Frontline sales teams need real-time data to make solid decisions. Your software could be tripping you up. Here’s what to do.
Sales teams spend a lot of time in CRMs and spreadsheets, and for good reason: Sales operations managers need accurate, up-to-date data to support decision-making and boost efficiency.
And with software spend predicted to grow in 2024, companies have to decide where to invest their resources — and how to ensure that analytics drives business strategy.
But sales reports and CRM dashboards have their limitations. With careful planning and extra legwork, frontline managers can ensure that they have the data they need to generate effective analytics and sales forecasts.
Here are three reasons why it’s not you, it’s your sales analytics software.
Sales reports capture data at a particular moment in time, but that data quickly becomes stale. And it’s hard to base decisions on “dirty” or outdated data. It’s important to invest in a system that automatically refreshes datasets for accuracy and relevance. Additionally, utilize tools that efficiently create and maintain master files, minimizing repetitive data management. This strategy ensures sales decisions are informed by current, reliable, and comprehensive data.
Maintaining clean CRM data and practicing good data citizenship in sales teams is crucial for data integrity. Equally important is preserving historical data for understanding past trends and predicting future forecasts. However, updating CRM sales data, such as next step date, stage category, and ACV, often results in the loss of valuable historical information. The adage "you can't fix what you can't see" applies here, as it's time-consuming to run multiple reports to identify outdated or inaccurate data.
We should have higher expectations from our sales and go-to-market tools today. TigerEye offers a better way to track progress and forecast trends, moving beyond outdated methods like screenshots and memory. To learn more: https://tigereye.com/.
Data lacks intuition. Without context, it doesn’t point teams in a particular direction. A sales revenue analysis may tell you about team performance, but it doesn’t necessarily share useful information on behavior: What made a certain rep successful one quarter? Why did a particular deal stagnate?
Without tools to capture behavioral and historical context, managers often have to schedule additional conversations (and compile documentation) to better understand the context of a particular deal. Those process questions provide critical information on performance data — including them in the scope of a sales data analysis is crucial to understanding data at a high level.
TigerEye addresses the issue of time-consuming preparation for meetings, 1:1s, and coaching by offering quick access to reps' metrics and visuals. It enhances understanding of sales data with behavioral and historical context. Managers save time by reducing the need for extra conversations and documentation, as TigerEye provides essential performance data and insights for effective decision-making and strategy development in sales. Check out: https://tigereye.com/.
Within an organization, each department has tools they use. Sales teams lean on CRM data, finance on ERP, marketing departments on marketing automation platforms like Marketo, Pardot, or HubSpot, and engineering uses a DevOps platform like GitLab. Each team hunkers down in their own silo, and you end up with competing data sets. SalesOps and RevOps are pulling from their systems of record, but their source of truth might look different than what the sales team sees on their CRM or what the CFO shares with the CEO.
Each team has a system, but those systems don’t work cross-functionally — and it can be confusing to management when this data is passed upstream. Implementing good data governance across departments is critical for companies to leverage analytics effectively.
Go-to-market teams need to collaborate more efficiently. TigerEye provides an easy-to-use setup with intuitive modules and unbiased data visualizations, ensuring alignment across departments. Want to see how TigerEye can simplify workflows and assist in collective decision-making? Check out: https://tigereye.com/.
Anna Randall is a seasoned sales leader with 15 years of experience in manufacturing and tech. She has excelled in various roles, from inside sales to leading successful teams at companies like Autodesk, Eaton and Oracle. Anna's true passion lies in teamwork, whether it's collaborating cross-departmentally or mentoring others. Outside of work, she dedicates her energy to family, enjoys cold weather, and listens to Taylor Swift.
