Insights for Smarter Sales
Accurate sales tracking requires many types of data, especially sales notes. However, this doesn’t mean your reps, who are too busy to see value in the task, enjoy making those notes.
Enter: voice-to-text, a rep-friendly technology that makes sales note taking easy, fast, and flexible. The days of janky software with constant typos and completely incorrect transcriptions are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Still not convinced? Here are 3 reasons why voice-to-text is the way to go…and a bonus best practice demonstration video!
Your rep has two back to back meetings and is hotfooting it to their next new range presentation. Thoughts swirl in their mind, but there’s no time to write them down…and now, they’re gone.
In a time-crunch situation, your rep can use voice-to-text to quickly create a customer note, before they forget. Since our speech is up to 7 times faster than typing, voice-to-text can be a very powerful tool for making sales notes. Crucially, today’s voice-to-text keyboards are faster and more accurate, meaning reps won’t have to stop and waste time repeating themselves when their keyboard bugs out.
Reps are on-the-go, on-the-road people, unable to stop, sit, and catalog sales notes. It’s for this reason many reps struggle with CRMs- and why note-taking frustrates them.
With voice-to-text, a rep can make a note whenever and wherever a thought crosses their mind; on the train, in the car, at the office, on their morning walk! It’s a spontaneous, simple tool which doesn’t clash with their lifestyle, designed for mobile, and can be especially useful if your reps already use a sales tracking app.
Reps are outgoing communicators who find talking effortless; it’s just part of the job. Typing up sales tracking data, writing down sales notes- aren’t tasks which play to a rep’s strengths.
To foster motivation, it’s important to understand the strengths of your team to help make their workflow more efficient. Encouraging reps to use voice-to-text as a replacement method for written data entry could help increase motivation; particularly given accent and dialect recognition has drastically improved in the last decade.
Quicker, more accurate, mobile optimized, and with greater nuance, voice-to-text is a modern tool which can streamline a rep’s workflow. However, reps aren’t the only people who benefit from a simpler routine, which is why it’s important for managers to have a simple and effective sales tracking app. Learn more about using voice-to-text with a streamlined sales performance app; watch this space for more sales note tools coming this quarter.
What is motivation? It is vital to the success of a company. It pushes your sales reps to break records. It brings joy when you have it, but when it’s gone, business suffers. Ultimately, it’s a complex emotion which ebbs and flows. So, how can we sustain it?
For when employee-of-the-month and posters on the wall aren’t enough, here are five quick tips that will help you spark motivation in your sales team.
Everyone works differently, but by understanding the specific behavior and strengths of your team, you can implement systems to maximize their potential. A 2012 Harvard Business Review article explains that each type of sales rep requires different targets and incentives to work at their best.
Underachievers responded well to quarterly bonuses; Overachievers continued working hard when they knew they’d receive an overachievement commission. Consistent performers, who make up the largest portion of the sales force, can make a huge difference if goals are split into micro-targets over the sales period. By understanding the individual rep, you’ll discover the best ways to motivate them, and potentially save money while doing it.
Timely, transparent communication is vital for maintaining a motivated workforce. Warwick University published a study in 2017 which showed that sharing information with employees, good and bad, positively impacted performance and motivation. By acknowledging success and underlying issues in a timely manner, reps feel more included and respected.
Avoid mistrust and low motivation by regularly connecting with your sales reps, be it on a group chat or a speedy Zoom catchup; they will value your initiative and work harder because of it.
Creating an ambitious, yet achievable, sales target is no easy task. In a 2018 article, The Journal of Business Strategy explained that sales teams feel unfulfilled when faced with unreasonably high sales targets; what motivates Star performing reps doesn’t work for the majority. Instead, collaborate with your sales team to create achievable objectives specific to each rep. Often, breaking large targets into easy-to-manage chunks can make them seem easier to achieve and more motivating for reps.
Lisa McLeod (2020) describes intrinsic motivation as an attitude where salespeople are motivated by the understanding that their actions are having a positive societal impact. For example, a rep who understands that the high quality auto parts they sell help mechanics provide a better service, putting safer vehicles on the road, will be a more motivated rep. Believing your work holds power to make positive societal change is a stronger motivational source than being told the company is relying on your performance to succeed.
Step back and consider how you could relate intrinsic motivation to your industry; you may find several instances where your sales reps are helping enact positive change.
When it comes to typical sales software like CRMs, many sales managers, and reps, feel apathetic; why should I waste my time doing admin when I could be making money? Numerik can fix that. Numerik is a sales target app designed for sales teams, helping sales reps achieve their targets, and stay motivated.
