Those who know me know that I’m a fan of data-driven decisions. I always was, even before this term became “trendy”. Don’t get me wrong. I know that intuition in life and business is important and can be a game-changer. Nevertheless, even the best, seasoned professionals are sometimes wrong. Data is never wrong. Sometimes it might be hard to understand. Sometimes it might cause some headaches. Sometimes it might be painful to accept – but it is always right.
Understanding and optimizing key sales parameters can be the difference between stagnation and exponential growth. Trust me – with over a decade of experience in the IT industry, managing multiple sales teams, I’ve witnessed firsthand the transformative power of meticulous attention to what parameters to measure in B2B sales.
From the seemingly endless cycle of prospecting to the final handshake that seals the deal, each phase of the sales process is a goldmine of data waiting to be harnessed. Among the plethora of metrics available, identifying the right B2B sales parameters to focus on can feel like finding a needle in a haystack. However, it’s this precise endeavor that has unlocked unprecedented growth and efficiency in the sales operations I’ve led. The importance of CRM in B2B sales cannot be overstated. It serves as a repository of customer interactions. Moreover, it is a cornerstone in strategizing and refining sales tactics based on real-time data and historical trends. Drawing from both my experiences and insights gleaned from respected industry professionals, I’ll share with you the critical parameters that have not only shaped my sales teams’ strategies but have also been corroborated by renowned authors in the field.
Table of Contents
Personal story
This week I would like to kick it off with the sales cycle length. It’s a critical parameter in B2B sales that offers invaluable insights into the efficiency and effectiveness of your sales process.
Reflecting on my journey, I recall a period when the sales cycle seemed endlessly prolonged, creating a bottleneck that hampered our growth. In one of my previous businesses we were selling services around Microsoft 365: implementations, trainings, email migrations, etc. Our average deal age from the moment of entering the “Qualified” stage in the pipeline to marking it as “Won” (when the contract was signed and delivered to us) was…72 days. Depending on the industry and situation you are in currently you might be thinking: “What? Only 72 days?” or “72 days? What did you guys do so long?” and probably both of these points of view are justified. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is this: what can you do to shorten your sales cycle?
Sales cycle length
By meticulously analyzing each stage of our sales process, we identified key areas where prospects wstuck. It wasn’t an easy task, and it required a deep dive into our CRM system, leveraging its data to pinpoint the exact stages where delays occurred. We discovered that a combination of factors, including:
• Gathering requirements – people tend to gather these requirements in various ways and depending on their experience and awareness it is average, good, or excellent.
• Lack of follow-up strategies – people were following up in various ways (emails, phone calls, messages via various channels), with different amounts of time in between follow-ups.
• Requirements analysis – the level of meticulousness was different depending on various factors (amount of time of an engineer, complexity of the project) but mostly depended on the level of persistency of a salesperson responsible for a certain opportunity.
• Proposal preparation – it consumed a lot of time and required a lot of tailoring for each client.
Mind-blowing strategies you have to know
Armed with this knowledge, we implemented targeted strategies to address these issues head-on:
• Gathering requirements – we’ve created a clear process definition along with a list of mandatory questions that had to be addressed during the meeting and gathered in a structured way. Furthermore, we’ve introduced a Miro board a tool to visually present some ideas and gather information during client meetings.
• Lack of follow-up strategies – we’ve introduced policies around follow-ups. Salespeople were supposed to follow them to the letter. Additionally, we encouraged phone follow-ups instead of email ones.
• Requirements analysis – we’ve created a process for the requirement analysis and prioritized the types of projects that were scored as the most ut ones for the company. Engineers had fixed time slots for the requirement analysis to improve efficiency.
• Proposal preparation – we’ve created multiple proposal templates based on the types of services that were offered. They had sections that were describing certain actions or types of software that were part of the offering (repeatable ones) and empty, blank sections with pieces of information to fill in based on the requirement analysis (and matching the questions that we were asking during the gathering of requirements).
The results were nothing short of remarkable. We saw a substantial reduction in our sales cycle length, which accelerated our sales process. It also enhanced our team’s morale, as they could now close deals faster and more efficiently. As a matter of fact we were able to decrease the length of the sales cycle from 72 days to…31 days on average! This experience was a testament to the power of data-driven decision-making in optimizing sales operations. The insights gleaned from monitoring the sales cycle length and team effort paid off both for the business overall as well as for the salespeople. They were able to close more deals in a shorter amount of time.
Conclusion
In sharing this story, I hope to illuminate the tangible impact that focusing on the right sales parameters can have on your business.
Reflecting on these changes, it’s evident that the journey of optimizing the sales cycle is continuous. Each improvement opens the door to new challenges and opportunities. Yet, the rewards of this endeavor are undeniable. By focusing on the sales cycle length and leveraging the power of CRM, we achieved our immediate goals. Moreover, we laid the foundation for sustained growth and success in the competitive landscape of B2B sales. The transformation witnessed within my teams is a testament to the critical role of data-driven strategies in achieving sales excellence.
In the following weeks, I will cover other parameters that are important in my opinion. Hopefully, you will be able to implement some of them in your business. Or at least I’ve inspired you to monitor certain parameters more closely.
