Remote working is becoming increasingly popular, and more and more entrepreneurs want to introduce this model of work at their organizations. We’ve compiled good practices of remote working at Livespace, which can be applied in various teams – especially at a sales department.
Most of us like to have order and tidiness at home. When chaos appears around you, you start feeling bad and, suddenly, the place where you spend most of your time becomes one where it’s hard to get a grip. It’s the same with work – if it’s organized, you’re ready to do more. If you don’t know how the team’s working, things start to get nervous. So, what should you do to bring teamwork transparency, order, and regularity to your ‘company home’? In a CRM system, you’ll find features that will help you manage your team and the sales process at the company. Read more
It’s no news that effective communication and organization of work at the sales department is the basis for success in sales. However, people often don’t know how to sort out the work of the sales team so that it’s performed in a repeatable way that will also ensure a high level of communication in the team. In this case, it’s worth using tools that will automatically introduce certain ‘rituals’ into the work of salespeople. We present 7 ways to improve communication and work organization at a sales department with the help of a CRM system. Read more
Many companies, when asked how they manage their customer databases, still mention MS Excel as the primary tool for salespeople to work with. But there are much more advanced solutions out there, which provide comfort of work and security of the stored data.
To give you a better idea of how Livespace can support the process of sales monitoring and analysis, we’ve prepared a few examples in which we explain which functions of the system are especially worth using. Expect practical step-by-step instructions that will help you immediately implement new sales management techniques and make better use of this CRM system’s capabilities.
Did you know that a good sales funnel can be the major force behind steady growth? If the answer is no, you’re probably among the majority of companies that have not identified or even attempted to measure a sales funnel. Without it, though, you might find it difficult to convert prospects into loyal customers in the long run. That’s precisely why you should take action and build a sales funnel for your business – and here’s how to do it properly.
Even in the highly successful sales teams with all the sales processes in place, there is always room for improvement and growth. If you’re an ambitious sales manager, you must keep looking for new ways of motivating your team. Especially in the face of the fact that sales team motivation can be the holy grail for a business.
If you’re leading a sales team, you probably know the importance of tracking the performance of all its members. Surprisingly, many businesses have zero or limited means to actually measure how productive their sales teams are. Unfortunately, if you can’t measure it—you can’t optimise it. And this truly affects the effectiveness of your sales process in the long run.
Rumour has it that sales managers can’t control the majority of the metrics they’re held accountable to. Does it sound familiar to you as well? Fortunately, we asked a few sales professionals for their advice for everyone who is struggling with being in charge of a sales process and leading the whole time wisely, just like you might be.
Sales productivity can be best described as the ability to maximise sales results while keeping the resources at a minimum. These resources often vary—from cost and effort to time, which is why it might be difficult to cut down on all of them.
Sales budgeting is crucial for any business. In fact, companies with accurate sales forecasts are more likely to grow their revenue year-over-year and hit quota. Basically, the more accurate your sales forecast, the better for the whole company—as everyone can easily check whether the sales team is on track to reach the targets and increase revenue.
B2B sales process is not all rainbows and butterflies. While it lasts, it lasts, but when sales do not go as expected, finding possible bottlenecks is not always the easiest nut to crack. How to overcome it, and master the B2B sales process? Read more
Have you just become a sales manager? Congrats! You’ve either climbed the career ladder at your company or applied for this job and succeeded at the interview, which all means you’ve come a long way to achieve it. However, it doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels.
The implementation of a CRM system is never a completely painless task because it means a certain change in the way of work, and every change arouses resistance. This is why we often ask ourselves: “Is it time yet, or can we wait a little longer?”. Let’s take a look at 5 situations that may occur at your company. If they happen, you should not trivialize them – they are a clear sign that it is time to think about a CRM tool.
In previous articles, I explained what a sales process is and how to create one. This time, I will suggest how to check the effectiveness of the implemented solutions, and how to use the knowledge about the operation of the sales process.
Creating an effective sales funnel needn’t be difficult. With a little prior planning and research, you can begin building an effective and repeatable sales funnel in no time. The road to success, however, doesn’t have a straightforward or easy answer. Not because it’s overly complicated, but because there are a lot of variables to consider throughout the process, so what works well for one company or industry may not apply to you & yours.
Nowadays, sales on the B2B market are more and more demanding. When offering our products or services to other companies, we have to take into account strong competition, increasing requirements for the service provided, and, often, a long sales process. At the same time, this is an area where direct relations are often more important than any conducted marketing activities. How to meet the challenge of building a sales department on this difficult market? What does sales management actually consist in?
A correctly defined sales process reflects the specific nature of the sales department’s operations, supports salespeople in their daily work, and helps them make business decisions. How to arrange the sales process so that it can bring the desired effect? Read more
Customer segmentation is a basic tool that, if done correctly, allows you to effectively manage your sales processes. When running B2B sales it is especially important to define, what types of clients are you looking for? Establishing key parameters will help you identify the value of any given customer and properly distribute your sales team efforts, in order to achieve the best results.
KPI’s (key performance indicators) are important metrics that allow you to objectively assess the effectiveness of your operations. They provide valuable information on whether the business is going in the right direction, indicate which elements could be improved or reveal weak links in the processes. The correct determination of indicators measuring sales may prove to be crucial for the functioning of the entire organization.
Those familiar with project management processes, or those working in or closely with software development, will undoubtedly have heard of the Agile Methodology. In this article we explore how employing an Agile methodology to B2B sales practices could help increase user iteration and collaboration, as well as improve accountability, providing better measurement and forecasting to help improve outcomes. Read more
Turning a new lead into a client and signing a contract keeps many sales professionals awake at night. Everybody looks for the most effective way not only to close the deal, but also to do it asap. Unfortunately, we often encounter obstacles or make mistakes which could ruin your sales plan.
Automation can have spectacular benefits for businesses of all sizes, in all sectors. Whether it involves new software, equipment, or a combination, automation can drive efficiency, better resource management, and greater cost-effectiveness.
However, introducing automation can often be met with resistance from your team. They may be alarmed by the prospect of job cuts, or substantial changes to the way they work. So, supporting a team throughout this process is crucial.
The sales cycle is a process your company goes through when dealing with a customer. It includes all activities related to closing the sale. Different companies include different steps and activities in their sales cycle, depending on how they define it.
With all of the buzz and panic around the upcoming GDPR changes, many are scrambling to ensure they are prepared – and quite rightly so. But before you rush to consolidate all your data and purge your contact lists, ask yourself – how effectively do you capitalize on the data within your sales and marketing strategies?
Working with existing customers is fantastic, however, without an outbound sales strategy, many companies may find it difficult to grow and expand – particularly if the competition gets there first.
For most start-ups and new businesses, spreadsheets have been king. There are a few tell-tale signs that it may time to make the move from Excel & spreadsheets to CRM.
Working in sales can be a turbulent experience. When you deliver your numbers and meet your targets, life is grand. Relatively stress free. But when you’re chasing targets and missing numbers, it can all seem too much.
Read more
A good CRM system can alleviate many of the headaches that come with managing a business that is poised for fast growth. So how do you know if you need a CRM solution? Have a look at the 5 key areas.