Date de publication
2022-12-08
Introduction to Sales Automation
Is your Sales team still manually qualifying leads or filling in missing customer data? The good news is that you're just one decision away from vastly improving your sales processes. While the information is readily available, you might need some extra fodder to convince your boss to add automation to your sales strategy, and we're here to help.
Of course, there are many benefits to adopting automation. A big instant win is that the benefits bleed into every aspect of your business. Many of your sales tasks can be automated, taking pressure off other departments like Marketing and Customer Support.
What if you're not in a decision-making role? In that case, you may have to influence your boss that sales automation is a good move. At the very least. you may have to convince them that it won't add an extra burden financially or take over your current resources. Here are some effective ways to pitch automation to your bosses without throwing technical jargon at them.
Why companies of all sizes need to add automation to their sales strategy
Businesses of all sizes and industries are looking into automation to boost their sales strategies. In fact, 61% of businesses that are currently leveraging automation reported that they exceeded their revenue targets.
Today, more than 30% of sales-related activities can be automated. And high-performing Sales teams are 2.3x more likely to use guided selling through automation.
The benefits are cross-departmental. For example, you can even automate the creation of custom client presentations using Wrk's Personalized Pitch Deck Creation, which normally requires cross-collaboration between Sales and Marketing teams.
There are more than enough stats to get the conversation rolling, but just in case you need more, here's what to tell your boss when they ask why they should automate your sales processes.
Automated workflows improve efficiency and productivity
Ask your manager—did they hire sales reps to update client information in the system? These can be automated with tools such as our Sales List & List Management Wrkflow. If the answer is no, the expectation is that you'll also be making the updates and managing your lists, which can clip your revenue-generating goal time significantly. You're also tasked with connecting meaningfully with clients, and raise company revenue. That should be your focus—with automation it can be.
Certain types of automation have been shown to boost business productivity by 30%, while still drawing on the talents of a human workforce.
They help you scale your customer acquisition
It can be a major challenge for your Sales team to gain more customers through approaches like cold calling, which has a low success rate of about 2%.
In order to grow your customer base, you should do it. But in what ways, inquires your boss? Our Wrkflows can streamline customer list cleaning/building, quote development, and deal management.
Automation can deliver accurate, data-backed results
Market research is an important sales function. It provides important customer profile data and lets you narrow down your efforts to a target audience.
Gathering marketing metrics can be a time-consuming process for human teams. However, if you use automation, it can then be used to improve sales outcomes. Valuable data can also help in developing new offerings, using our Product & Innovation Wrkflows.
Companies that have adopted automation have reduced lead conversion time
By using sales automation, you can more easily populate your sales funnel and create more buyers from your prospects.
For example, Wrk's Lead Enrichment Wrkflow can cut down on time spent on prospecting by filling in important client information on your client list. This saves your team time by doing this task manually, so they can focus more on closing deals and generating repeat business.
You can automatically engage customers at any step of the sales funnel
Whether your client is at the beginning of the sales journey or the end, there are automated sales tasks that can engage them at every point to ensure a smooth experience.
That includes ensuring the client is a good fit for your offerings and gauging their satisfaction using Customer Growth & Retention Wrkflows.
Save time by reusing smart, high-converting templates and proposals that work
There's no need to craft custom communications for all of your leads.
From sending custom sales DMs on social media, to personalized email automation that can dramatically boost your open rates, you can reach a larger number of potential customers without reinventing the wheel.
Prepare to delight your customers with a positive post-sales experience
The customer experience doesn't end when the deal closes. Keeping up engagement and nurturing that relationship takes time. Time you may want to put elsewhere. And let's face it, not every customer requires the same amount of attention.
Taking care of clients' needs after the sale using our Customer Success Wrkflows allows more attention on key clients, while also building loyalty with the rest of your customer base.
You will get instant access to quick and comprehensive reporting
Compiling sales data is important to drive future decisions, but it can be an arduous task that can be reduced with automated sales reporting.
Meanwhile, you can use our Client Reporting Wrkflow to send monthly sales metrics to your customers, providing them with valuable insight.
Bottom line: Sales automation is important to stay competitive
If your boss is still unsure about sales automation, you can be sure they understand the competition. It's a constant race against competing companies to stay one step ahead, draw attention from potential customers, and keep them.
You can point out to management how many other companies are using automation. Startupbonsai.com, a small business marketing resource, shares that 34% of surveyed companies are using automation in some form. Meanwhile, 28% said they plan to implement automated processes in the next two years.
That means up to 62% of businesses could be leaning on automation in the near future, leaving your company in the dust if they're not. Like it or not, your bosses cannot ignore that this technology will soon play a bigger role in business success.
Contact us today for a quick chat about why you should add automation to your sales strategy!