That makes your CRM an essential component of agile sales. In many companies, the rule is “If it’s not in the CRM, it didn’t happen.”
There are a few ways to enforce this:
Don't count emails, calls or demos towards activity goals if they are not recorded in the CRM
Do not discuss deals during pipeline review if there is controlling directors email list no matching opportunity in the rep's CRM pipeline
Don't compensate reps on deals that aren't in the CRM
Of course, getting your salespeople to log everything will be much easier if your sales and marketing tools are synced with your CRM.
Data
Agile sales’ emphasis on data fits perfectly with modern sales management. Whether you’re a rep, manager, or executive, data tells you if your strategy is working and how well.
Different metrics matter for different situations and goals. Maybe you look back at your last quarter and realize there’s a big gap between your rating and discovery calls. After listening to some call recordings with your manager, you identify two problems:
You talk too much
You don't ask enough open questions
Your key metrics for the next month should be:
Keep in mind that you are focusing on these metrics within a short time frame (essentially a sprint). You can easily manage these specific metrics and evaluate your progress at the end of the month.
A sales manager, on the other hand, might be focusing on these metrics:
Average deal speed or typical sales cycle length
Average transaction size
Average quota achievement
If you have a specific goal for the month, such as getting your salespeople to follow up faster, you'll also focus on the average lead response time.
The bottom line is: set your short-term goals first, then work backward to determine the best metrics to measure progress.
Review
After completing each sprint, hold a review meeting to go over the results of the sprint, what was achieved, and what was not accomplished.
As a sales manager, you may lead the majority of the meeting, but you may also consider having specific teams or individuals present as it progresses. This can help reps take ownership of their process and reinforce feelings of collaboration and teamwork.
Steps to building an agile sales team
Building a successful agile sales team depends on four critical factors: accountability, adaptability and collaboration, transparency.
Responsibility
Agile sales teams need to practice accountability. Since there are specific milestones to meet during specific sprints, all parties involved must own their actions to help the team achieve its goals. Salespeople must take ownership of their practices—both the positive results and those that need improvement—and be upfront about them and able to ask for help when needed.
