Optimize Sales Growth: The Power of Data Driven Performance Analysis

Has the increasing remote work culture impacted sales performance? 

This is one of the key questions that InsideSales raised in their sales development study. Their finding was that there was a 6.6% decrease in quota attainment between 2018 and 2020 as a result of a period of adjustment to a new remote and digital selling environment.

In a job profile where productivity and results are key, salesforce needs a systematic approach to evaluating their performance for an effective sales process.

Sales performance analysis is the apt solution and necessity for a highly demanding and priority work like sales. 

Now if you want to know more about sales performance analysis, this is the right place to delve more into the topic. 

So scroll down for more.  

What is Sales Performance Analysis?

Sales performance analysis is the process of measuring the sales progress of the salesforce based on key performance indicators, encompassing the crucial realm of sales performance analytics. It helps sales managers understand their sales team’s performance, strengths, and setbacks as well as strategize for improvements. 

Sales performance analysis tries to understand sales performance based on quota achievement, the territory in which they work, the time of the month, and various other factors. 

The sales compensation plan serves as a crucial factor in evaluating the effectiveness of the sales strategies and the effort put in by the salesforce in achieving their goals and financial incentives.

How often should you do sales performance analysis?

Now, always remember that performance, productivity, etc. are qualitative metrics. Quantifying these efforts must be based on rational benchmarks. 

In addition, sales is a gradual and consistent process. Trying to weigh the progress daily is not a wise approach. 

Each salesperson has a strategy for closing deals. Some are more productive at the beginning of the month while others lag at the start but will efficiently achieve their targets before the deadline. 

Hence, it's not always the number of efforts the salesforce has put in every day or their productivity on each day that must be quantified but the final judgment must always be based on the end result. That is the closing of deals.  

Considering all these factors, organizations usually conduct a sales performance analysis on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis. Here we are looking at the larger picture to understand the efficiency of the salesperson and the effectiveness of their efforts. 

Organizations must wait for a while, observing the salesforce of their performance before judging their potential and skill. 

To know more about compensatory analysis, check How to Conduct a Successful Compensation Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide.

Benefits of conducting sales performance analysis

Insightful Data

Conducting sales data analysis provides insightful data that help make data-driven decisions that are more accurate and less prone to errors. Since it is based on standard quantifiable metrics, the light it sheds on operational efficiency is valid and crucial for an organization. 

Accurate Sales Forecasting 

Sales performance analysis plays a vital role in accurate sales forecasting. Evaluating the sales force's performance is a key element in predicting future sales for the quarter or year. A large portion of sales success depends on the skills and talent of the sales team in converting leads into clients.

Key Differences Between Sales forecast vs projection

Sales Forecasts: These are data-driven predictions of the most likely sales outcome. They are based on historical data, market trends, and current sales pipeline information.

‍Sales Projections: These explore potential sales outcomes under different circumstances (scenarios). This allows for exploring "what-if" situations, such as the impact of a new marketing campaign or a change in competitor pricing. 

Further Reading - What’s the “Next Big Thing” in Sales Forecasting

Incorporate Best Practices

Sales performance analysis provides sales managers with a clear picture of their salesforce talent and setbacks. This helps in sales coaching where the managers can effectively guide the salesforce in improving their weak points and providing better strategies for emphasizing their strengths. 

Strategize Better Sales Plans

Sales performance analysis provides actionable insights. This means that the data from the analysis can be used for developing effective sales strategies and sales plans that are sure to give desired outcomes. Such planned moves help in ensuring that every step taken in business operations has a purpose and outcome, leading to optimized sales performance and increased revenue.

Consistent Growth 

Continuously working on improvement is a sign of a growing business. Evaluating your salesforce, analyzing their performance, and designing strategies based on these assessments help in giving clarity on the work you are doing and the efforts you have to put in for better results. 

To read more about the benefits of sales performance and to drive revenue, check the article How to Improve Sales Performance for Your Business & Drive Revenue

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What are the sales analysis metrics to consider

Lead Conversion Rate

Lead conversion rate is one of the effective metrics for sales team performance analysis. It checks the number of leads that the salesperson was successfully able to convert to customers. It also evaluates why the prospect chose your company and product over others. 

Demo Calls Booked

Another quantifiable way in which sales analysis, including OTE sales, can be done is through the number of demos booked. As it is a crucial stage in the sales funnel that is closer to the decision-making of closing a deal, a demo session is reflective of the consistent persuasion of the salesforce in leading the prospect through their customer journey.

Average Conversion Time 

One of the key skills of a salesperson is creating a sense of missing out on a prospectus without the product or service in their business operations. This feeling of missing out also creates an urgency to incorporate the solution for better and more efficient operations. Effectively bringing in such a thought pushes the lead to move faster in the pipeline and close the deal, thus reducing the conversion time. 

Sales Quota Achievement

There is no clear data about the salesforce’s performance other than their sales quota achievement. The effectiveness and efficiency with which a salesperson achieves their sales quota shows their skill, talent, communication, networking as well as building a successful business relationship. 

Further Reading - Boosting Revenue with Precision: Setting Sales Quotas

Number of Activities Done

Each organization has their ways of checking the efficiency of the salesforce. In most cases, it is the sales closed and the revenue bought. But some companies look into the number of calls made, emails sent, and other activities done by the salesforce. Bringing a balance and efficiently handling all these tasks to bring in positive results is also a sign of an effective salesperson. 

For more comprehensive reading on sales performance management, check the article A Complete Guide to Execution Of Sales Performance Management.

Key Takeaways

The efficiency of the salesforce is key to business growth and success. Hence, organizations must make it a part of their practice to regularly analyze sales trends and evaluate their sales team’s performance and the effectiveness of their strategies in bringing better prospects to the organization. Incorporating tools like the Win percentage calculator further enhances this analysis, providing a quantitative measure of sales success and enabling organizations to fine-tune strategies based on the actual conversion rates achieved by the sales team.

These efforts of consistently supporting the salesforce to improve and grow will also have a huge impact on the organizational success. 

But it's not just about giving inputs of improvement that will help the salesforce to strive more. A huge factor that works towards motivating the salesforce and keeping them focused is also dependent on sales performance management and incentive compensation management.

Keeping their compensation sheets clear and transparent must be one of the top priorities of organizations to improve their sales process. 

Kennect's runs your sales compensation programs in cruise mode by automating your incentive compensation plans to create transparency and achieve operational efficiency. For more information, Book A Demo NOW!