Let’s set the record straight.

First, it is true that relationship-building is central to a successful sales strategy. But talking fast and making grand claims is a short-term approach with limited results. The smooth-talker never really builds the long-term, productive customer relationships that companies need in order to thrive.

Second, the truth about today’s marketplace is that selling is both a science and an art. It’s a science because there’s typically a step-by-step, methodical process for turning leads into customers. At the same time, selling is an art form because it’s ultimately those personalized connections that lead to long-term customer relationships.

Luckily, sales reps aren’t on their own when it comes to executing a balanced sales strategy. There are plenty of digital tools that can give them what they need to achieve their goals. One such example is CRM software; as the name implies, it’s designed to assist with customer relationship management.

Here are five reasons why sales teams will benefit from adopting a CRM solution.

1. Superior lead and opportunity management

The Broadway play Glengarry Glenross follows a highly competitive sales team pushing Florida real estate. If you’ve seen it, you may recall that the characters are constantly talking about getting their hands on “the good leads.”

While your team probably isn’t selling swampland in Florida, you can bet that your sales reps also want those good leads — the promising prospects that will get them off to a strong start.

A great CRM can be a valuable lead management tool that automates lead collection from a variety of sources.

For instance, you might embed a web to lead form on your website to send visitors’ contact information directly to the CRM. Many systems also offer email integrations that allow you to create new leads right from your inbox.

Once the prospects are in your CRM, your entire team will have centralized access to them, which improves communication and collaboration.

2. A sophisticated sales pipeline

Acquiring leads is the first step in the “sales pipeline”— a deliberate step-by-step process by which potential customers are converted into confirmed buyers.

Every business will have a slightly different version of this process, but here’s an example of a 9-step sales pipeline:

• Prospecting: Determining the potential customer’s level of interest.
• Qualification: Using criteria to qualify how likely they are to purchase.
• Needs Analysis: Determining whether your product or service meets their needs.
• Value Proposition: Understanding your value and determining how valuable the potential customer finds your offerings.
• Identify Decision Makers: Identifying people with the power to make purchasing decisions, and developing a relationship with them.
• Perception Analysis: Determining how your potential customer perceives your company.
• Proposal / Price Quote: Creating a quote and/or proposal for review.
• Negotiation / Review: Hammering out the final details of the deal.
• Closed Won or Closed Lost: Either the sale is agreed upon (and the lead is converted to a customer) or the lead does not pursue your product or service. Lost opportunities are tracked to gather data on how to improve your sales pipeline, products, services, marketing, etc.

A sales CRM typically offers built-in sales pipeline features that can be customized to your company’s processes and priorities. As a result, the software helps sales reps organize lead contact information, identify the most promising leads, and prioritize their follow-up activities.

3. Improved workflow management

The sales process involves countless time-consuming manual tasks. That’s why a good CRM is also an effective workflow management tool. Specifically, a CRM can make your workload more manageable and productive by simplifying common processes. It may do so by:

• Allowing multiple contacts per lead or customer, to avoid losing track of related conversations.
• Eliminating the need for multiple data entry. If lead or customer data is entered once, it should automatically populate in other areas of the CRM or even in other connected apps.
• Making it simple to complete administrative tasks like sending emails or documenting meetings.

At the end of the day, your sales team should be focused on making connections, not trying to keep track of those connections.

4. Stronger customer relationships

Sales professionals are driven to build and maintain customer relationships. But where should they start? How can they properly prepare for meetings, calls, and visits?

The answer lies in the right technology. The core functionality of CRM software is to give each team member access to each customer’s contact details, account history, and transaction history. As such, an effective CRM will quickly become your team’s go-to solution for superior customer management.

And what exactly does superior customer management look like? Well, if you’ve ever worked in the hospitality sector, like a high-end restaurant or hotel, then you know that the secret lies in anticipating the customer’s needs.

If you’re a step ahead of your customer in thinking about their business and their needs, then your service will be a step ahead as well. For example, your reps can use the CRM to review each customer’s previous orders, then identify potential reordering or upselling opportunities. They can also schedule reminders for follow-up emails, to ensure that personal connections are kept alive.

5. Improved alignment between sales and marketing

Here’s a benefit that will speak to the heart of your sales team’s frustrations. You hear it every day: the sales reps want a list of qualified leads to contact, but only the marketing team has that list. Meanwhile, the marketing team wants to share a compelling message, but they rely on the sales team to provide insight into what your leads or customers want.

Sound familiar? You see the pattern here?

A solid CRM brings these teams together and creates synergy between your sales management strategy and your marketing efforts.

On the one hand, your sales team will benefit from having direct access to new prospects as soon as they enter the system. At the same time, your marketing team will have direct access to insights on customer preferences and priorities, without having to ask the sales team.

A great CRM puts real power in the hands of every person at your business.

A bonus benefit for everyone

In the case of Method CRM, there’s a bonus feature for your sales reps (and the rest of your organization). Method is a CRM solution that has a two-way integration with QuickBooks accounting software. Sales reps can view, enter, and update customer and sales data right in the CRM. This allows them to work independently and close deals sooner — and who doesn’t love that?

The post 5 Benefits of CRM Software for Sales Teams appeared first on Method.

63% of all CRM initiatives fail.

– DMNews

So you’re telling me that more than half of all CRM initiatives fail? Yes, that’s right but just because most CRM intiatives fail this doesn’t mean yours has to. In fact, most of them fail for one, single reason – poor user adoption.

Most CRM intiatives fail because of one thing – poor user adoption.

Luckily, there’s plenty you can do to ensure your CRM project goes smoothly and drives a strong ROI.

First, we take a deep-dive into why CRM initiatives fail and then look at how organizations can use their CRM solution to drive better business outcomes.

Let’s get started!

The current state of CRM initiatives

So where exactly do CRM intiatives go wrong?

In most cases, companies in the midst of CRM initiatives don’t use the solution to its fullest potential.

To make matters, worse, most CRM initiatives aren’t company-wide, which means businesses only realize a fraction of the benefits CRMs have to offer. The reality of most failed CRM initiatives is that departments limit themselves to certain futures and many teams don’t use the technology at all.

With those issues in mind, it’s no wonder that CRM initiatives fail.

It’s like baking a cake but leaving out the baking powder. Without the rising ingredient, you’ll get something closer to a pancake. Still edible and possibly even tasty, but not the treat you were hoping for.

CRM implementation without fully committing to the project is another risk to watch for. While this kind of initiative will yield some results, it won’t give you the strong ROI you were hoping for.

7 Tips for Successful CRM Implementation

In this day and age, there’s no doubt that a CRM is an essential tool for your entire business. From improved data management to better workflows and higher revenue, the pros of a CRM go on and on. These benefits, however, will remain missed opportunities if you fail to get your CRM initiative off the ground. The following tips will make sure this doesn’t happen and will let you get the most out of your CRM project.

1. Encourage CRM usage across your organization

First thing’s first – software solutions are only as good as the information they hold.

When CRM solutions are adopted organization-wide, they provide a shared sense of truth about prospects and incoming sales pipeline. They allow for greater visibility into the sales funnel and make it easier for sales reps to see which leads are ready for a follow-up.

These benefits are only realized, however, if every employee documents their prospect interactions in the CRM.

And this isn’t happening as regularly as you might think.

According to HubSpot’s State of Inbound Report, 22% of salespeople don’t record sales activities in their CRM while 40% use disconnected systems such as email and notes to store customer data.

