Canvassing is an important sales activity because it puts your company face to face with potential customers and allows you to build a deeper relationship with them. It’s much more personable than calling, emailing, or texting a prospect, which means it can be more effective.
“Can” is the key word here. Without a solid strategy in place, your canvassing efforts won’t yield the fruit you want them to. With that in mind, let’s talk about five ways you can streamline your sales canvassing efforts to make them more successful.
5 Ways to Boost Canvassing Efficiency
Ready to boost your sales canvassing efficiency? These five tips will help! Implement them into your daily workflows and watch your productivity levels rise.
1. Plan the Most Efficient Route
Step one: route planning. You can’t possibly streamline your canvassing efforts and make them more efficient if you zigzag back and forth across your territory all day. By hitting potential leads in a logical order, you’ll save time and money.
SPOTIO is equipped with an industry-leading routing feature that automatically plans the most efficient routes, then makes them available for canvassers on their personal devices. The result is less driving, more meetings, and a better business.
Now, let’s take a step back. Before a route can be planned, management has to cut territories and assign them to the right canvasser. SPOTIO helps with this process as well.
With our tool, territories are easily cut based on geographic boundaries. This prevents overlap between canvassers and ensures each canvasser is assigned a territory that suits their skill set. For example, a territory that includes a large residential area can be assigned to a canvasser that has a solid track record of booking meetings in suburban areas.
When territories are assigned to the proper canvassers, and said canvassers are able to easily plan a logical route from one lead to the next, efficiency will skyrocket.
2. Record All Prospect Data
Here’s the thing, not every lead you talk to will be ready to buy right now. In fact, a vast majority of the people you engage with your company’s sales message will say, “no thanks.” It’s not you, it’s just part of the game. (More on developing a thick skin below.)
But “no thanks” today doesn’t necessarily mean “no thanks forever.” There’s a good chance that a portion of the people who turn you down will be open to your pitch in the future.
That’s why cataloging prospect information for later use is vital to the canvassing process!
The SPOTIO app allows canvassers to quickly capture important sales data in the field and sync it with their company’s CRM software of choice. When was the last time a lead was contacted? What was their response to the communication? SPOTIO logs it all.
More than that, SPOTIO supports multichannel communication, which means you can automate engagements like visit and call reminders, as well as email and text message blasts. The result is consistent communication that guides prospects towards a future sale.
3. Don’t Forget to Take Breaks
We get it, you’re hungry to secure leads and prove you’re worth to upper management. So you view every second you’re not knocking on doors as a wasted opportunity. We admire your tenacity, but this isn’t the best approach—especially if efficiency is your goal.
Canvassing can be exhausting. It’s important to take breaks throughout the day to ensure you stay healthy and in good spirits when talking to potential leads. Plus, studies prove that the occasional break will actually boost productivity and performance.
If you’re in management you’re thinking, “great, but how do I make sure my canvassers aren’t going overboard in the breaks department?” You invest in SPOTIO.
Our solution for field sales teams features location tracking so that you know exactly where your canvassers are at all times, as well as their travel history. This feature (which can be turned off, FYI) increases trust and accountability between managers and reps.
4. Stir Up Friendly Competition
Sales is a competitive sport, which management personnel can use to their advantage to boost team productivity. For example, what if you set a goal of 100 leads and promised to give the first canvasser to hit it a prize? We’re confident you’d see an increase in team productivity.
SPOTIO’s Leaderboards feature is designed to stimulate friendly competition.
Use our software to track a variety of metrics including knocks made, meetings scheduled, and leads captured. Then display them in the SPOTIO smartphone app so that canvassers can always see how their efforts stack up against those of their peers.
5. Develop a Thick Skin
Last, but certainly not least, you need to develop a thick skin to become an efficient sales canvasser. Like we mentioned earlier, you’re going to hear “no” a lot more often than you hear “yes.” If you let this get you down, your productivity will suffer.
Instead, realize that sales canvassing is a numbers game. The more people you talk to, the more leads you’ll acquire. And every “no” is just another step toward the next “yes.”
Now, when you do get a “yes” you want to do everything in your power to capitalize on it, right? That’s why we recommend SPOTIO’s appointment setting feature, which makes it incredibly easy for canvassers to hand off quality leads to sales reps.
Canvassers can access the calendars of sales reps, make appointments for said reps to meet with the leads canvassers acquire, and pass along important notes on each prospect—all inside the SPOTIO mobile app. With our tool, nothing falls between the cracks.
Better Sales Canvassing With SPOTIO
Sales canvassing is an important sales activity—yes, even in the digital age when you can reach any prospect anywhere with a quick call, email, or text message. These tactics, while effective, aren’t as personal as a real life, face-to-face meeting.
To make sure sales canvassing works for you rather than against you, implement the five tips outlined in this article and boost your efficiency levels out in the field.
Then invest in SPOTIO and really kick your efforts into overdrive!