Featuring rep-specific target setting, a social media style team live feed, customizable target cards, and instant access to customer data, Numerik gives sales reps and managers the tools they want, wherever they need them.
Built specifically for sales people, Numerik isn’t just another CRM; it uses data straight from your ERP and can be set up in just hours. We’d love to help your team reignite their motivation and break records; reach out to us today to get started.
Finding our quoted sources:
When it comes to sales tracking, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are a must have tool for any sales manager looking to understand the performance of their reps.
Essentially, sales KPIs are a metric used to track the effectiveness or activity of your reps against a certain action. Armed with this information, you can make business decisions that help boost rep motivation, lighten their workload and build a focused campaign around your sales targets.
In this article, we’ll delve into just a few simple KPIs you should monitor and track for your sales team when endeavoring to understand and improve sales performance.
It’s important not to get tunnel vision on your KPIs, sales performance isn’t always about the volume of sales overall, sometimes it comes down to making the right sales.
For example, let’s say you’re fat-fingered and added a few extra zeros to your order of steering wheels and now your warehouse is full. Moving this stock is not going to be easy if you’re only baselining your performance off the total number of sales and reps have an easier time of selling tires.
While it requires a clever sales tracking app to configure and track this effectively, setting a sales KPI which tracks the performance of a sales promotion for steering wheels would be a great way to get the word out and shift the extra stock. Tying a sales target to this KPI, potentially even one paired with a commission incentive would be a great way to push sales of this stock even further.
Putting in more effort may sound like a feasible idea, but unless that effort is guided by insight, and funneled into areas that are known to close deals, you won't be increasing sales performance.
You may find yourself in a situation where you’re uncertain about which channels your reps are closing the most deals on. Without the right information, you’ve been encouraging your team to pursue discussion on every channel, in the hope that the extra effort across the board will close more deals.
To make life easier, you can begin tracking KPIs based on channels of discussion, for example, number of phone calls/F2F meetings. To do this, start by investigating which channels perform best by running reports on the amount of sales closed. Using the gathered insights to see which channels your team closes the most deals on you can then set KPI targets on the channels which have the highest conversion rates. To monitor these KPIs in the long run, you’d need to use a straight-forward sales tracking app. The final result? Less effort, and more sales.
Tracking the number of opportunities highlighted by your reps demonstrates their drive for getting more sales and their hunger for spotting new areas for growth. Likewise, the actioned opportunities show which members of your sales team have the drive and follow through to actually close the deals sitting on the table. Each of these are great KPIs to focus on to understand sales team motivation and whether it’s something that needs work.
While we’re on the topic of motivation and making KPIs, it’s important to ensure reps actually update your sales tracking software, a common rub point standing between sales managers and accurate KPIs. To address this, it’s important to pick the right sales tracking app that is unobtrusive on a rep’s busy lifestyle and feels natural for them to use.
You also may have noticed that many of the above KPIs are quite specific and tailored to unique business scenarios and behaviors of reps. In this sense, the generic cookie cutter KPIs presented in most usual sales tracking tools just don’t cut the mustard. Getting real results means tying performance to the right levers that keep things moving and money coming in, and that requires highly flexible KPI tracking, which you can learn more about here.
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Sales is inherently competitive, so why not focus that energy on goals that grow your business? Gamification applies game mechanics like scoring, competition, and rewards to motivate reps and promote friendly rivalry. Implementing a well-designed gamification program aligns individual rep performance with broader campaign targets. Reps receive constant feedback on their progression while competing for glory and prizes.
Rather than generic contests, connect games directly to key campaigns. Gamify goals around moving slow inventory, upselling product bundles, and acquiring ideal customer profiles. This campaign focus ensures gamification drives results, not just participation. Reps compete on meaningful activities, not just the volume of calls or meetings.
Not all reps have the same opportunities, abilities, or clients. Provide a mix of quantitative and qualitative success metrics so anyone can compete:
With enough options, every rep can play to their strengths while expanding their skills.
Visibility keeps gamification engaging and effective. Use leaderboards, trophies, badges, progress bars, and more to showcase competitor standings and highlight winners. Public recognition feeds intrinsic motivation and friendly peer pressure to sustain effort.
Level up the competition by tying games to compensation and rewards. Offer prizes like gift cards, public praise in company meetings, choice of leads, additional PTO, etc. Basing a portion of commissions or bonuses on gamified metrics also works. The potential for extra earnings increases participation.
