Flurries of sales studies quantify a shift in the role of the salesperson of today. Data shows a steady decrease in the amount of time that on-the-clock salespeople spend actively selling. Now, representatives spend the majority of their workday concerned with other tasks, like planning sales calls and researching their prospects. Most studies suggest that less than 50% of salespeople’s time is spent delivering traditional sales presentations.
This data continues to shock and disgust the world of sales management. Sales managers ask, “Where have we gone wrong? How can we get our salespeople back to selling? They are called salespeople, aren’t they? Aren’t we paying them to sell?”
These kinds of questions ask, “How can we go back in time?” Instead, sales managers should ask, “How can we support the current role of the salesperson?” Maybe salespeople are correctly responding to the evolving approach of their customers. Perhaps pushing them back into a role that focuses on delivering impassioned sales presentations would render them irrelevant.
Today, the most effective salespeople are the ones who can best research, prepare, and track responses to their sales presentations. Sales managers can strengthen their sales team with a forward-thinking mindset and the support of sales enablement platforms.
Sales enablement platforms can enhance the research and preparation function of salespeople. Currently, unsupported salespeople may turn to their own research and planning methods, like tracking down prospect information on Google and LinkedIn. But, every salesperson has access to content like this.
To differentiate your salespeople from the rest, offer them information that your competitors don’t access. Imagine the competitive edge your salespeople can have when they wield the unique powers of customer engagement analytics, predictive sales analytics and sales performance reports.
Are you supporting the salespeople of today, or are you holding onto the past?
