Nothing can be more frustrating for management than seeing new leads and promising sales opportunities fall through the cracks, but this is often the norm for many small to mid-size businesses. And when it comes to timely and accurate sales forecast, well sales management might be better served looking into a crystal ball.

Why do so many small and mid-size businesses have difficulty in this area?  Well there are several reasons for this but the good news is it can easily be fixed.

Many privately held companies are run by bright entrepreneurs whose background may not be in sales management. As a result they may not fully appreciate the need for having a highly trained sales executive who understands how to implement a sales structure and efficiently manage people and the sales process.  They often have the sales team report directly to themselves and manage the sales process using an Excel spreadsheet.  If this sounds like you, it’s time to make a change.

CRM or sales software doesn’t run your business — people do. So the first thing you need to consider is to hire an experienced sales manager who understands how to manage the sales process and the sales team.  Next, don’t expect them to manage the sales process with your Excel spreadsheet. It did not work for you and it will not work for them.  Luckily, today there is a myriad of sales software or sales CRM programs that can shape an unstructured sales organization into a winning team.

1. Lead Qualification and Lead Distribution

Sales software enables management to begin managing the sales process by automating the qualification and distribution of leads.  This ensures that new opportunities are properly followed up on and do not fall through the cracks.  Leads may be automatically assigned to specific sales representatives based on several criteria such as geographic region or product line for example.

2. Lead Scoring

Sales software also provides each sales representative with the ability to rate and score each lead based on a set of pre-built qualification criteria.  This makes certain that the sales team is spending their value time on the most promising opportunities.

3. Implementing a Sales Process

Mature sales software like Commence also enables management to establish a series of steps or stages within the sales cycle. This serves two very valuable purposes. First, sales management can follow the path of every new opportunity from introduction to closure. Secondly, management can play a proactive role during the sales process.  This has proven to improve close ratios and deliver higher revenues.

4. Sales Reporting

One of the other significant advantages of automating the lead management and sales cycle is the improvement and accuracy of sales reporting that results from this process.  Monthly and quarterly sales reports are automatically generated with a level of accuracy that provides management with the comfort of knowing what kind of revenue they can expect from the business.

None of this should surprise anyone. It simply makes sense, but you have to take the initiative and commit to making a change. Hire the right sales executive and get the right CRM or sales software that will enable you to become a more efficient sales organization.