Manufacturers want to leave their competition in the dust.
To make that happen requires gaining market share. More sales. Growth in your dealer network, gains in its effectiveness.
Based on our direct experience working with manufacturers and building sales tools to enable their dealer channel, we have dialed in four mobile sales tool metrics that can help you optimize any sales technology deployment for effectiveness and performance – and ultimately, move the sales needle.
(NEW: see why leading manufacturers are using distributor mobile apps to dominate their industry)
1. Increase Selling Time
One of the biggest obstacles dealer sales reps face is being bogged down by administrative work so they don’t have time to sell.
Salespeople often have to waste hours per day using outdated legacy systems or death by meeting, significantly cutting into the work day and reducing productivity.
Tracking the ratio of admin time to time spent selling can reveal some important insights into your company’s sales process, and clearly identify the systems that are the most counterproductive to improving sales.
See how a Mobile Sales App Improves Efficiency for OEM Channel Sales Reps.
Sales people only spend 34% of their time on selling activities. This is one of the biggest levers for sales managers – reduce admin time for your reps to increase sales performance!
KEY METRIC: % of time spent on selling activities. Avg. is 34%.
How to implement:
- Establish a benchmark – get the current %. If you can’t measure, ask. If you can’t ask, give them a survey.
- Look at what they spend their time on other than sales. Find common issues. Address them.
- Keep measuring over time and get that selling % up!
2. Create More Actionable Sales Materials
Throughout the lifecycle of a sale, a salesperson might end up using dozens of different marketing and sales materials, including brochures, PDFs, videos, and images.
Knowing which of these materials resonate with customers and push them closer to a buying decision is extremely valuable. The most effective assets can be promoted to other salespeople, and future asset creation by the marketing team can be driven by data.
The most effective asset metric is one you will have to benchmark for your own sales app / tool, but is one of the most critical things you can do get the ROI you expect. On a regular basis, at least once per quarter, you should look to eliminate information that isn’t being used by sales people.
Your app is a living, breathing thing. Make sure the information in there is what dealers and customers want, or they won’t us it.
KEY METRIC: % of assets that are rated high value. Avg. is 20%.
How to implement:
- Deploy analytics on your sales materials.
- Measure which assets get used the most.
- Ask / survey reps on the value they get from these assets.
3. Mobile Sales App ROI
For many sales managers and directors, huge investments in technology – mobile apps, CRM, databases – can leave a bitter taste in the mouth. How do you really know that these expensive investments are actually improving sales?
Tracking technology engagement against sales effectiveness is a great way to establish structure around measurement of tech ROI. Get answers about what works and what doesn’t and see if future investments in technology would be worth it.
This one is a simple correlation – using Excel or other spreadsheet, track sales performance in relation to new programs. Over time, you will see the impact your new technology acquisitions are having on your key sales metrics – close rates, sales cycle times, volume. Ideally, focus on one initiative at a time so you can track performance well.
KEY METRIC: ROI of your mobile sales app. Avg. is 8.5x.
How to implement:
- Build a simple ROI model in a spreadsheet.
- Correlate app utilization to sales.
- Start conversation with reps about how to increase the value.
4. Increased User Interaction
With user-level metrics, you can see who is using the app and who isn’t – as well as how they are using it. Adoption is the foundation of a successful sales enablement program. Are 50% of your sales users regularly engaging with your mobile sales app? If so, why aren’t the other 50% using it!? If you have the metrics, you can ask them.
Any new technology rollout will require a champion to help drive adoption and success. Putting the right person in this role is a critical factor in long-term success.
KEY METRIC: # of actively engaged reps. Avg. is 30%.
How to implement:
- Define active engagement for your sales reps. Logging in at least once a week is a good place to start. Adjust this later.
- Look at your analytics – what % are actively engaged?
- Discuss with your team ways to increase app usage. The more you put in, the more you will get out of it.
Start Measuring to Optimize Sales Performance
We have seen sales technology transform sales organizations. But only with a good plan for rollout, adoption, training and support. And ONLY when they execute a strategy for measurement and optimization over time. This is not a set it and forget it thing.
You can make the most of your technology rollout with the four metrics above, and win against the competition.
Additional Resources
- Want to see how your dealer engagement stacks up to the industry? Get the Dealer Engagement Maturity Model
