Using data to track sales cycles is like having a trusty, predictive, AI-backed map on which you can base strategic, balanced, sensible, and attainable territory planning.
In a recent episode of the CloseMode podcast, guest Dylan Ferguson, senior director of sales at Fullcast, explained that understanding what data is telling us about distinguishing factors and pivotal points in the sales cycle can be momentum Sales needs to meet sales goals.
“You need data to understand what the historical data is telling you,” Dylan said. “For example, is the sales cycle the same timeline in the Midwest for manufacturing as it is CMT in San Francisco? Probably not. So understanding those buying cycles, understanding those industry nuances is critical to making sure that you’re setting your team up for success.”
Dylan added, “If they’re being successful, and they’re hitting metrics, they know their quota is actually achievable. They are going to stick around for a long time.”
With half of prospects turning out to be a poor fit for a company’s brand, using a tool that analyzes ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) data within sales stages can ramp up those territory strategies by providing insights and actionable intelligence for better decision-making on outreach.
The Benefits of Tracking Sales Cycles
Efficient Time Management: Twenty-eight percent of sales reps say a slow sales process is the most significant reason prospects back out of deals. Data-driven insights allow sales managers to quickly allocate sales personnel, marketing budgets, and promotional activities more efficiently. This enables them to allocate time and resources efficiently and focus on those most likely to convert.
Personalized Sales Strategies: With insights into the sales cycle stages, sales teams can “get personal” with tailored strategies for each stage to address specific customer needs and concerns. Research shows that 71 percent of customers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76 percent get frustrated when they don’t.
Better Customer Engagement: Understanding the duration and touchpoints of the sales cycle provides sales teams with timely information, addresses objections, and nurtures relationships.
Identify Trends: Monitoring sales cycles over time provides valuable insights into market trends, customer preferences, and emerging opportunities.
Increased Accountability: Transparent data on sales performance drives constructive feedback, coaching, and performance evaluation for continuous improvement.
The Pitfalls of Overlooked Sales Cycles
Your sales team needs to sell smarter, not more complicated. But when you ignore the valuable insight, it’s much harder to crush sales quotas and feel fantastic about yourself. Here are five reasons why:
- Inaccurate Forecasting: Without data on past sales cycles, the forecast is cloudy revenue projections and foggy planning.
- Wasted Time: Sales reps aren’t connecting with enough prospects. Surveys show that 66.7 percent of reps responded to 250 leads or fewer last year, and only 15 percent hit the 1,000 mark for leads. Moreover, by overlooking sales data insight, sales reps spend disproportionate time on prospects with low conversion potential.
- One-Size-Fits-All Sales Strategies: It’s not only about who they are but also about understanding why they should talk to you and where they stand in their sales cycle. Without understanding these specific stages, sales teams may resort to generic outreach that fails to address prospects’ unique needs and concerns.
- Poor Customer Engagement: Salespeople may miss critical touchpoints in the customer journey without tracking sales cycles. This leads to decreased customer satisfaction and lost opportunities for building rapport and trust.
- Reduced Accountability: Without clear visibility into sales cycle performance, it’s hard to hold salespeople and managers accountable for meeting sales targets and milestones. Ignoring sales cycles and relying on gut instincts or banking on a wing and a prayer means decreased sales effectiveness, missed opportunities, a lack of strategic direction, and blisteringly low morale among the sales team.
Stop missing the ideal opportunities to make inroads with customers! A specialized territory management system like Fullcast works with your CRM to transfer and analyze data and apply actionable insights toward territory management strategies that work.
Fullcast was built for RevOps leaders by RevOps leaders to bring together all of the moving pieces of our clients’ sales go-to-market strategies and automate their execution.
We seamlessly connect go-to-market planning activities with tactical sales execution, enabling your operations, sales, finance, and customer success teams to make continuous adjustments in response to real-time strategy changes. From territory management to performance tracking, we operate with speed, agility, and AI-powered automation.
