How to Sell More by Simplifying Your Sales Reports

Every day in sales offices all over the world, great crimes against professionalism are being committed. Salespeople and sales managers are not opening sales reports, usually because they’re poorly formatted, not digestible or being sent by the all-too-dismissible method of e-mail. This situation is costing you money every month.
Let’s consider why we’re making these reports in the first place and then look at the best way to distribute them in a way that will make us more money.

Sales Reports by Role

So, we all need to be reading the reports, but who gets what out of this process? Something commonly-overlooked is the ‘why’ of creating sales reports and the implications it has. It’s a good idea to consider this on a roll-by-role basis.
The Salesperson needs a sales report for competitive inspiration.
In light of this, a salesperson needs to see where their sales activity figures are in relation to their colleagues and pick out their name from the list in about three seconds.
More so, the reports should be sent out daily and not be some printout at the end of month meeting. Show your sales team where they are in relation to their team each day and you can kiss the afternoon slump goodbye. Make sure to include:
  • Number of calls made
  • Amount of time spent on phone
  • Appointments booked
  • Sales made
  • Amount of commission earned
 
Key Takeaway: The more info you include and the more frequently you communicate it, the more chance you have of stirring up some decent competition.
The Sales Manager needs a sales report to motivate their team.
Your sales team is the most valuable asset in the company and that asset must be managed. The sales manager needs to see where to spend their time and resources to do this effectively.
Without having up-to-date, real-time information, how can the sales managers operate effectively and get the most out of your most valuable asset? They can’t.
Format your reports in such a way so as to make it easy for the sales managers to quickly identify where the team is so they can act quickly and effectively without spending ages picking apart from overly complicated data.
Key Takeaway: Have a system which highlights people underperforming on sales activity KPI’s and make it easy for your sales managers to spot what needs their attention.
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The Company Owner needs a sales report to identify problems

Sales reports should be a great way to spot mission-critical data such as bottlenecks. If you see a large amount of sales to relatively limited sales activity, you can get a feel for overall supply and demand within the sector and also for which products are selling most and need to be ordered or manufactured to keep up with the supply and demand.
Key Takeaway: Experiment with ratio-based metrics (such as units-sold/calls-and -appointments-made) to help quickly ascertain stock throughput and other potential problems or insights.

Effectively Deliver Your Simplified Sales Reports

We all know the feeling of just having too many emails. Guess what? So does your team. Text messages on the other hand are another ball game altogether. We’re practically conditioned to open up a text message within 5 minutes of our phones giving us the alert. They can be sent easily, even to your field sales team when they have no mobile Internet connection.
One final thing to remember here is that a sales manager not opening a sales report is a strong sign of lack of engagement with the company. Apps such as CallProof  allow you to send sales reports easily and then track who’s reading them and who’s not.
Don’t leave your sales report strategy as a half baked process. Streamline it and watch the money come flowing in.
Sales reports are a crucial tool in managing a sales team effectively and identifying potential problems within the sales process. Each role within the sales team has different needs when it comes to sales reports, and it is important to format the reports in a way that is digestible and easily accessible. Sending reports frequently and using text messages instead of email can increase engagement and competition within the team. By streamlining the sales report process and utilizing tools like CallProof, companies can improve their sales performance and ultimately increase their revenue.