Manually updating scores is time-consuming and prone to errors. Connect your CRM and other systems to automatically log and score targeted activities as they occur. Automation provides an always-on view of rankings and progress without added workload. Reps stay caught up in the action.
Every sales organization is unique, so tailor games to motivate your team. Involve reps in designing competitions and incentives that resonate. Ongoing feedback helps refine games to maximize engagement and business impact over time.
These cover a broad range of “ways to win,” ensuring all reps are incentivized, even if they previously felt disadvantaged due to territorial designations, specific account assignments, or longer tenure within the company. You can even tie rep incentives and commissions to each trophy or the total amount of trophies collected over a period—e.g., trophies accumulated over 12 months contribute to their total end-of-year bonus.
The numbers-based trophies can be awarded according to the data systems set up for a particular campaign. Subjective metrics like “Best Bait” can be opinion-based, with reps pitching their achievements during monthly meetings. The sales team debates and votes on a winner, fostering emotional investment, teamwork, and sharing of successful tactics.
Gamification, when applied thoughtfully, can significantly enhance sales performance by aligning individual efforts with broader campaign goals. By focusing on real, impactful metrics and providing a variety of ways to win, you can motivate your sales team to achieve greater success. Customize your gamification strategy to fit your company culture and objectives, and watch your sales soar.
Gamification in sales involves applying game mechanics like scoring, competition, and rewards to motivate sales reps and promote friendly rivalry, driving better performance.
Gamification improves sales performance by providing constant feedback, encouraging healthy competition, and aligning individual efforts with broader campaign goals.
Examples include leaderboards, badges, trophies, and awards for various achievements such as most unlikely upsell, best bait, and the long haul.
Involve your sales team in designing competitions and incentives that resonate with them. Use ongoing feedback to refine the games and maximize engagement.
Combining objective and subjective metrics ensures that all reps can compete based on their strengths and encourages a variety of successful sales behaviors.
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In order to simply demonstrate the way Numerik achieves this, we have produced this illustration, based on Jim Collins’ flywheel effect principle.
In short, the idea is that rather than one burst of action bringing massive results or overnight success, many small actions lead onto the next, and as you keep pushing the flywheel completes one entire turn.
It starts with targets, then gives sales reps live data so they can adapt their daily activities to know how to get closer to those goals.
Having access to 24/7 live updates keeps reps “watching the game”, and as they drill into a target they are shown breakdowns of what each customer is contributing towards it. This empowers a sales rep to see gaps and opportunities for cross-selling and upselling.
They can flick through their phone at any time and see ways to improve their target performance or spot a golden goose waiting for attention, such as a product that isn’t doing as well this year as it did last year. With an eye on the goal, and tracking in real-time, the question of "where will I land for the period" comes up.
This is where forecasting comes into play. Forecasting ahead on where the numbers will come from, in a simple interface, allows reps to take the guesswork out.
Then it's about taking the actions to close those opportunities, collaborating to hit those numbers and rewarding the team for achieving their sales targets so often.
This completes the flywheel.
As you constantly repeat the process, the flywheel starts to increase in speed until it builds up its own momentum, changing the culture in the process.
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The most important thing that many struggle with during forecasting is the planning aspect.
Forecasting is often just seen as a "thumb suck" or "making up numbers" to keep management happy, when in fact it can be a really useful tool.
A sales rep taking a moment to think about where their future numbers are going to come from is a very worthwhile exercise, as it helps them move forward on a “lighted path” rather than guess their way through darkness.
These stop-and-reflect moments where you look at current spend, and at additional spend that is likely to occur for the period, lead to precise actions being taken to ensure the forecast number is achieved.
How are they going to meet the target, otherwise?
Reps need a harbour to steer the ship toward, instead of aimlessly sailing and hoping. Forecasting gives them a clearer idea of where they’re going to land for the period.
The real benefit to building a forecast is the opportunity it gives us to do something proactive before the deadline becomes reality and we miss our target! For example, if you build a forecast on the first day of the month, and it predicts you will fall short by 10%, you then have the entire month to influence that.
This helps reps keep their cool, too; nothing will put a client’s guard up like a desperate salesperson sweating to make quota at the last minute.
Forecasting when performed in relation to a target takes on a new meaning for many reps. Rather than a thumb-sucking exercise for management, they see it as building a plan around the numbers. Instead of the road to hit those numbers being obscure, or those numbers seeming randomly picked from a hat, they can begin mapping out their plan of attack early.