While we can hope that these figures are improving, it’s best to nip this problem in the bud. By creating a protocol for CRM usage and training all employees on it, you’ll ensure that your CRM enables deals to move forward.

2. Align your sales and marketing teams

Sales and marketing should work hand-in-hand.

Often times, however, there’s competition and animosity between these two departments. And when you have two siloed teams, the end is result is that information isn’t shared and deals fall through the cracks.

Making CRM use mandatory for all teams is one step towards sales and marketing alignment, but you must go deeper than this to ensure successful CRM implementation.

To take things a step further, you can run joint CRM training sessions for your marketing and sales teams. The focus of these sessions should be on how each group uses the CRM as well as how they can collaborate on this platform moving forward.

3. Use the reporting features

While CRMs, make it easy to access to sales and customer data, they also allow organizations to understand the performance of their sales teams through reporting.

With these reports available on-demand, CRM solutions make it easier to analyze and iterate sales processes; enabling organizations to fail fast.

CRM solutions make it easier to analyze and iterate sales processes; enabling organizations to fail fast.

CRM reporting, for instance, can breakdown the quantity and stage of each opportunity in the sales pipeline; making it easy for sales reps to know where to strategically focus their energy.

CRM reporting also allows sales managers to forecast and strategize better as they can look at how many sales closed last month as well as where those sales came from. By providing visibility into the sales process, CRM reporting makes it much easier to proactively identify areas of opportunity or risk and act upon them. With time theft, inefficiency and lost deals costing companies millions of dollars each year, the insights CRM reporting can give your organization, make the ROI of your CRM initiative crystal-clear.

4. Make sure your CRM integrates with key programs

For maximum ROI, your CRM needs to integrate seamlessly with the other software solutions you rely on.

For example, if you use QuickBooks for accounts receivable then you want your CRM software to sync directly with QuickBooks. One reason this integration is beneficial is that it allows sales reps to close deals faster as they can create quotes, send invoices and log payments directly from the CRM.

Email integrations are also highly beneficial for sales reps, as they cut down on time spent switching between programs and the distractions that follow. When reps can view CRM data right in Gmail or Outlook, it allows them to take the time to personalize emails to prospects and in turn, makes their nurture efforts more successful.

5. Take advantage of workflow management features

Using the workflow management tools available in your CRM allows you to simplify processes while avoiding costly errors. With a set workflow in place, employees always follow the same path and can’t accidentally skip a step ahead as the system will let them know if something is missing. In addition, information entered in one part of the CRM can automatically populate in another, eliminating the need for double data entry.

A customizable CRM is particularly valuable here, as it enables you to automate tasks that are specific to your business. By tailoring your CRM solution to your sales process, your team will be able to close more sales in less time.

6. Set your sales team up for successful upselling

While new customers are certainly important, loyal customers are the lifeblood of your business. One great way of using your CRM to its fullest potential is to look closely at the end-to-end customer journey.

With each customer’s communication and transaction history in one place, it becomes easier to identify opportunities for repeat business as well as to make this a priority for sales teams. If you could, for example, filter your customers by the date of their last order to determine which ones might be ready to purchase again, you could follow up with each customer when they are most likely to buy.

7. Focus on mobile capabilities

Being able to access data remotely is essential for modern businesses, especially if your sales reps often meet with clients out of the office. To get the most value out of your CRM initiative, make sure you choose a solution that offers mobile apps so that reps can log sales activities as they happen – not whenever they’re back in the office. With a mobile CRM, it’s much easier to close sales anytime and from anywhere as employees always have access to the data they need.

Successful CRM Initiatives Recap

To make sure your CRM initiative delivers on ROI, here are the steps to follow:

1. Encourage wide-spread CRM usage
2. Foster collaboration and alignment between sales and marketing
3. Take advantage of the robust reporting CRM solutions offer
4. Integrate your tech stack with your CRM
5. Utilize workflow management and automation features
6. Use your CRM to incorporate upselling into your sales process
7. Make sure your CRM works on mobile

With the right CRM in place, it becomes easier than ever to deliver top-notch customer service and drive a better bottom line.

Best of luck with your CRM initiatives!

Kickstart your CRM initiatives with a free trial of Method CRM!

The post How to Ensure CRM Initiatives Drive Strong ROI appeared first on Method.

The core purpose of a CRM (or customer relationship management) system is in the name: it helps businesses track important information about their customers. But that’s not all a CRM can do.

In fact, the right CRM system can truly become your all-in-one business management tool — as is the case with Method CRM. With its powerful QuickBooks integration and infinite customization potential, Method helps businesses create optimal workflows while effectively managing their customers.

To learn more about what Method CRM can do, check out the infographic below.

The post An Overview of Method CRM [Infographic] appeared first on Method.

These sales pipeline stages are the process by which prospective customers are moved through the buyer’s journey and converted to paying customers.

Based on our observations, the terms “sales pipeline” and “sales funnel” are often used interchangeably. But these terms actually mean very different things. 

Your sales pipeline is the specific sequence of actions your team takes to convert sales leads into closed sales. This includes every tactic used from sales outreach to negotiation, and hopefully ends with a signed contract.

Let’s say your salespeople have a meeting with a prospective customer regarding pricing or the benefits of your product. That’s one of the activities comprising your sales pipeline.

Your sales funnel, on the other hand, is a visual representation of the proportion of leads that pass through each stage of the pipeline. So, your sales funnel gives you an overview of your sales process and the opportunity to gather insights from it.

This makes it one of your most valuable resources.

Together, these two concepts are used as tools by all successful sales teams to optimize their lead conversion rates. As per our expertise, a salesperson who gathers tips and generates goals around their sales process and sales funnel gives their business a leg up in its industry.

Take the guesswork out of your sales pipeline stages

Our findings show that without a clearly-defined sales pipeline, you run the risk of missing opportunities to support valuable leads and convert them into long-term, repeat customers. From lead generation to closing deals, a sales pipeline keeps your business on track at all times.

Luckily, CRM solutions like Method CRM make it simple for sales reps to track opportunities in a standardized way.

By setting up your preferred sales pipeline stages in a CRM, reps can quickly update opportunities as they progress. They can also easily identify which deals are closest to closing so they can focus their time and effort accordingly. 

As leads show more interest in becoming customers in their conversations with your salespeople, you can reflect this in your sales pipeline. From there, you can adjust your approach to focus more on those hotter leads, like sending personalized emails for instance.

This makes sales pipeline management a breeze even as you achieve revenue goals and grow as a business. Drawing from our experience, it also makes life easier for your sales managers as your numbers get harder to manage.

By monitoring every sale from start to finish in a centralized system, you can measure your conversion rates at different stages and use this data as a guide to refine your sales strategy. You get total visibility of all the factors affecting your sales, all in one place.

Of course, the fact of the matter is that every company has a unique business model, so there are no “standard” sales pipeline stages that will suit every team’s needs. However, our findings show that the sales pipeline stages outlined below are a good starting point for many types of businesses.

A more in-depth comparison of sales pipeline vs sales funnel

Still confused about the difference between sales pipelines and sales funnels? Before we take you through a typical sales pipeline, let’s discuss what a sales pipeline is and isn’t.

A sales pipeline is a sequence of stages that consumers pass through to become customers. Consumers can move on to each stage after completing the one before.

