4 Ways to Strengthen Sales Analytics
The volatility of the past two years has thrown even the best sales and market planning teams into higher blood-pressure mode. For that reason, the value of data analytics has elevated quickly to cut through the fog of mixed signals and pre-COVID-based assumptions. The good news is that you can strengthen your sales analytics with solid methods today that benchmark change effectively. That will put your team in position to make better decisions on where to focus sales resources.
Leveraging analytics can improve distributors’ market planning ability by moving actionable data to the front lines. MDM Analytics’ Bob Jordan and Donnie Williamson recently outlined some keys to extracting more value out of data during an MDM webcast (view on-demand). The key takeaways from their presentation include how to use the analytical building blocks of data quality, segmentation, sweet spot analysis, market share and wallet share to set better quotas and growth goals. Here are four actionable steps from the webcast that distributors can take in 2022 to ensure sales teams and growth plans are directed by smart data collection and analytic processes:
Find a ‘Data Champion’
One of the best opportunities to focus sales teams is to use data to target the highest potential accounts and segments. This includes hiring or empowering someone to champion data efforts and interests. Hiring people who understand data — but also know the distribution business well — can produce qualitative and quantitative data that will prove vital. To know where to focus, distributors need an understanding of where they are currently providing the most value and driving profits. This can only be done with a well-segmented list of their customers and what industries they’re serving, preferably by NAICS or SIC. With an understanding of what type of companies are driving the most profitability, they know they can target the same type of customers that are not currently customers. All good analysis has both qualitative and quantitative components, and it’s critical that the analyst has proficiencies in both. A business-minded data analyst will be able to spot glaring issues in the data before they reach the consumer, and this goes a long way in helping folks trust the data.
Prioritize Data Quality
Whether it’s creating internal data collection processes or reaching out to a third party, quality is king when it comes to analytics. Clean and trusted data is the foundation to any analysis, and the phrase “garbage-in, garbage out” is more than a maxim. Whether a company’s data is currently unmanaged — or they have a “data team” — it’s imperative that they manage their data well and deepen their data journey today. Entrusting a third party to clean and enhance data is a great option for those just starting their analytics journey but building out well-defined data strategy is the target. With each step comes better outcomes, minimizing the short- and long-term effects of less-than-stellar data.
Define Data that Moves the Needle
Reliable data is great starting point; but the real power is the ability to generate actionable insights that drive well-informed decisions leading to increased market share. Actionable data allows distributors to determine whether they are selling to the correct customers and leveraging external market intelligence can allow companies to prepare for critical factors such as expected market change and inflationary increases. Many leading businesses with seasoned data strategies have adopted the coupling of both internal and external market data to generate game-changing growth strategies. They have a clear picture of who their customers and the markets they serve. They know the products that provide the most value through their supply chain and can shift and act quickly to unforeseen changes. Having a clear picture of how a business is doing in comparison to the rest of the market will provide the information needed to better accomplish goals.
Build a Data-Driven Sales Process
Here’s a shocker: Sales people don’t always know what the total opportunity is at either a specific account or a territory. It’s a process to move from data-free to data-driven discussions on where a salesperson should spend time. It’s possible to build a model using historic transaction data to bring data to the table. And for most market verticals, there are sources of external market data to strengthen the way your team can model market and account opportunity. Whether a distributor home grows the process or contracts out, it will open a path toward enhanced focus during turbulent market times. It’s a proven formula. Companies that improve their use of data analytics give their sales teams a competitive edge to increase revenues by targeting and growing the highest-potential accounts.
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