This Technique Will Boost Your Sales Team Performance from 0 to 100!

Posted by Lucrativ on 7/9/19 5:30 AM

 

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High productivity in the workplace is an important ingredient in any company’s success. It signals an efficient system, a roster of happy employees, and a highly functioning organization. Its benefits also trickle down from the workplace to the customers. It’s a win-win situation all around—for business, company, employees, and customers.

The challenge is making sure that productivity is in high gear in the workplace. We want our salespeople to be productive in selling. How can you make sure of that?

For one, you should have sales metrics that measure productivity in place. Some examples of these productivity metrics include Lead Response Time, Sales Pipeline Coverage, Time Spent Selling, Sales Activity and Efficiency, and Quote-to-Close, etc.

You can also run an analysis on the team. This technique is often called Cluster Analysis.

 

What is Cluster Analysis?

Cluster analysis is a class of techniques that are used to classify objects or cases into relative groups called clusters. It is also called classification analysis or numerical taxonomy.

Clustering is basically segmentation. It is a process of grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in the same group (called a cluster) are more similar (in some sense) to each other than to those in other groups (clusters). You create segments with similar characteristics from a bigger (or parent) population.

In a retail company, for example, you can break up a big population of buyers. Create groups or clusters based on their reasons for purchasing products from the company. So you will have a cluster of buyers who shop for the fresh produce, another cluster who shops for the vegan options, and so on. The clustering then serves the company’s marketing. They can address these different clusters with different campaigns targeting each cluster.
 
It's worth noting that cluster analysis has these features:
  • Clustering is an undirected data mining technique. This means it can be used to identify hidden patterns and structures in the data without formulating a specific hypothesis.
  • Clustering is performed to identify similarities with respect to specific behaviors or dimensions.
  • Cluster analysis can be used to discover structures in data without providing an explanation or interpretation. In other words, cluster analysis simply discovers patterns in data without explaining why they exist. The resulting clusters are meaningless by themselves. They need to be profiled extensively to build their identity (i.e. to understand what they represent and how they are different from the parent population).

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How do You Use Cluster Analysis in Your Sales Team?

Within your organization, you can use cluster analysis to check for the efficiency within the team.
 
You can divide your team of sales agents, sales representatives, account executives, and customer service representatives into clusters. They can be grouped based on similar shifts, similar accounts, and other similar variables that you can spot within the “parent population.”
 
One of our clients uses cluster analysis. They group their sales representatives and customer service representatives by shift. They then “analyze” these shifts and track the performance of each cluster or group. They collect performance-related data from each group and compare. And not surprisingly, this practice allows them to see which shift is more efficient in its operations.
 
Using a CRM, you can track a particular group’s performance. A CRM provides you with pipeline visibility. You can check their activities for any given period. You can track the leads they’re working on, the deals they’ve closed, and even their projections for the next month or quarter.
 
You can then compare these different clusters. Check what the better-performing clusters are doing. Then implement their best practices within the poor-performing clusters.
 
You can test different clusters until you find the clusterings that work. You want to find the clusters that maximize productivity within your organization.
 
Productivity in the workplace will always be a work in progress. Employ sales management strategies that help increase work output. Always track, review, and evaluate performance. If you remain proactive and consistent in doing these things, rest assured you will boost your sales team’s performance... and improve win rates.

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Topics: Sales Pipeline Management

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