Over recent decades, the sales process has become more and more complex. This is in part driven by customer behavior and the plethora of channels that clients can now access to transact their purchases. For higher-ticket items and B2B sales, the research process in particular has become multi-faceted, with ‘omni-channel’ customer journeys having a huge impact on both the marketing and sales processes that companies try to manage.

This customer behavior is now reflected in the sales process. So much so that salespeople now spend just 34 percent of their time selling, with the rest going mainly on research and admin.

This is not a good scenario for either the salesperson or the company they work for. Not only does it keep the individual from doing the actual job they enjoy, but it also hurts the company’s bottom line. 

So what’s the solution? How can you free up your salespeople to focus on selling more?

Delegating much of their administrative work, like invoicing, contract generation, background research, and more, can help, but only if you do it properly.

Here are our top tips for getting your salespeople selling more - and doing it properly!

Salespeople spend just 34 percent of their time selling, which hurts your bottom line.

Freeing up Your Salespeople’s Time

There are several tools and methods you can use to help your salespeople do what they do best. They involve delegating a lot of administrative work to software and other tools, thus giving your salesforce more face time with clients.

Three way to free up your salespeople's time:

• 1) Invest in Sales Enablement Software
• 2) Provide Offshore Sales Support
• 3) Automate the Sales Process

Invest in Sales Enablement Software

Sales enablement is necessary in today’s world. It’s getting the right content for the right customers and potential customers at the right time, along with training, generating high-quality leads faster, streamlining processes, and more.

Fortunately, there’s software that helps you out with that. Sales enablement software includes:

• Tools for lead generation
• Training modules
• Content creation tools that help customers reach their decisions faster
• Tools that use sales measurements to improve marketing strategies

Take advantage of these delegating tools. Your salespeople and your bottom line will be thank you for it.

Provide Offshore Sales Support

Your offshore teams are just as important as your in-house teams, but without the benefit of local headquarters. Communication suffers because your offshore teams aren’t right in front of you. They are “out of sight, out of mind,” as they say.

Some excellent communications and support tools for your offshore teams include:

• Productivity tools like Trello, Asana, etc. to lay out and streamline tasks and goals
• Communication tools like Slack and Google Hangouts to provide a forum for questions and clarifications
• Annual visits so you know they’re there

Also, designate team leads, communicate with them frequently, and provide them with the same support and automation tools your in-house teams have to ensure their work aligns with your company’s goals.

Looking to improve your Offshore Sales Support?

Why not speak to our team?

Automate the Sales Process

Automation is speeding up as technology moves ever faster, and you can take advantage of that to help free up your salespeople. Automation tools help you generate higher-quality leads and give your salespeople the time they need to do their work.

Sales automation includes:

• Tools attaching background info to your leads
• Making lead scoring a priority and automating that process
• Task management
• Automated client emails
• Calendar tools allowing qualified clients to book their appointments
• Tools that streamline invoicing and contracts
• Syncing tools that put all your data in one place
• Automating the prospect-to-client handover process

Anything they don’t have to do by hand ensures they have that much more time available to sell your products and services.

Final Thoughts

You want your salespeople out with your clients and working with prospective clients as much as possible, but they can’t do that when they’re spending most of their time on administrative work and other non-sales activities.

You can help them out with support, automation tools, and sales enablement software. Do this for your in-house and offshore teams to give them as much time as possible to do what they do best: selling your products and services.