How To Accelerate Your Profits With Sales Automation

Sales automation is taking all the daily activities that your sales representatives handle and putting them on autopilot.

For instance, if your sales reps go the traditional way, they should keep a record of all sales, prospects, and leads on their own. They spend a lot of time entering data.

Sales automation seeks to make work easier for your sales team by using digital tools to speed up the sales process.

It is possible to automate almost everything in the sales line, from pipeline management, workflow, lead scoring, SLA tracking, etc. With sales automation, you give your sales more time to focus on what they are good at – selling your products and services.

Here is how you can start using sales automation to improve your sales:

1. Define your goals

You should have a goal and a strategy when you think of sales force automation. Most businesses tend to get into sales automation because of the pressure and competition from other companies, but this should not be the reason for choosing sales automation.

You should ask yourself why your business needs sales automation. Is it because your sales reps are overwhelmed with administrative tasks, or do you want to improve customer service delivery? Choosing your goals is important because it will affect the sales automation software you use.

2. Implement CRM software

You can use a lot of digital tools to automate your sales process. One of the most important tools you can use is Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

A CRM software is where most of the customers’ data will be stored, acting as the center of your sales process.

CRM tools like Zendesk offer complete sales force automation which includes lead prospecting, lead scoring, sales email tracking, sales forecasting, and sales reporting.

The software helps you automate non-revenue generating tasks so that your team can spend time doing things that have a direct impact on the company profits.

3. Engage your sales team

When you decide to opt for sales automation for your business, you should first engage with your sales team. You want to ask your sales reps the kind of challenges they face and the tasks they want to be automated.

You should not automate sales randomly if you want to achieve your goals of improving sales. Help your sales team to see the benefits of having sales automation software in your business first. Listen to your sales team’s concerns and present the sales automation software. They will be more willing to welcome the software if it seeks to offer solutions to their pain points.

4. Start with a simple AI

AI is another important tool that can transform your business sales if you apply it correctly.

You should start with customer-facing applications like AI chatbots if you want to use artificial intelligence.

With AI, you can easily automate the top of the sales funnel. Chatbots will boost the user experience with your website by reaching out to visitors, triggering qualification sequences, and gathering customer information that your sales reps can use in decision making. Chatbots are expected to save businesses 2.5 billion hours by 2023.

5. Integrate data workflows

Putting all your data in one central place is important for the success of your business. When you have everything you need in one central place, your sales team can ensure the accuracy and completeness of data. It will save you a lot of time if you are to make updates.

Your team will only have to make an update once, and the information will flow across the entire system. Your sales automation team is meant to integrate seamlessly with other platforms.

6. Train your team on using the system

A lot is bound to change when you invite sales automation into your business. Sales automation software is likely to remove some of your sales reps’ tasks, which means their daily routine is likely to change.

Therefore, you should train your sales team on how to use the system on time-consuming tasks and rearrange their workload. You can also invite your sales team to set up a monitoring system and KPIs for your sales reps.

Final Thoughts

Sales automation is one of the most important things you can do if you want to improve your sales. This is an opportunity for your business to gain a competitive advantage.

When you decide to bring sales automation into your business, you should set your goals clearly and choose software that most of your sales reps can use. Perfect sales automation software should increase efficiency in sales. There are lots of sales automation tools out there you can choose for your business.

It is also important that you train your entire sales team to use the software and streamline service delivery. If you plan to apply sales automation in your business, this is the right time to start.