Recently, CEB posted about a little-discussed correlation in selling organizations — the more burdened a sales team (in terms of content, disparate tools, complex internal processes), the lower their sales conversion rate.
As it turns out, more isn’t always more. According to research, the more we overload sales teams with content, tools, and processes, the worse they have a tendency to perform. CEB reports that 62% of perceived seller burden can be attributed to overly complex internal processes and procedures. In other words, the majority of sellers attribute their job frustrations to their own sales (and marketing) organizations.
Odds are that I don’t have to sell you on this correlation. We ask today’s sales reps to do a lot, and by weighing them down with more, more, more, we restrict them from delivering more of what they really need: sales.
So, what can you do about it? Simplify.
On the sales side, take a close look at the web of well-intentioned systems that have been created to support your reps but instead end up miring them in overwhelming choice. Determine what is absolutely critical (for example, Salesforce) and what’s not (that manual .XLS sheet that has to be updated at the end of every day), and prioritize, eliminating processes that aren’t mission-critical. Slashing just one or two extra obligations per day can free up a considerable amount of time for your sales reps to close more deals.
On the marketing side, consider your content. A whopping 65% of content produced by marketing isn’t used — so find out why. Optimize content for what sales needs — and uses — and stop bombarding reps with extra noise. When sellers can easily find what they need when they need it, everyone wins.
A modern sales enablement solution like Highspot can help dramatically with all three of these items by making it easy to find, manage, and track content throughout the sales process, with seamless integration into CRM platforms. By consolidating workflows and ensuring your sales reps have one “go-to” source for content and training, you’ll help them free up valuable time and deliver more successful engagements.
If you’re attending the CEB Sales and Marketing Summit from October 18 to October 20 in Las Vegas, stop by Kiosk #19 or join our breakfast roundtable on October 19, where we’ll lead a discussion on the evolution of sales enablement.
Hope to see you there.