1) Make a commitment to building a forecast for the current period, and just start. The forecasting process is something that improves as you practice it. Communicate your intent and the benefits of doing it to the team, too.
2) Build up a forecast at the customer level. This is a simple task that can be done on an Excel sheet. Look at what a customer’s sales are for the period so far, then estimate what additional sales they are likely to have this period. Be conservative with this in the beginning. Repeat this exercise for all your key customers to see where you are likely to land for the period.
3) Review and adjust the forecast through the period. A forecast is a live number and changes as new information comes to hand. Make it a habit to review the forecast on a weekly basis and this will keep everyone forward-looking, helping them to stay creative and proactive with how to hit their numbers.
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Group chats have increasingly become part of our lives over the past few years.
Rather than time-sucking chain emails where everybody confuses each other, or meetings that didn’t need to be a meeting, we can now simply pop something onto a chat and get a rapid response.
This has rewired how we work and changed our expectations around response times. Life as a sales rep on the road can be lonely at times, as you are physically disconnected from your team.
A group chat is a great way to keep sales reps engaged and feeling part of the team, and aware of what is happening even while they’re away from base and each other.
It provides an outlet for the team to share updates, major changes or learnings, and wins and challenges they are experiencing.
Group Chats help to keep teams motivated too, as team members like to share wins and good news stories with their peers, encouraging everyone to lift their game. Think about how much this could move the needle with KPI’s and leaderboards if the chat was a daily thing!
As we mentioned in How to use a live-data stream to empower your sales team, how much you commit to the chat in the beginning and the vibe you post with from day one will impact the culture of it forever. If you want reps to be fully engaged rather than using it out of “obligation” or “to keep the company happy”, if you want them to make it a true tool to get inspired and pumped up, then start with the end in mind.
1) Create a group chat for your sales team, using an app like WhatsApp or Microsoft teams. If you find the team is too big, you may want to split it by campaigns or territories or something. Try to use a platform some of your reps are either already familiar with or keen to try, so that there are at least some reps using it fluently from day 1 for the other reps to watch and learn from.
2) Communicate the intent to your team, and what the purpose of the chat is. E.g. for sharing wins, important updates etc. Discuss options to maximise its efficiency, such as whether to have set times for checking in with wins or whether the team is small enough to post at any time of day. Even if you end up changing approach later, it means that something that doesn’t work well for the team or an individual is just written off as a first attempt, rather than a reason for giving up on the group chat altogether. Reps are almost proud of their ability to quit a CRM or other communication software before they’ve even tried it, so you want this to be something they experiment with until it suits them best, and the best way to achieve that is to get their input and buy-in from the beginning.
3) Start posting content to the chat. Make this a daily task to keep interacting with the chat and posting. React to comments posted by your team, and encourage collaboration. You will notice some reps are more active than others. That doesn’t mean the quiet ones aren’t still being inspired by it, so don’t panic - rather, just ask them privately how they are finding the chat in case there is something that can be adjusted to increase their contribution.
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Ambitious sales targets motivate teams, but without proper tools and visibility, those targets remain unmet. Numerik enables sales teams to close more deals by directing rep focus and effort.
Make targets accessible and actionable
Like a scoreboard in sports, sales targets should keep reps engaged by spotlighting their progress. But if targets live in hard-to-reach reports, their impact is muted.
Consider if your sales targets are:
Highlight progress
Targets should also demonstrate trends over time. Compare current metrics versus past performance and break down progress by rep, product line and other factors to share and propagate best practices.
Make it visual
Dashboards and visualizations allow faster information processing than walls of numbers. Tailor visual target displays to your data for quicker pattern recognition.
Automate monitoring
Don’t force manual scrutiny of targets. Use automated emails and in-app alerts to notify reps of significant target changes.
The Numerik advantage
Unlike CRMs designed for managers, Numerik is purpose-built to align rep workflows to targets. Its intuitive and mobile-optimized interface provides constant visibility into target attainment status.
Numerik streamlines entering call notes, logging meetings and updating forecasts while linking all activities back to targets. Automatic alerts highlight at-risk targets, encouraging effort redirection. And leaderboards inject friendly competition.
Behind its simple interface, Numerik leverages a lightning-fast real-time analytics engine to crunch the numbers. Key features include:
Real-time tracking – Numerik connects to data sources like CRMs to import and calculate the latest sales data on-the-fly. Targets and forecasts update automatically without manual intervention.