Meanwhile, our research indicates that a sales funnel is more customer-focused. It shows you the steps that a consumer goes through to go from a prospect to a customer. 

While a sales pipeline tells the story of how sales reps win customers over from stage to stage, a sales funnel shows the rate at which prospects are converted through each stage of the pipeline. As per our expertise, both provide valuable yet different insight into your sales activities and performance.

Our research indicates that a sales funnel typically has three major stages independent of sales cycle length: 

• Top of the funnel (TOFU), which comprises the awareness and discovery phases.
• Middle of the funnel (MOFU), which includes evaluation and intent.
• Bottom of the funnel (BOFU), which is where purchases finally happen.

A sales pipeline, on the other hand, looks like this: 

1. Prospecting: Identify the interest level for your product or service

Your sales pipeline should always start with prospecting or identifying your lead’s level of interest in your products or services.

Chances are, you’ll observe the highest amount of interest and activity among prospective customers who fit your marketing personas.

These personas act as representations of your target buyers and are based on the demographics and behavior of your existing customers and stakeholders.

This type of person will presumably have more of an interest in what you sell and a higher conversion rate when nurtured across every sales pipeline stage.

2. Qualification: Qualify your leads to determine value

Qualification of your sales leads is the next stage of the pipeline management process.

You will need to use certain criteria to identify which prospects are most likely to make a purchase and therefore should be pursued further. The lead’s interest level and marketing persona alignment (as determined in the previous sales pipeline stage) are important criteria. Other key items to look at include budget, need, and timeline for purchasing.

You can automate this qualification process with your CRM software or complete it by hand using a lead qualification template.

3. Needs analysis: Determine if your product or service solves pain points

At the needs analysis stage, sales reps need to take a step back and look at their products and services from the customer’s perspective. Through our practical knowledge, at this point, you should ask yourself: Where is the customer coming from and what problems are they trying to solve?

The goal here is to assess exactly how your company’s offerings can resolve certain pain points. And if the answer is that they can’t, that’s okay too. It’s better to realize this early on than to try to force a sale that won’t benefit the buyer.

4. Value proposition: Assess the value of your product or service

The fourth sales pipeline stage relates to your value proposition. This stage gives sales reps a chance to assess the value of their offerings in the scenario at hand.

Using the information gathered in your needs analysis, you must determine how valuable a customer would find your products or services, based on their pain points. Our findings show that this will improve your ability to promote your products or services in a way that speaks directly to the buyer, rather than simply stating the specs.

5. Identify decision-makers: Cultivate relationships with key contacts

In a lot of B2B sales scenarios, the individual you sell to isn’t the person who ultimately has the power to pay you. Based on our firsthand experience, at this sales pipeline stage, you need to identify and engage with key decision-makers.

Ask your current contact or do your research to find the person who makes the purchasing decisions at the company or organization in question. You must then reach out and cultivate a relationship with this individual in order to get closer to closing the sale.

6. Perception analysis: Weigh client perceptions against reality

Our research indicates that in the sixth sales pipeline stage, you have to consider that the actual value of your products or services does not always match their perceived value. 

The buyer’s impressions of your offerings and your company play a big role in your team’s ability to close the sale. Not surprisingly, our findings show that leads who already hold positive or neutral perceptions at this stage offer the best outcomes for you.

However, drawing from our experience, you should also strive to develop strong sales practices that can overcome negative perceptions. Take the time to learn about your lead’s concerns and offer solutions to address them.

Also, having resources like blog posts available is a great way to help shape prospects’ perceptions of your products or services. 

7. Proposal / price quote: Create a quote for review

If you reach this sales pipeline stage, things are going well as it’s now time to create an estimate or proposal for your prospective customer.

Based on our observations, while it’s good to use standardized templates for all of your company’s quotes, each one should be personalized to match the customer’s specific needs. Make sure all pain points are addressed and all relevant terms and conditions are included.

To streamline this process, look for a CRM like Method that offers quoting functionality alongside lead management.

8. Negotiation / review: Finalize the details

At this sales pipeline stage, you should review the proposal with your customer and finalize the details. This is the time to make sure they understand the terms and conditions and answer any last-minute questions they may have.

You will need to keep a close eye on things at this stage, as letting something slip through the cracks could be a dealbreaker. Our research indicates that you should use every tool at your disposal to close the sale as seamlessly as possible. Sales reps will also need to know their limitations when negotiating on behalf of their company to effectively close the sale.

When negotiating a deal, keep in mind the following stages:

Preparation

Review your customer’s needs, values, and preferences. All of this should help you anticipate any potential objections they may have about pushing through with the deal. In doing so, you can come up with a more convincing argument in defense of your product or service. 

Engagement

Drawing from our experience, this is where active listening skills come in. Active listening is a sales technique that helps reps build rapport with prospects and help them truly feel understood.

Simply paying attention to a prospect’s hopes and expectations is a huge aspect of customer service that often goes overlooked. In this stage, a rep should refrain from pushing a hard sell and instead collect evidence to build a case that’s tailor-made for each prospect.

Bargaining

Now that you know your customer’s wants and needs, you can facilitate the negotiations. The point of this stage is to find a middle ground that works for all parties involved. 

Becoming a customer may feel like a big commitment to your lead. So it’s important to identify any source of hesitation for your lead and reemphasize the positive impact your product or service will have on their business. This might include offering them additional bonuses such as a trial period.

9. Closed: Win or lose, close the sale

The last of the sales pipeline stages is all about closing the deal. Through our practical knowledge, whether you win or lose the sale, it’s important to see it through to the end and get a final answer from the customer.

Upon determining the results of your sales efforts, document the details in your CRM to allow for ongoing data analysis of your sales targets. Over time, we found that information on won and lost sales opportunities can help you refine your sales pipeline stages and improve your sales process.

This means that, win or lose, your sales forecasts will naturally become more ambitious each time you navigate through these sales stages.

The importance of sales pipeline analysis

Our findings show that sales pipeline analysis helps you determine what influences successes and failures and helps you pinpoint areas in the pipeline that can be improved upon to drive sales up. By fine-tuning every little detail of your pipeline, you can improve the speed at which you acquire new customers and eventually reduce the costs involved in customer acquisition.

Our research indicates that some of the top metrics to track include:

• Average deal size: This is the average amount of money that a client spends on a product or service. It is computed by adding the total revenue from a set period and dividing it by the number of closed-won opportunities within the timeframe. 
• Win rate: This represents the ratio of deals won to the total closed opportunities.
• Average length of sales cycle: This is the average time spent from the first contact with a prospect to closing.
• Sales velocity: This measures the speed at which sales move through your pipeline to generate revenue.
• Lead response time: This is the average time it takes for a sales rep or a business to follow up with a lead.
• Sales pipeline value: This is the value of all qualified opportunities that entered your pipeline.
• Probability to close: This is the likelihood that deals close in a stage of the sales cycle, measured in percentages.

Make the most of your sales pipeline stages

As per our expertise, to get the most out of the sales opportunities that come your way, you must have clearly defined sales pipeline stages. Planning out sales stages is one of the most important tactics in the sales playbook.

Based on our observations, the significance of monitoring each of your sales pipeline’s stages becomes clear when you consider things through a more macro lens. 

The data you pull from your pipe line and sales conversion funnel serves as one of your most useful tools when setting sales objectives.

It allows you to learn, adapt, and develop new strategies through accurate sales forecasting. So you can make clear financial goals around things like budgeting or the revenue numbers you’re reporting. 

