Inside Sales Lead Management Featured Article

What role does analytics play in your business? Companies throughout the world are capturing, storing and using data on a daily basis to make better business decisions. In the sales world, this means analyzing customer behaviors to better position products and services for a larger share of the market. It can fill the funnel in inside sales lead management and produce better results.

One key area that has been lacking in the past, however, is the use of analytics in identifying, recruiting, hiring and retaining quality talent. The same processes that are used to attract clients can be used to attract professionals and according to a recent WhaTech piece citing a Forbes article, analytics is being applied to people-decisions, and HR departments are attracting those skilled in data analytics.

When this information can be applied to the inside sales lead management team, companies could produce powerful results. Consider the current approach to sales goals – the standard is to set targets against predefined key performance indicators, or KPIs. While you do want to have targets and goals set, this approach looks only at past performance. Wouldn’t it be better if it were instead based on the activities of the individual, which are then analyzed for feedback in near real-time?

For years, companies have been referring to their employees as their greatest asset. Now’s the time to demonstrate just how valuable they are as an asset by using snippets of data related to performance to optimize business outcomes. It’s also a great way to solve problems, getting to the heart of an issue, instead of merely addressing symptoms. When business decisions are made on factual data and not emotions, real change is measurable.

To accomplish this, data is generally drawn from aggregated, anonymized data captured from calendar, email and other datasets specific to the company. Company leadership then gains a better understanding of how time is used and whether or not current activities are leading to increased sales. When the increases are there, they can also analyze why one person on the inside sales lead management team is outperforming another.

Using this approach, HR can also analyze current hiring procedures and learn how best to fill the sales team with top performers. Over time, all processes should improve and those who really aren’t lending value to the organization should find they need to look for employment elsewhere. It may sound harsh, but it actually puts the sales professional in a better position to earn commissions and the company in a better position to employ those who are producing results.