Automating the Sales Process: Where is Your High-Value?
Sales can be a tricky part of the business to get right, and by all accounts a life threating one. The speed at which transactions get done now means that a lot is not left to chance, but rather a precision focused organization and team that is giving value in a transaction. Industries certainly differ, but it's amazing how many sales departments are stuck still using manual operations, including spreadsheets to manage the business. For companies looking to reduce lost time and increase output, a solution to this problem: sales automation.
It's amazing how much in sales can be automated today. The object and real goal of sales automation is allowing the sales team to focus on high value activity and reduce, or eliminate time spent on administrative and manual tasks. And more time should equal more sales. Automation of the sales process sounds just like it should in that much of the sales process and can set though a system to allow for efficiency. Not only is this highly productive, but a lot of the guesswork and missing of data and steps are reduced. Let’s take the concept of automated guidance for example. Items can be scheduled at a certain time and in a certain way allowing for visibility of steps. Say a certain client will be attending a conference online or otherwise, and although you won't be able to attend, you know the company is considering to make a purchase in your product space. Automation can be set to not only follow up on the content that is shared at the event, but a reminder to set up a meeting shortly after the event can be created. It may seem obvious, but ask a busy sales team how many sales they have lost due to a late follow up and you are likely to get more than just one example.
Sales people can also struggle to qualify leads often. Any good sales rep. knows that while getting leads may not be hard to come by, strong qualified leads are a different category. In conjunction with a CRM function, leads can be adjusted and filtered for a certain purpose. Particularly around marketing campaigns, the right contact list can be automated based on email opens, collateral downloads, and social media activity. From there a list can be created automatically and targeted with the event and qualified leads in mind.
In the end, it is becoming easier to automate the sales process using the right software and system. And although many teams are highly reliant on administrative tasks and a manual process, automation is changing the sales landscape rapidly. For companies looking to up their game, now is the right time to start learning. 