Use the examples described above as a starting point, but don’t be afraid to evaluate and refine them over time to develop the perfect sales process for your business. And keeping track of these changes makes training new employees easy for you down the road.

Ultimately, this pipeline will give your sales force the structure it needs to convert leads to lifelong customers.

Importance of sales pipeline stages FAQs

What are sales pipeline stages?

Sales pipeline stages are the steps that comprise your overall sales process. Of course, there’s more to a sale than a monetary transaction. Companies develop a relationship with prospective clients that needs to be attended to throughout the entire sales process.

For example, newer companies with less experience in their industries have little to no brand awareness. Based on our observations, while social media content falls more under general marketing tools, individualized strategies like personal emails are a key stage in the sales pipeline.

If you’re discussing the benefits of your product or service with people and how it will help their goals, that’s a key stage in the pipeline as well.

How do sales pipeline stages help salespeople prioritize their time?

Sales pipeline stages help salespeople prioritize their time by segmenting the sales process into digestible parts. This way, it’s easier to improve your sales results in the future, as you can pinpoint exactly where your sales process needs work. 

Also, using sales technology or software to track your sales pipeline eliminates confusion across your company, allowing you to close sales more efficiently. 

Who should be involved in the sales pipeline?

Anyone involved in your sales process in any capacity should also be involved in the sales pipeline. This includes sales managers and sales reps, as well as anyone else at your company who engages with your customers.

See how Method CRM can help you convert more of your sales pipeline.

The post How understanding the different stages of the sales pipeline can help you maximize your revenue and achieve your business goals appeared first on Method.

A sales metric is any data point related to the performance of an individual sales rep, your sales team, or your company as a whole. With the right sales metrics on hand, you can paint a picture of the overall health of your company. This allows you to develop a strategy for consistent improvement. Without these numbers, however, you’re essentially operating in the dark without knowing when, where or how to focus your efforts.

If your business is already using CRM software to manage leads and customers, you have a wealth of sales-related data on hand. But how do you know which metrics to focus on? In this post, we’re breaking down the five key sales metrics that businesses in all industries should be tracking. These metrics will reveal valuable information about your customers’ purchasing activity as well as the performance of your sales team. By monitoring this data regularly, you’ll gain the insight you need to reach (or exceed!) your sales goals.

1. Top Lead Sources

The first step in making sales is filling your sales pipeline with qualified leads. To make the most of your marketing efforts, you should regularly assess where most of your sales leads come from. Examples of lead sources might include referrals, advertisements, trade shows, or your website.

Tracking lead sources in your CRM makes it easy to review which ones generate the most leads every month. This can be done by exporting your lead data into spreadsheets or using the built-in reporting features in your CRM. Ideally, you want to focus on the sources of those leads who ultimately became paying customers. If this metric reveals that certain channels consistently bring in high-value leads, you can redirect your marketing efforts to focus on these promising lead sources. Alternatively, you can aim to diversify your lead generation strategy if you notice a strong dependency on one lead source.

2. Number of Touches Per Lead

Transforming potential leads into confirmed sales can take 7 to 13 touches, or points of contact. These touches might include emails, sales calls, and in-person meetings. It’s important to review the average number of touches per lead to assess the efficacy of your sales process. Having too few or too many points of contact without making a sale can reveal problems with your closing strategy.

Look for patterns in the number of touches per lead and the likelihood of the lead converting. This can be done on both a team-wide and an individual basis. If you notice large differences between individual reps’ results, you may need to start from the ground up with comprehensive training on lead nurturing and quality points of contact. Making smart adjustments to your sales approach can be the difference between simply having a conversation or closing the deal.

3. Sales Cycle Length

Looking at the average length of your sales cycle indicates how efficiently your team is closing sales. Your sales cycle length refers to the amount of time between the first point of contact (for example, an initial email) to the closed deal. Of course, it’s inevitable that certain businesses will have longer sales cycles than others. But in general, the faster you can close sales, the more you can close in a given time period — so this metric can reveal opportunities to optimize your sales process.

If you’re using lead management software with activity tracking capabilities, compare the date of your first activity for a lead with the date on which you made the sale. You may also want to look at the time elapsed between each activity in the sales process. If you notice that prospective customers get stuck at a certain phase of the buyer journey for an extended time, consider providing additional training to your sales reps. With the right tools and resources on hand, they’ll be able to move leads through the sales funnel more effectively.

4. Lead Conversion Rate

Your lead conversion rate is a measure of how well your sales team successfully converts leads into closed sales. It is typically expressed as a percentage of closed sales relative to all sales opportunities in a given timeframe. Not surprisingly, a low conversion rate can signal trouble with your sales approach. However, it may also indicate that you’re filling your funnel with unqualified leads and should revisit your marketing strategy.

Many CRMs have built-in reporting tools to help you dive into your lead conversion data. In addition to looking at your conversion rate each month, you’ll also want to review your team’s performance over time. If this metric tends to fluctuate wildly, it’s worth going back to basics to ensure your team is well-versed in sales and customer support tactics. You can also look at detailed activities from each stage of the sales process to identify problem areas where sales are frequently lost.

5. Average Purchase Size

To get a bigger-picture view of your business’s sales process, keep an eye on your average purchase size. This is especially important if your business offers a wide range of products or services: you may be surprised by your distribution of small-ticket versus big-ticket purchases. While it’s easy to focus on revenue as a whole, knowing what types of sales make up this revenue is essential for creating smart plans and projections.

When looking at your purchase data, you should also break down the average purchase size by sales rep. If you notice large discrepancies between reps, this may be a sign that some reps need additional training to help them close deals. Alternatively, the reps responsible for the larger purchases may be utilizing creative upselling techniques to boost their sales. In this case, this is a great opportunity to incorporate these strategies into your sales team’s playbook.

Optimize Your Sales Process with Key Sales Metrics

To optimize your sales process and achieve your goals, you need a solid understanding of where your sales team is at today. This means you need to take a hard look at the data to identify your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. By regularly tracking the five sales metrics listed above, you’ll gain the insights you need to nurture leads more effectively and close sales more efficiently.

The post The 5 Sales Metrics You Need to Track for Business Success appeared first on Method.

When there are quantifiable milestones to hit, setting realistic and achievable sales targets keeps everyone’s priorities in line. It also gives your sales reps the structure they need to develop effective selling strategies.

Of course, revenue growth is always a key area of focus when it comes to setting sales goals. But successful sales management should also include goals that are less tied to money. 

Here are some examples:

• Provide better customer service.
• Close deals faster. 
• Explain your products more clearly to customers.
• Better educate your salespeople.

A lot of these goals revolve around improving communication. For example, personalized phone calls or emails are a great way to stand out to potential customers.

Sales managers who realize the value in these types of goals help their businesses become industry leaders. Revenue generation is something that only happens at the end of the sales cycle, so why take an approach with only that in mind?

Businesses that implement well-rounded sales goals are more likely to convert prospects into paying customers. These objectives help you achieve the hard numbers you’re aiming for.

If you’ve never carried out structured sales goal setting for your business, the prospect may seem intimidating.

However, like most business goals, setting sales goals is really just the process of breaking down your time and resources into smaller increments. After breaking down sales goals into smaller, measurable milestones, it’s about seeing how to manipulate those increments to benefit your bottom line.

