Time to Information in Sales
The old adage, Speed Kills, is inverted in Sales.
Time kills all deals
This is a more common refrain, and for good reason, and while this is typically associated with the elapsed time of a sales cycle, it is equally true for every interaction within that cycle. Lost time in these interactions might not individually kill a deal, but they can easily build up, resulting in death by a thousand cuts for a deal.
A delay in a trial sign up that causes a prospect to abandon. An emailed reply to a question that is sent the next day. A call that is missed, or even a meeting that is joined a few minutes late. None of these instances of lost time are necessarily terminal, but they chip away at your chance of success, and when combined they can certainly be fatal.
At GetHarold, we’re focussed on reducing what we like to call Time to Information. How do we get the information sales reps and leaders need to them faster, to help them close more deals.
Time for Sales Reps
One type of delay can be nearly invisible, particularly to sales leaders, and that is the delays your salespeople experience in accessing information on a prospect. If you’ve got a great product then your reps are almost certainly time poor, so every second counts. Ask yourself, how long does it take one of your reps to prepare for a sales call? How many systems do they need to log into to ensure that they have a complete picture?
The time required to get filled in may be measured in minutes, but these delays add up, and they are unnecessary. The information should be accessible in an instant.
The macro concern around overall sales cycle time will never go away, but small efficiency gains should not be ignored when the frequency of the tasks they relate to is high. Your reps will look up information on prospects hundreds of times a week. A saved minute, or even 30s, during these times really adds up.
Time for Sales Leaders
For sales leaders, staying on top of an entire pipeline is a challenge. Check in with reps are critical, but they are time consuming, and have built in delays. Reports are useful, but minor changes can easily get lost.
Keeping on top of pipeline changes is crucial, but missed updates, or delays in finding out about them, can be disastrous. To optimize positive influence on deals sales leaders need access to pipeline changes as they happen. Proactive notifications are key. You want to know ASAP when a deal amount has been cut, or a close date pushed out, or a note added.
Reducing the delays in accessing this type of information, making it proactive, not reactive, maximizes the impact a sales leader can have on their pipeline, driving more deal wins, smashed targets and happy quarter ends.
Originally published at https://www.getharold.net, where we offer a Slack App that puts information about prospects and customers at your Sales Reps and Sales Leaders’ fingertips.
