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6 Essentials of Data-Driven Selling

By: Lee Wilson

12/1/2008

We are assuming in this article that you have a reasonably good sales force and decent products. DDS isn't a cure if you have fundamental problems with your sales force or products. For example, if you have the wrong fit of reps to your products (print sales reps with technology products or teacher-focused reps for district-license products) or if your products are not any good, then DDS isn't going to fix things.

How reps spend their time has a bigger impact on results than a better message or product

6. Data-driven sales are an organization-wide affair.

Companies that support and encourage a data-driven outlook at all levels of the organization will see the biggest impact. The companies where I learned the most about this approach had broad support for DDS across the entire executive team and a champion at the presidential- or VP sales-level who was driving the project.

That said, individual reps or managers can use these tools on their own, so don't let hesitation in other departments hold you back if you can get your hands on the data. You own the number at the end of the year and DDS is a high-leverage tool you can use to fuel your success.

Another aspect of organization-wide DDS is managing expectations of your team with senior executives. Frequently companies allocate quotas based on schemes that are only loosely connected to the underlying opportunity. For example, if a major adoption has just been completed, expecting a sales increase isn't realistic. Or it might be that your territories have been hit particularly hard by a change in funding formulas. Making your case with good data won't guarantee that you prevail, but it is more effective than non-specific whining that things are not fair.

Time is the valuable asset

We live in an era of 24/7 connectivity and seemingly endless to-do lists. This is as true for reps as it is for your customers. How your team spends its time and who they spend it with will have a much bigger impact on their results than a better message or a better product. Those things will help, but the sales team doesn't control them. They control their time.

When times are good, reps can be lulled into a false sense of security. When times turn tough, like now, these same reps can struggle to build new business. Helping reps use data to better understand their territory, the market, and leverage their strengths , will help them break out of unproductive patterns. It may also determine your company's future.

In the end, sales are still all about relationships, but sometimes you need to use the data to help you focus on the right ones.


Lee Wilson of Headway Strategies has been a senior marketing, sales, and business development executive at Harcourt, Pearson, Apple, and Chancery Software. He consults on strategic direction, marketing programs, and sales management for publishing and ed-tech companies.