In this article, you’ll learn: 

• How to set sales goals.
• How to determine an appropriate target. 
• Some sales goal examples.
• Tips on the best ways to hit your sales goals.

The secret to setting sales goals

Establish your target revenue

Successful companies work backwards when it comes to sales goal setting for the month, quarter, or year.

Questions to ask yourself when analyzing past sales data to identify trends and opportunities include:

• How much did you make during previous high-revenue periods?
• What were the factors that led you to those numbers?
• Who were your highest-performing reps?
• What strategies were driving their success?

Next, take that data, apply it to your current situation, and ask yourself:

• Do you have at least as much (if not more) sales resources now compared to then?
• Do you want your reps to generate revenue from existing clients or new leads?
• How much time do your reps typically need to close a deal in either of those scenarios? 

When it comes to knowing how to set sales goals, it’s all about asking the right questions.

You also have to keep upcoming company changes in mind, such as a new product launch or a contract coming to a close. 

When you have a clear picture of the different factors at play, sales goal setting is easier.

Set a target length of time to close a deal

If your reps take five days to close a sale, you may want to shave that number down to four days to ensure they’re on track to hit their revenue target. It’s important that you’re confident you can attain your target.

To get an accurate breakdown of where everyone’s time is going, take a look at the steps that go into closing a deal. This helps you identify areas where people can speed things along.

For example, look at the average time it takes for a sales rep to contact a new lead. You can even track the length of time between a quote being sent and a contract being signed.

Sales management software, like a CRM, allows your reps to log their activities. The more detail you can learn about your current sales process, the more likely it is that you can set reasonable improvement expectations.

Define your target closing rate

When you identify your target revenue and length of time to close a sale, it becomes easier to determine your target closing rate.

For instance, say you want your sales reps to decrease their closing timeline from five to four days. In this scenario, you could reasonably expect to increase your closing rate by 20%.

However, this percentage might not be accurate. Remember, when deciding how to set sale goals, you’re not only accounting for past performance, but also the current demand for your product or service. 

Your reps could exceed expectations and still come up short if no one’s currently interested in your product!

Assessing current market conditions and competition is crucial. You can realistically increase your target close rate if the market potential is solid.
But if you’re heading into a season when demand is typically low, you may want to temper your expectations for your sales goal setting.

Use the stretch framework for setting sales goals

Stretch goals are an excellent way to sharpen your sales goal setting. However, they should be used with caution.

When presented correctly, stretch goals light a fire in the bellies of your most dedicated sales reps. 

Assigning sales targets to individual salespeople or teams can lead to creating synergy in the process. Ideally, the reps would band together and use a combination of friendly competition, creativity, and stellar support to hit even the most ambitious targets.

But when stretch goals are used incorrectly, they place employees under too much pressure to function effectively. When morale and motivation are waning, achieving even regular sales goals becomes difficult.

How to set sales goals with motivation

When setting new goals for your sales team, make sure they’re comfortable with the process. First, you’ll need to empower your reps is to break down their goals into manageable chunks.

If they now need to close 20 sales per month, start by asking them to make five sales a week their quota.

The idea is to ease into the new process and not overwhelm them with expectations. Although it’s the same amount of work, giving your reps a smaller figure to target is easier for them to parse.

Let your sales reps ask questions and voice concerns before you set goals, so they know their opinions matter. 

Finally, offer additional incentives, such as increased commission, or a pay bonus to reps who meet and surpass their targets. Celebrating and rewarding successes when sales goals are achieved is crucial to setting sales goals successfully.

Track your progress

Lead management software helps sales teams monitor their progress and develop smarter strategies. 

Look for a program that lets you track key metrics at every step of the sales process, from the first sign of interest to the final sale.

It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operations of selling, but the right tools can show you how resources are being used on a larger scale. This shows you where to make adjustments for greater selling potential.

Sales management software can also help your team track of leads and customers as business gets busier, so you never miss out on an opportunity.

Reevaluate and adjust

One of the smartest things you can do when it comes to setting sale goals is to be flexible with them. Make sure you’re consistently monitoring progress towards sales goals and adjusting strategies as needed.

Circumstances change, which causes even the best-laid plans to veer off-course. Whether it’s a single event (such as lack of payment or a lost client) or part of a larger trend (like general market disinterest), you need to be ready to adjust your numbers on a regular basis. 

It’s impossible to reach every single goal you make. But when you stay adaptable and create new goals, you ensure longevity within your industry.

As business waxes and wanes, it becomes easier to adjust your goals to fit your current situation. By developing strategies to increase sales and meet established goals you let your sales department know that you’re not moving the goalposts around on them. Instead, you’re simply anchoring their expectations based on real-world factors.
Overall, identifying areas for growth and setting corresponding sales goals is a key part.

Recap: Setting sales goals

A business that sets sales goals has a better chance of making profits.

Sales goals are always ambitious to a certain extent, but there are ways to have a more realistic sales target. Working with the right data gives you a solid foundation for setting and achieving manageable sales objectives.

Objectives are naturally ambitious. As with planning anything, you can’t expect to be an expert the first time you set sales objectives. So, when you first establish sales goals and pursue them, don’t be surprised if you’re a little off your sales targets.

When you set goals, you give your business something to work towards. Whether you achieve it or not, each sales objective is another indicator of how to grow your company.

Like all business processes, this will take some trial, error, and iteration over time. 

But as your business grows and your team becomes more experienced, you’ll likely keep growing goals and your accomplishments.

How to set sales goals FAQs

How do you typically set sales goals?

Businesses set sales goals in different ways. Many managers use the SMART model, a guide created out of research into goal-setting.

There are plenty of articles that delve deep into the SMART model, but here’s its basic outline:

• Specific – Have you clearly defined your goal and everyone’s role in achieving it?
• Measurable – Can you track the success of your goal?
• Attainable – Do you have the ability to accomplish your goal?
• Realistic – Is your goal possible?
• Time-bound – Have you worked on establishing a timeline for achieving sales goals?

Organizations that use the SMART model often see a difference in productivity levels. Consider how it benefits your business goals.

Who makes the final decision on purchasing?

Generally, purchasing managers make the final decision on purchasing. Unless it’s an unusually large expense. Then it’s the job of a higher up position like the CEO.

Any purchasing decision needs careful consideration. So it takes someone with specialized skills to make the final call.

What are some factors to consider when setting sales goals?

There are several factors to consider when you set sales goals or targets for your products or services :

• Stay adaptable.
• Define things clearly.
• Manage expectations.
• Keep a record of your information.

Get your copy of this free ebook to take your sales to the next level!

The post Setting SMART goals: A step-by-step guide to achieving successful sales goals appeared first on Method.

That’s good news because the right CRM system takes your company to new levels of productivity.

As the name suggests, a CRM helps you maintain strong relationships with customers and prospective customers.

It’s also a central hub for your customer and sales data — allowing you to work efficiently and understand key metrics.

Choosing a CRM that is appropriate for your company and industry is one of the most important business decisions you’ll make.

Thankfully, you don’t need to have a software degree to make a wise choice.

Keep reading to understand the ways in which Method CRM and Zoho help or hinder your business.

The main difference between Method CRM and Zoho is the level of integration, ability to customize, and length of the free trial. Now, let’s dive in deeper!

Jump to:

Key Features

Targeted Industries

Software Integrations

Other Noteworthy Features

Free Trial Opportunities

Pricing Options

Customer Support

Key Features

Every CRM has certain key features that make up the core of its offerings. When shopping for a CRM, start by looking at these key features to determine whether the system could potentially match your business needs.

