Every sport has an element of chance that’s impossible to predict. Outdoor games take place regardless of weather conditions, injuries are always a possibility, and many other factors could enter the playing field and swing the odds toward a given team. That’s why professional athletes train to deliver their best performances in any situation. There’s simply too much at stake to leave variables to chance – and for every pro sales team member, the same level of training, dedication and focus pays off.
When you nurture sales prospects through your company’s pipeline, planning in advance will help maintain a lead on your competition. Below are three ways to take a cue from the Olympics, up your sales training schedule and go the extra mile for your customers.
1. Know the course by heart.
When members of the U.S. Olympic track and field team take their starting positions in Rio’s first races, they’ll have memorized the course – twists, hurdles and all. Think of a sales pipeline as a racetrack. By outlining stages and milestones in a new customer’s journey and planning how you’ll benchmark progress, your team will be prepared to track new leads, assign activities, manage workflows and break records.
2. Connect with your audience.
According to McKinsey, 70 percent of buying experiences are affected by how customers feel they’re treated. Just like an athlete winning over new fans, make your customers feel special by connecting at every stage of the pipeline. Whether you’re capturing leads from your website, assigning them to sales team colleagues, converting them into customers or following up with reporting, invoicing and payment, establish a one-on-one relationship that wins over the customer’s loyalty.
3. Simplify the pipeline for your customers.
There’s a reason you’ll see nonstop Olympics coverage on nearly every media and social channel this summer. If following the 2016 Games required too much end-user investment, the Olympics would likely lose viewers and fans. The sales process is no different: when companies centralize prospect information, pipeline status and marketing efforts in one place, it makes being a customer feel like a breeze.
A customer relationship management (CRM) tool can be the unifying force your sales team needs to achieve its goals. Using a CRM to track and organize data as it moves through the sales funnel – and prospect information as leads turn into customers – ensures that every member of your sales team has access to assigned tasks, scheduled events and critical milestones. That level of organization can be a game-changer for a company of any size, but for a small business, CRM can be the difference between placing in the Olympic qualifying trials and bringing home the gold. That’s why Luke Freiler, CEO of Centercode calls his CRM solution a “strategic asset” and its results for the company’s sales pipeline “invaluable,” and why AR&L Managing Director Alex Rhodes notes that her company’s client base increased by 200 percent when it began using a CRM.
Start creating sales opportunities with your pipeline today.
At Insightly, we offer a CRM used by small and mid-sized businesses from a variety of verticals. Learn about Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial.
