Hatch
✍ ️From the Founders: The Hatch Story
Bill and I both are sales people who have been a part of large sales organizations for a combined 25 years of experience.
Sales acceleration on the surface sounds like something a general manager would say to his sales teams.
Respond faster, communicate efficiently, and make sales quicker.
In truth, that is what sales acceleration means by definition. But where it gets interesting, is how a business accomplishes that task. It could simply mean asking sales representatives to work a little harder, push their customers to optimize results. However, it could also mean bringing in modern technology to optimize a sales team.
We know that sales representatives are required to talk a customer through products that will work for them, and bring a personal approach to the sales process. However, sales people can only handle being personal to so many customers at once.
In a perfect world, our salespeople have time to check up on all their potential customers and gently guide them to a perfect sale. But when sales managers are throwing fresh leads at them, and they are trying to reach their quotas, they face a lot of pressure to perform.
Companies can utilize techniques like automation, customized marketing campaigns, and CRMs to complete the sales funnel…without stressing out their sales people.
Just setting up these processes, however, will not make sales come faster. The key to sales acceleration is using proven research, analytics, and the proper tools.
Not only does a company need to place the process and software in place to help their sales team, but they also need to know how to use them properly. A good example are Customer Relationship Management systems.
CRMs - The foundation for acceleration
Businesses purchase a CRM because it can keep their customers organized, but they don’t utilize the CRM as a marketing or sales tool like they should. Or, they set up a email workflow and never edit it again based on its effectiveness to sell.
CRMs could be used to send out customized, yet automated, follow up emails after a customer has an appointment with a representative. Or, they could receive a discount on their specific project if they haven’t made a decision a week after contact with a rep.
If they decide to purchase, they can be placed in a campaign that follows up with them in a year to see how their product is performing. If they decide not to purchase, they could be sent an email asking them why they ultimately went with someone else.
How to accelerate with technology
Modern technology gives the ability to send perfectly crafted messages that were proven to incur a certain reaction from a customer, and we can apply that to all of a sales team’s clients. It is simply a matter of knowing what to look for in a customer base and in marketing analytics. It’s time to revolutionize sales teams.
Picture this. You’re in the car business. You’ve got 12 car salesmen at your dealership.
Two of your salespeople are excellent at closing and follow-up — so they close 45% of potential customers who comes into your business. The other 10 sales people, only close 20% — 30%. If every under-performing sales rep could add 10% to their closing rate, what would their impact to the business be?
Beyond just numbers - sales is all about momentum. One deal leads to another, and confidence helps build a stable roster of high-performing reps. Less turnover in customer-facing positions builds familiarity and trust. That combination equals more sales.
Your dealership is paying a lot of money for leads every month and these customers are not like customers from 10 years ago. They are educated and savvy, having done research on price and make and model. It only makes sense to get your sales team to perform better on the leads that are coming in.
Sales acceleration allows you - and most importantly - your team, to virtually check in with potential clients, and help them make a decision on their car purchase without having to put in any extra work.
This allows them to keep generating new leads and focus on customers that are extremely close to making their decision, all without losing a customer in the sales funnel from inactivity. On top of that, if a lead goes cold, through analytics you’ll have a clear picture of what drove that customer, or several customers, away.
Don't Skimp on Sales Acceleration technology
You will increase your revenue, decrease the timing from first-touch to point of purchase, and your sales team will thank you at the same time.