they need to outperform their expectations?
Salesforce Changed the Game
This is a two part question because there are certain tools your team absolutely must have to complete their daily responsibilities. These tools are no longer optional for sales organizations that want quality people in their company. While some tools are 100% necessary, others are great to have and help to accelerate your efficiency and growth.
Salesforce came along in the early 2000’s and offered a cloud based customer relationship management platform that has become the de-facto standard for inside sales organizations.
Have a CRM whether it be as complex and robust as Salesforce or a much simpler one is no longer a nice to have but rather a must have. Just so much of the customer interaction comes after first contact that keeping up with all this can’t be done by old school methods.
Door to Door’s Game Changer
While some use them, CRM systems like Salesforce aren’t always necessary for the door to door sales industry because they’re not efficient in the field, and often too robust. A lead tracking app like SPOTIO is the D2D sales industry’s version of a CRM. It’s changing the way sales organization operate just like Salesforce did for inside sales.
Ditching the lead sheets for an app specifically designed to meet the demands of a door to door sales team should be required, not optional. In the CITE Research and Sugar CRM study,
CRM systems were rated as the #1 “most valuable tool in increasing the effectiveness of a sales team,” scoring a 4.6 out of 5.
You should want to empower your salespeople to produce their best work and achieve the results you expect. Not much says this better than giving them the tools that make their job easier.
The reason I say that a lead tracking app is similar to a CRM is because it’s used for the same purpose, just more on a more simplistic and scaled down level. Using this type of tool allows managers to see their team’s activities in real-time, create and assign territories, and track the 3 metrics they must know.
Sales reps love it because they have less to carry, no longer have to take notes on paper and it saves them an incredible amount of time. Companies switching from lead sheets to a lead tracking app typically see rep productivity double in just two weeks.
Revenue Generating Machine
While CRM systems are ranked as the most valuable tool for increasing effectiveness among sales teams, coming in at #4 are lead development apps, which includes LinkedIn products. Social selling has gained all sorts of traction and notoriety in the last year or two, and LinkedIn is the most used platform to research prospects, according to the Sugar CRM report.
“73% of sales reps integrating social selling into their process outperform competitors and exceed their quota 23% more often” [Aberdeen]. Exponential revenue growth occurs when you start to combine multiple tools.
Door to door sales reps typically don’t knock doors from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. If you want to be viewed as a professional sales organization and see a significant return on your investment, implement social selling activities for reps to complete before their shift.
Some won’t like having to do this, but the sales reps who view this as their career instead of just a job, will have a ton of success. They can use their lead tracking app to find the names of homeowners or decision makers they spoke with the day before.
Tools in Action
When was the last time you heard a rep actually get a referral? In my opinion this is the one area that needs the most improvement among sales teams. We found that 91% of customers would be willing to give a referral, yet only 11% of salespeople ask for one. That’s a staggering statistic when you consider customers referred by friends are 4 times more likely to make a purchase [Nielsen].
Now that you’re asking for and getting referrals, you’re going to enter their information into your lead tracking app. You already got some good information from the reference, but you’ll use social selling techniques to gain additional information from LinkedIn, then add those notes to the app as well.
Now, when you visit that prospect you’ll have all of your notes in one place. It’s so much easier to speak with a home owner when you have their name, a reference and background information, right?
Referrals are extremely valuable, and one of the greatest things about an app like SPOTIO is you’ll never have to worry about these leads slipping through the cracks; they’ll never get lost and you can monitor them to ensure they’re being worked. This is just one example of how tools are utilized in tandem, and why companies have 11 tools they rely on.
Additional Tools & Technology for Door to Door Sales Teams
You should be on the forefront of technological advancements. Being ahead of the curve gives you a distinct advantage over competitors in your market and increases employee productivity.
SPOTIO spends over $3,600 annually on technology for its sales department, purchasing three new products to help enhance individual rep effectiveness this year alone.
The SalesTech Report found 63% of companies are concerned about keeping pace with innovation and keeping systems up to date. Being resistant to change is only going to make the transition that much more difficult. You don’t want to be the company that missed out.
Because consumers are always looking for ways to simplify their buying experience, door to door companies need to focus on technology now more than ever. An electronic signature management software is one tool that should be implemented to your sales process sooner than later.
It simplifies the process of finalizing the sale and speeds up the process. The signed documents can be stored on your lead tracking app and referenced at any point. As the door to door sales industry evolves, reps can help themselves by getting their name in front of the prospect before showing up to the house.
An email tracking software is a great way to streamline this process. You can build a list of prospect emails and put them on an automated email campaign. Reps will have the ability to see who’s viewed the email and who’s clicked on any links you have in the message. Only a small time investment should be put into this initially. A/B test the concept and find out how many people are aware of your email when you speak with them at the door.
What’s the Verdict. Did you Pass or Fail?
We’ve all heard they saying, “you gotta spend money to make money.” I bet you’ve even said it to a potential customer! It’s no different in providing your team what they need to succeed. Sit back and think hard if you are setting your team up for success or failure based on the tools you provide them to do their job.
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SPOTIO is the #1 sales engagement and territory management app to increase your revenue, maximize your profitability, and increase your team’s productivity in just 2 weeks.
Want to see a product demonstration? Click here to see how SPOTIO can take your sales game to the next level.