Method

• Built exclusively for QuickBooks users: the two-way integration mirrors customer and transaction data seamlessly between Method and QuickBooks in real time.
• Organize your sales process and win more deals by automating lead collection and centralizing your leads.
• Streamline operations and service customers efficiently without loading undue administrative work onto your sales team.
• A 360-degree view of each customer helps you provide superior customer service and drive repeat business.
• 100% customizable: Future-proof your business with software that grows as you do.

Zoho

• Automates repetitive tasks to allow sales reps to spend more time on selling and less time on data entry.
• Multi-channel support allows you to reach your customers via phone, live chat, email, or through social media.
• Allows for the addition of industry-specific modules and custom buttons to adapt the interface and functionality for your business.
• Lets you view what your customers and prospects are looking at online and whether they are opening your emails.
• Advanced CRM analytics give you deeper insights into how your business is functioning.

Targeted Industries

After identifying key features that would benefit you, it’s helpful to know if the CRM you are considering was built with your industry in mind. Here are some of the industries that Method and Zoho are well-suited for.

Method

Method serves customers in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, construction, accounting, field services, and nonprofit.

Zoho

Zoho offers customized vertical solutions for a variety of industries, including automotive, environment and sustainable energy, real estate, tourism, retail, nonprofit, insurance, telecommunications, and event management.

Software Integrations

Before adopting a new CRM, it’s a good idea to check whether it can integrate with the other software programs you already use. This will ease the transition to a new system and ensure that no customer data falls through the cracks. Luckily, both Method and Zoho offer integrations with common software applications.

Method

• QuickBooks: Method is the CRM industry leader for QuickBooks integration and is compatible with all versions of QuickBooks Online, Pro, Premier, and Enterprise. The powerful two-way sync between Method and QuickBooks allows customer, vendor and transaction data to sync between your CRM and your accounting software in real time.
• Gmail: Bring your CRM inside your Gmail inbox with Method’s free Sidebar for Gmail. When you open an email, the sidebar displays the contact’s phone number, address, balance, QuickBooks transactions, CRM activities, opportunities, cases, and documents. You can also save new data to Method directly from Gmail, eliminating the need to switch between tabs.
• Outlook: Similar to the Gmail integration, Method’s free add-in for Outlook lets you see your whole relationship with customers, leads and vendors at a glance. When you open an email, the add-in displays the sender’s contact information alongside valuable QuickBooks and CRM data. Easily save new leads, activities, and opportunities to your Method account — all without leaving Outlook.
• Mailchimp: Rather than manually exporting contacts from Method and importing them into Mailchimp, this integration does the work for you. Simply select the CRM contacts you want to market to, then send them to Mailchimp in just a few clicks.
• Google Calendar: View your scheduled CRM activities, such as meetings with customers, follow-up emails to leads, or conference calls with vendors, right in your Google Calendar. You can also create and update activities in your Google Calendar that will sync back to Method.

Zoho

Zoho offers a wide range of software integrations; the full assortment can be viewed here. Some examples include:

• QuickBooks: There are QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online extensions for Zoho CRM. Choose which records you want to sync between programs and customize the field mapping from your Zoho dashboard.
• Google Drive: Easily sync, share, and collaborate on documents associated with customer records in Zoho.
• Microsoft Office: Sync Microsoft Office documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and databases with Zoho CRM records, then manage them from within Zoho.
• Mailchimp: Sync Mailchimp lists with Zoho Campaigns, get notified in Zoho when subscriber profiles are updated in Mailchimp, and merge fields between Mailchimp and Zoho.
• Eventbrite: Quickly capture new leads from events and trade shows by syncing your Events and Tickets data into Zoho.

Other Noteworthy Features

Many CRMs include features beyond the basic lead and customer management tools. While these may not be highlighted as prominently on the company’s website, these selling points add value to the products nonetheless. Here’s what Method and Zoho have to offer.

Method

Method CRM is built on a 100% customizable, no-code platform. This means you can continuously build on it to better suit your needs, without needing to hire a developer. From adding new fields to automating processes to building custom apps, Method has the flexibility to become much more than a CRM. And when combined with the deep QuickBooks sync, this flexibility allows you to create optimal workflows for your business.

Zoho

Zoho offers industry-specific modules that can be included in your CRM to tailor it for your business’s needs. The Zoho marketplace also includes a wide range of extensions for other business functions, like FedEx shipment tracking, SignEasy document signing capabilities and more.

Free Trial Opportunities

Before implementing any new software, prospective buyers should ideally be able to test out the capabilities of the program. To that end, most CRMs offer a no-commitment free trial period.

Method

Method offers a free trial that allows users to fully explore the functionality of the system. There’s no contract, no obligation, and no credit card required. The free trial also includes a free hour of customization services with an in-house customization expert so you can see the true potential of customizing Method for your business. In order to begin the trial, you must sync your QuickBooks data with your Method account.

Zoho

Zoho offers a 15-day free trial of all four of its subscription plans (described below). No credit card is needed to sign up. Zoho also offers a free CRM for up to three users; the CRM includes basic functionality for sales force automation, workflow management, social integration, and team collaboration.

Pricing Options

For most businesses, CRM pricing will play a key role in the decision-making process. Luckily, most CRMs offer a variety of pricing and subscription options. Here’s what’s available for Method and Zoho.

Method

Method offers two subscription plans — Contact Management and CRM Pro. Both plans are available on an annual or monthly basis, with no contract required for the monthly basis.

The Contact Management plan is $25/user/month when billed annually or $28/user/month when billed monthly. This plan includes everything businesses need to get started with customer relationship management, including QuickBooks sync, contact management, customer self-service portals, and custom app services.

The CRM Pro plan is $44/user/month when billed annually or $49/user/month when billed monthly. This plan includes all of the features of the Contact Management plan, plus QuickBooks sales transactions, online payment portals, sales pipeline management, and web-to-lead forms.

Additional modules for QuickBooks purchase transactions, email campaigns, and case management are available for either plan for $10/user/month when billed annually or $12/user/month when billed monthly.

Zoho

In addition to the free CRM described above, Zoho offers four paid CRM subscription plans.

The Standard plan ($12/user/month billed annually or $18/user/month) includes everything in the free version. It also includes features such as sales forecasting, scoring rules, charts and KPIs, and web forms.

The Professional plan ($20/user/month billed annually or $30/user/month) includes everything in the Standard plan. It also includes features such as email integration, social CRM, inventory management, and unlimited records.

The Enterprise plan ($35/user/month billed annually or $45/user/month) includes everything in the Professional plan. It also includes features such as multi-user portals, custom modules and buttons, conditional fields, and conversational AI.

The Ultimate plan ($100/user/month billed annually) includes everything in the Enterprise plan. It also includes features such as free premium support, automation suggestions, enhanced storage, and email sentiment.

Customer Support

Good customer support is critical for companies implementing their first online CRM system. You’ll want to work with a company that stands behind its products and has support reps available when you may need them.

Method

Method offers a variety of support services including free 24/7 access to the online help center, webinars, and customization resources. Support reps are available over phone, live chat, and email Monday through Friday from 9 am to 6 pm EST.

Zoho

Zoho offers 24/7 access to their online help center and community message boards. Customers can submit requests for support by email or through an online form on the company’s website. Phone support is available for paid CRM customers Monday through Friday, 24 hours a day.