Flexible target setting – Set targets based on revenue, profit, sales volume, activities and more. Apply at organization, team, manager or individual levels with powerful drill-down analysis.
Gamification – Leaderboards, achievement badges and friendly alerts make target progression social and build team camaraderie.
CRM agnostic – Integrate data from multiple CRMs or other databases without migration. Custom APIs available for non-standard data sources.
White label option – Hide Numerik branding and customize colors to embed targets seamlessly into your sales ecosystem.
By making sales targets visible, useful and proactive, they become a dynamic guide rather than a static measurement tool. Targets that compel action on a daily basis drive higher performance.
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In our hyper-wired society, we constantly check our favorite news sites or social media feeds to stay updated. While these habits can sometimes distract us, the same principle can be leveraged to engage and motivate your sales team. By providing a stream of relevant "news," sales reps can stay connected with their targets and monitor customer activity effectively. This approach ensures that critical information is never missed, enabling faster and more strategic decision-making.
Imagine a sales rep receiving real-time updates about a customer's purchase activity. For instance, if a customer orders six items but could benefit from a price break at eight, the rep can immediately contact the customer to explore an upsell opportunity. This timely intervention can significantly impact sales performance and customer satisfaction.
Real-time data can also help reps balance their efforts between acquiring new business and maximizing the current client base. By identifying and acting on opportunities promptly, sales teams can capture additional revenue that might otherwise be overlooked.
Ensure that invoicing is as current as possible. Educate team members involved in invoicing about how their work influences sales decisions. This understanding will motivate them to prioritize timely invoicing, directly contributing to the sales team's success.
If your ERP system allows, set up automated daily reports showing each sales rep their month-to-date sales totals. This visibility keeps reps informed and motivated to meet their targets.
Establish a group chat where sales reps can share successes and insights. Start with a simple plan and gradually increase engagement. Encourage team leaders to participate actively, as the level of engagement in a group chat often reflects the enthusiasm of its initial culture.
Having quick access to the latest data enables sales reps to react swiftly to opportunities. Whether it's upselling to existing customers or reallocating efforts to new prospects, real-time information empowers reps to make informed decisions that drive results. This agility can be the difference between meeting and exceeding sales targets.
Incorporating a live data feed into your sales strategy can transform how your team operates. By keeping sales reps informed with up-to-the-minute information, you ensure that no opportunity is missed. Implement these strategies to create a more responsive and effective sales team, capable of achieving outstanding results in today's fast-paced business environment.
Q: What is real-time data in sales?
A: Real-time data in sales refers to the instant access and monitoring of customer activities, purchase patterns, and other critical information. This allows sales reps to respond immediately to opportunities and challenges, ensuring more strategic and effective decision-making.
Q: How can real-time data benefit my sales team?
A: Real-time data can help your sales team by providing immediate insights into customer behavior, enabling quick responses to upsell opportunities, and ensuring no important information is missed. This leads to better customer engagement and higher sales performance.
Q: What are some strategies to implement a sales newsfeed?
A: Strategies include maintaining up-to-date invoicing, automating daily sales reports, and creating a group chat for sharing wins and learnings. These approaches ensure that your sales team stays informed, motivated, and ready to act on new opportunities.
Q: How does maintaining up-to-date invoicing influence sales decisions?
A: Up-to-date invoicing provides accurate and timely information on customer purchases, allowing sales reps to identify opportunities for upselling or addressing issues promptly. This can lead to increased sales and improved customer satisfaction.
Q: Why is automating daily sales reports important?
A: Automating daily sales reports keeps sales reps informed about their performance and progress towards targets. This visibility helps maintain motivation and allows reps to adjust their strategies in real-time to meet their goals.
Q: How can a group chat for wins and learnings benefit my sales team?
A: A group chat for sharing successes and insights fosters a collaborative and motivated sales culture. Team members can learn from each other’s experiences, celebrate wins, and stay engaged with their targets.
Q: What are the overall benefits of quick access to data for sales reps?
A: Quick access to data enables sales reps to react swiftly to new opportunities, balance efforts between new and existing clients, and make informed decisions that drive results. This agility can be crucial for meeting and exceeding sales targets.In our hyper-wired society, we constantly check our favorite news sites or social media feeds to stay updated. While these habits can sometimes distract us, the same principle can be leveraged to engage and motivate your sales team. By providing a stream of relevant "news," sales reps can stay connected with their targets and monitor customer activity effectively. This approach ensures that critical information is never missed, enabling faster and more strategic decision-making.
