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Why Aren't You Selling More?A recent study by Integrated Marketing Systems found that the average salesperson spent just five hours a week actually selling, and less than one and a half hours weekly finding new business prospects. How could it be that salespeople are spending less than a fifth of their forty-hour work week making sales? The IMS study concluded that the problem is this: people who are supposed to be selling instead find themselves doing too many things that don't matter. More and more often, managers are giving more responsibilities to their sales teams that take away from their primary tasks. The thirty three and a half hours each week not devoted to sales or new business is often spent making reports, handling paperwork, performing office tasks, and doing whatever else the manager happens to think of. In an economy where the sales climate is already harsh, the practice of giving additional tasks to salespeople does not save money. Instead, salespeople find themselves with less time to do what matters most: making sales. Worse yet, many companies are attempting to compensate for a decrease in sales by hiring additional salespeople. This only exacerbates the problem, since a sales agent working at 16.5% productivity is an expense, not an investment. How can companies help their salespeople work more efficiently? First, by hiring administrative staff to handle everyday chores such as paperwork. Second, by cutting the fat - fewer meetings, fewer reports, fewer business trips, and more selling. Let your sales staff focus on prospecting for new business and managing customers. Tools such as CRM software can help managers keep tabs on the performance of their salespeople without getting in their way; such software may even help the salespeople work more efficiently. An effectively-managed sales team supported by personnel and technology will have a leg up on the competition. |
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Copyright 2006 by Erudite Systems, Inc. |
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