Conclusion

When comparing Method CRM to Zoho CRM, you’ll see that both platforms can be used successfully by a variety of industries. Zoho is a great option for customers who are looking for a robust out-of-the-box solution, while Method’s deep integration with QuickBooks and infinite customization potential make it well-suited for companies who want a CRM that can grow along with them.

All in all, the best CRM for your business is the one that helps you get more work done — so your CRM comparison doesn’t need to stop here. Sign up for a free trial of both systems and see which one is right for you!

The post CRM Comparison: Method vs. Zoho appeared first on Method.

• Sales
• Marketing
• Customer service

With all this in mind, how on earth do you identify which sales CRM features are most relevant for your team?

As a sales representative, your top priorities are closing deals and maintaining strong relationships with your leads and customers.

To maximize your productivity, focus on the CRM features that enable you to meet these goals. Anything that helps you track potential deals, stay in touch with contacts, or organize your daily tasks is a winner.

For sales reps using Method, consider this your cheat sheet for identifying the most valuable sales CRM features. By looking at these five things, you’ll set yourself up to work efficiently and satisfy your customers.

Top Sales CRM Features

1. Activity List

Most sales reps have a never-ending to-do list of emails to send, phone calls to return, and documents to prepare. However, if these tasks are spread across multiple scheduling tools (or your mind), it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks.

That’s where the Activity List comes in.

In Method CRM, an activity is a record of a past or future interaction between you and another individual or organization.

Activities can be categorized by type (such as a phone call, email, or meeting) and you can include notes about what was discussed. You should always create an activity after an interaction is complete, but activities can also be scheduled as future tasks.

When you log into Method each day, start by checking the Activity List to view your list of to-do’s due on or before the current date. These could be activities that you created for yourself or activities that your colleagues created and assigned to you. By checking this list each morning, you’ll have a clear picture of what you need to accomplish during the day.

How to use the Activity List:

• From your Method dashboard, click the Activities App.
• In the top left corner of the Activity List, change the filter view to “My – Due Now.”

2. Contact List

In life and in sales, regular communication leads to stronger relationships. Whether you’re trying to nurture a new lead or re-engage an existing customer, it’s important to keep the conversation alive. But when you have multiple conversations ongoing, it’s hard to remember when you last talked to each person.

Enter one of our favorite sales CRM features – the Contact List.

While the Activity List displays your scheduled interactions, the Contact List can help you identify who you still need to reach out to. Use the “Last Activity” and “Next Activity” columns to sort your contacts by the date of their last completed activity or next scheduled activity, respectively. If you spot someone you haven’t spoken to in months, don’t be shy — schedule a reminder to send them a message!

How to use the Contact List:

• From your Method dashboard, click the Contacts App.
• Click the gear icon at the top of the list, select the columns for “Last Activity” and “Next Activity,” and click “Update.”
• Click the column header for “Last Activity” or “Next Activity” to sort the contacts by ascending or descending activity date.

3. Opportunity Reports

Having plenty of potential sales in the pipeline is a salesperson’s dream. But when you only have so many hours in the day, it’s essential to prioritize which opportunities to focus on. Ideally, you want to devote your time to those opportunities that are closest to closing or have the highest value — or both.

In Method CRM, an opportunity is used to track the details of a potential sale as it moves through the sales pipeline. These details include the expected revenue, the anticipated closing date, and the current pipeline stage. Opportunities can be created for new leads or existing customers, giving you a complete picture of your potential business.

Get into the habit of checking the Opportunity Reports in Method each morning. These graphs make it easy to visualize how many deals you’re working on, what they’re worth, and how close you are to making the sale. This, in turn, helps you decide where to focus your attention that day.

How to use Opportunity Reports:

• From your Method dashboard, click the three dots on the Opportunities App, then click “Reports.”
• On the Opportunity Reports screen, select “Pipeline” for the type of chart and your own name for the user, then select your desired date range.
• View the total value of the opportunities in your pipeline, as well as a breakdown of your opportunities by stage. Hovering over each stage will show the total value of the opportunities in that stage, and clicking on the bar will bring up a list of the relevant opportunities.

4. Estimate Reports

After sending a quote, you may be tempted to sit back and wait for the sale. However, shifting all responsibility to your prospects is risky — people are busy, they miss emails, or they may have concerns that are holding them back from buying. To maximize the likelihood of a quote becoming a sale, proactively following up is key.

Checking your Estimate Reports is a quick way to assess which quotes (or estimates, as they’re called in Method CRM) are still outstanding.

This is based on the fact that an estimate in Method can be labeled as active or inactive. Depending on your company’s procedures, an inactive estimate may represent a job that has been canceled, invoiced, or paid in full.

In any case, viewing your list of active estimates can help you assess which ones may require follow-up.

How to use Estimate Reports:

• From your Method dashboard, click the three dots on the Estimates App, then click “Reports.”
• On the Estimate Reports screen, select “Active” for the status and your own name for the sales rep, then select your desired date range.
• View the total value of your estimates by customer, as well as the number of estimates per customer. Clicking on each bar will bring up a list of the relevant estimates.

5. Method:Sidebar for Gmail / Method Outlook Add-In

Okay, these sales CRM features aren’t technically in your Method account — you’ll have to check your email to access them. But they’re still a valuable addition to this list!

Email is a big part of any sales job. In fact, salespeople spend 21% of their day writing emails.

Salespeople spend 21% of their day writing emails.

Hubspot, 2019

Now imagine you had to switch back to your CRM after sending each message to ensure the details were logged. This could easily double the time devoted to emails, leaving you little time to actually call or meet with customers.

Luckily, Method offers add-ins that bring your CRM inside Gmail or Outlook.

Simply open an email and the add-in will display an overview of the sender, including their contact information, CRM activities, and QuickBooks transactions. You can also save the email correspondence as a new activity directly from the add-in — no need to copy and paste text or switch between programs.

By making the email portion of your day more efficient, you’ll have more time to focus on closing sales.

How to use the email add-ins:

• Install the Method:Sidebar for Gmail (shown below) or the Method Outlook Add-In.
• Open an email in your inbox.
• Click “New” next to “View Activities.”
• Fill in the activity details and click “Save.”
• In Method: View the activity, then click the link to view the text of the saved email(s).

Truth be told, there’s always a learning curve when adopting new software. However, the curve doesn’t have to feel so steep!

Instead, focus on learning the features that are most relevant to your role. This will help you incorporate the new software into your daily routine faster — so you start seeing the impact on your sales results sooner.

The post Top 5 Method CRM features for sales reps appeared first on Method.

This arrangement is more familiar in the sales world, where many companies have always had a mixture of some reps working outside the office and others working in it. But the question persists — how do you balance these groups of inside and outside sales reps when they are working independently and with different goals? Keep reading to learn how to create a cohesive sales team that is ready to pursue sales from all angles.

Responsibilities of Outside Sales Reps

Outside sales representatives handle sales that involve face-to-face meetings with buyers outside the office. These roles typically involve trade shows, conventions, luncheons, conferences, and marketing presentations. The key to working with outside sales reps as a team leader or manager is trust. You have to trust your employees since they are mostly out of sight. And the fact is, many Americans want to have greater flexibility over their workday. Gallup reports that 51 percent of workers would switch jobs if they could get flextime.

The desire to have control and flexibility over one’s schedule is what draws a certain type of individual to an outside sales career. However, according to Business Insider, you want to delegate this role to individuals who have already sales experience in your industry. New hires should spend time in the office as an inside sales rep before committing to sales on the road.

Responsibilities of Inside Sales Reps

The role of an inside sales rep is to make sales via phone calls and emails, rather than in-person meetings. As stated by lead management pioneer Ken Krogue, “inside sales is remote sales.” Krogue goes a step further to declare that “the majority of all sales is done remotely, and the numbers are growing” with inside sales growing 15 times faster than outside sales.

In the past, inside sales would have been conducted primarily from a company’s office, with your sales reps in easy view. But with the rise of internet-based communication tools, many inside sales professionals no longer need to come into the office every day. Instead, they can coordinate deals from a home office, a coffee shop, or while traveling.

What does this mean for your management style? Even for your inside sales reps, you will need to exercise some of the same trust and communication skills required for your outside sales reps.

Goal Setting

To keep your inside and outside sales reps on the same page, always have at least one common goal for your entire sales team. By setting specific, attainable goals, all of your team members can work independently towards one common objective.

Some ideas of team goals include increasing the ratio of sales calls converted into high-quality leads or increasing the number of clients contacted within a set period. Offer rewards for reaching goals in an accelerated timeframe or for exceeding expectations. The act of goal setting encourages team bonding, which is beneficial for corporate morale and productivity.

Communication Style

The only way to succeed at having a team of inside and outside sales reps is through consistent communication. Yet with all of the different methods of communicating, from phone calls to online chats, having too many options can cripple a team. You need to be able to disseminate information to all of your sales reps in one convenient manner.

Cloud-based sales management software provides a convenient place for maintaining all communication about deals in progress. This way, everyone can access information on their own time, which helps boost productivity across the board. In addition, the software provides a written record of communication that can be referred to at any time. From looking back at conversations to tracking the progress of your sales team, a centralized system supports stronger communication.

Management Style

It can be difficult to develop a management style that works for both inside and outside sales reps. Start by taking a look at your outside sales reps, as well as your inside sales reps working outside the office. Sometimes managers may not fully trust the employees they can’t see, requiring them to check in more than necessary or keep more records to show their progress. But this is the wrong approach.

Recall that nearly half of American adults are working remotely, and the numbers are increasing every year. Our society is embracing remote work and management teams will need to become more supportive of it. This means trusting your employees to do their jobs even when you are not there to oversee them.

Sales Management Software

One solution for managing all of your sales reps effectively is to use sales management software. By using a cloud-based system to track deals, manage contacts, and log activities, your sales reps can take charge of their reports and information. This increases their confidence in their ability to do their jobs without being hounded.

At the same time, you as the manager will have all of the data you need to evaluate the real-time progress and successes of your entire sales team — both inside and outside sales reps.

Measurement of Key Performance Indicators

The day-to-day management of your inside and outside sales teams can only take you so far. To see if your efforts are paying off, you also need to be able to evaluate their sales results. This involves measuring key performance indicators (KPIs). For outside sales reps, examples of KPIs to track include lead response time, sales cycle length, and closing ratio. As for inside sales teams, KPIs can include contacts added, emails sent, and closing calls made.

Sales management software can often be customized to track each of these indicators over any period of time. In addition, many sales management systems can compile data from multiple areas of your business, from lead generation to accounting. This centralized view of your data enables you to identify weak links, inefficient processes, and oversaturated markets. Taken together, this vital information gives you the insight you need to improve sales and better manage your sales representatives.

The post How to Manage Inside and Outside Sales Reps appeared first on Method.

Upselling and cross-selling often get a bad rap. After all, we’ve all been on the receiving end of a pushy sales pitch. But if done effectively, upselling and cross-selling are actually great strategies to grow your small business by leveraging your existing customer base.

First things first — let’s clarify the difference between the two. Upselling occurs when you encourage a customer to buy an upgraded or more expensive version of their intended purchase. A classic example is “Would you like fries with that?” The customer is already purchasing one food item, and adding fries makes it a more expensive (and delicious) combo.

Meanwhile, cross-selling occurs when you try to sell additional products or services that complement the customer’s initial purchase. For instance, when you buy a bike, the employees will (hopefully) encourage you to add a helmet and lights in the interest of safety.

Regardless of what you sell, becoming more effective at upselling and cross-selling helps you generate repeat business and increase revenue.

Ready to get started? Keep reading to learn how a QuickBooks CRM makes it easier to achieve those goals.

1. Be transparent about pricing

When upselling and cross-selling, it’s important to not make customers feel like they’re being tricked into spending more. Be upfront about what the additional products or services will cost before launching into a description of their benefits. Customers appreciate honesty, and they’ll be more likely to consider the value of your proposal if they aren’t distracted by unknown numbers.

It’s helpful to present customers with an estimate that provides a line-by-line pricing breakdown. Using a QuickBooks CRM allows your employees to create estimates directly within the CRM — no need to wait for someone with access to QuickBooks.

Method CRM users: Create as many estimates as necessary to show customers their options, without worrying about cluttering up QuickBooks. Check the box for “Wait for approval before syncing” on the estimate screen to prevent the estimate from automatically syncing to QuickBooks.

2. Bundle related items together

There’s a reason why “Would you like fries with that?” is so successful. People love a good deal, and it’s typically cheaper to purchase a combo than it is to get your burger first and go back for fries later. If a customer is debating whether to add extra items to their purchase, try offering a discount on the bundle. This provides an incentive to buy now rather than waiting.

Of course, you’ll want to refer to the regular prices of items before making big promises! The Items app in Method CRM allows you to easily view your list of QuickBooks items without leaving the CRM.

Method CRM users: Create a predefined discount item to apply to commonly bundled groups of items. Adding the discount item to estimates and invoices allows customers to see how much they’re saving.

3. Know your customers’ preferences

The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%, while the probability of selling to existing customers is 60-70%. This is largely because you already know who your existing customers are and what they want. By tracking customers’ preferences and past purchases, you can identify upselling and cross-selling opportunities that are most relevant to them.

The more information you have about someone, the better you can gauge which items are likely to interest them. A QuickBooks CRM provides a complete picture of a customer’s history with your business. View personal details, notes on past interactions, and transaction history all in one centralized location.

Method CRM users: Save time when upselling or cross-selling over email. The Gmail Gadget and Outlook Email Gadget provide a snapshot of CRM data inside your Gmail or Outlook inbox, so you can review a customer’s history before formulating a sales pitch.

4. Understand your customers’ journeys

Pay attention to the story behind a customer’s initial purchase. Even if they’re currently focused on solving one problem or achieving one goal, they may mention others that are related. Taking note of these long-term plans opens doors for upselling and cross-selling when customers are ready to take the next steps.

Encourage your employees to record every customer interaction as an activity in Method CRM. This ensures that everyone on your team has convenient access to each customer’s information. If an employee leaves your company, your team will be well-equipped to continue assisting customers on their journeys.

Method CRM users: Be proactive about helping customers reach their long-term goals. Schedule a follow-up activity to remind yourself to reach out weeks or even months after the customer’s initial purchase.

Upselling and cross-selling don’t have to feel shady. The key is to take a strategic approach and focus on delivering value to your customers. Luckily, a QuickBooks CRM makes it much easier to do so.

If you’re not yet a Method CRM subscriber, sign up for your free trial today!

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